About Us

Transition Free Press is a new national tabloid newspaper. It is run as a a pilot for four issues during 2013, starting on 1 February. The 24-page edition will follow the blueprint of the preview issue and contain a mix of news, reviews and features, dedicated pages to energy, the land, people, economy, food, well-being,  the arts, cartoons, sport and a unique Transition agony column.

In these four pilot editions in 2013 the editorial team hope to bring together  the stories that help us navigate the times of downshift, stories about people by the people who are coming together in their neighbourhoods and initiatives, starting up food projects, alternative energy schemes, and thinking within a broader, deeper and more meaningful frame.

The paper is editorially independent and ‘working with’ rather than ‘working for’ the Transition Network. So while Transition Free Press springs from the Transition Movement, it will run alongside it, rather than being an official in-house publication.

Who we are

The team behind this new publication are already deeply involved in communications and the Transition movement:

• Charlotte Du Cann is the Editor. A writer and community activist, involved with both Sustainable Bungay and Transition Norwich. She has been the driving force behind Transition Social Reporting Project.
• Alexis Rowell is News Editor. He was a BBC journalist and was a founder member of  Transition Belsize, and authored “Communities, councils and carbon – what we can do if governments won’t”.
• Trucie Mitchell is Design Director. She has worked in book and digital publishing in the UK and Australia since 2002, and is also an illustrator specialising in botanical subjects.
• Mike Grenville looks after social media. He is the editor of the monthly Transition Network newsletter and founded Transition Forest Row five years ago.
• Tamzin Pinkerton is Food and Wellbeing Editor who wrote ‘Local Food: How to Make it Happen in Your Community‘.
• Jay Tompt is Business Manager. He lives in the Transition home town of Totnes and is involved in a number of projects including REconomy.
• Mark Watson is in charge of distribution and is a sub-editor. He is a founder Social Reporter and the chair of Sustainable Bungay in Suffolk.

The taster Preview edition, published this summer, showed how the paper will look, and the kinds of subjects we will be reporting at greater length every quarter. We are not afraid to go deep, ask awkward questions, laugh or explore paths other papers don’t go down in order to get there. What we want is to capture the real-life experiences of people who are discussing and doing Transition, looking at the small details in the big picture. We’re optimistic in the face of tough times. But we are also real. We’re real about the awesome challenges of peak oil and climate change and the recession. We’re real about the hard work the projects featured in these pages take (including this paper!)

We ran a crowd-funding appeal for our 2013 pilot that raised just over £10,000 to help us get started through Buzzbnk.org. In addition to becoming a Distributor and Subscriber, you can support this important work by becoming a Patron Subscriber with a donation of £50, which will send much needed support towards the costs of producing an honest newspaper free of corporate influence.

So that this proof of concept can become a regular reality there are a number of things that we need:

• Sign up as a distributor Imagine having a publication you could give away that everyone in your community could read and get a better idea of what Transition is all about. More about being a Distributor here.
• Individual Subscribers. More details on how to subscribe here.
• Raise funds to make this venture possible. If you would like to contribute please use the Paypal link below or if you have ideas for grants to apply for please get in touch with Jay.
• Plus we are looking for advertisers for the next edition and we are open to offers of contributions and help.

Keep up with news about this exciting venture by signing up to our mailing list.