The Pantograph Punch has never been static. Since its Tumblr-era inception over ten years ago, Pantograph has grown to occupy a loving, necessary and critical space in Aotearoa’s publishing industry, dropping guerrilla acts of arts criticism. Our devoted supporters and readers have allowed us to continue to deliver the freshest perspectives from underheard voices, to get deep into the conversations that matter, and shape-shift the scenes we belong to. All of this has supported our role in developing the voices of great writers and leaders.

We’re deeply excited for the new era of The Pantograph Punch. With a brand-new team on the ground, guided by our high-key incredible board, there’s a lot that’s exciting for us on the horizon despite the obvious setbacks (cough cough pandemic/crisis of inequality??). Now you can join in our commitment to arts publishing and secure our future through our membership programme: Pantograph Pals.

What is ‘Pantograph Pals’?

Pantograph Pals is a membership campaign that supports us to continue our groundbreaking and career-launching arts criticism through community fundraising. From our staunchest readers to newest fans, our wide circle of friends help to make The Pantograph Punch potent and possible.

As a Pal, you contribute directly to livable salaries for staff members, fair writers fees, and furthering our editorial vision. We want to keep transforming our model, sharpening our skill set and experimenting with different editorial and social offerings to bring you the very best coverage across art forms in Aotearoa and, with your support, build the platforms and critical discussions that make a place in this country for writers and artists alike to thrive. Not just survive, as we have been doing so often lately.

Our Editorial Vision

• Sustaining and developing the practice of diverse writers, across all levels of their careers: amplifying the voices of our cultural powerhouses, and supporting new writers with their very first publishing experiences.
• Making the news, not breaking the news: commissioning deeper investigative pieces that meaningfully contribute to national conversations and to global arts discourse.
• Contributing to making the arts ecology in Aotearoa more sustainable and rewarding for practitioners.
• Continuing to safekeep and document a broad range of artistic practices in Aotearoa, which are easy to lose to history if they’re not actively being recorded.
• Deepening our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in meaningful ways, for example continuing to centre Māori voices and conversations on ngā toi Māori, and increasing te reo kupu on our website.
• Producing beautiful content: we’re an arts journal and this should be reflected in our own art and writing!

Arts Criticism: Important and Underfunded AF

Arts and culture are vital for the health, life and economy of a country. A flourishing arts sector encourages social cohesion, community empowerment and self-determination, and helps to build (and dissect) our national identity. A flourishing arts sector is good for everybody, but requires healthy, independent spaces for conversation and the scrutiny of arts journalism to flourish.

Arts criticism in Aotearoa has a precarious existence and a threatened future. It’s pivotal for the examination of life in Aotearoa (how we live, the price of our groceries, what we as a society value), but sits at the intersection of multiple areas – education, creativity and critical thinking – that have long been underfunded and devalued, and hit hard by the impacts of Covid-19 and austerity cuts. This has made the existence of platforms tough to sustain, with so many journals like ours dependent on the blood, sweat and tears of volunteer labour to get by. We’d love for the public that reads us to support us financially, to help us do the best for our sector and build a thriving and colourful future for arts criticism in Aotearoa.

Despite the strain, we stay true to our values. On our platform, you’ll never be bombarded with advertisements, or have great essays hidden behind a paywall: we keep our site ad-free, and our content freely available to anyone with an internet connection.

Nourishing Critical Voices

The Pantograph Punch exists in a publishing and media landscape, here and the world over, that has long been dominated by a certain type of voice (cough cough) and has systematically excluded the voices of others. For us it’s not just about providing a seat at the table, but making a distinct space for the culturally rich variety of voices that make up our arts community, that reflect and matter to us, and you.

We sustain our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, with a strong focus on ringatoi and kaituhi Māori – last year, over 30% of our contributions were by Māori and 80% of total publishing was by BIPOC. Over the last decade, we’ve published over 500 unique contributors, some for the very first time in their careers. From as little as a cup of coffee a month, with Pals you can join us to increase our mission to amplify voices that have been excluded from the mainstream, and enable nuanced inter-community discussions to exist.

Here’s what we’re hoping to raise in 2023:

$15,000:

• Keeps our lights on
• Sustains staff at current level
• Sustains pay rates for writers
  

$25,000:

• Keeps us growing
• Office / desk rental for staff
• Our writers’ fees increase to match the living wage
• Increase in fair pay and hours for our part-time staff

$40,000 and above:

• Keeps us dreaming
• Residency / scholarship fully funded by our Pals
• Special projects, e.g., podcasts, events and audiovisual content
• A secure and equitable future, e.g., KiwiSaver for all contractors

What Do You Support?

• Through becoming a Pantograph Pal, your donations directly support:
• Commissioned contributions from new voices
• Higher fees for our contributors
• Fair pay for staff members
• A bright and independent editorial vision
• Special development opportunities funded entirely through Pals e.g., residencies and scholarships for writers

In return for your support, you’ll receive:

• Our sincere love and gratitude for believing in us and being part of our inner circle
• Dedicated quarterly newsletters written by the Pantograph team
• Occasional surprises in the mail
• Discount codes to our and our partners’ merch and events
• Invitations to special events
• Acknowledgement of support on our website

Huge thanks to those who’ve made our work possible across the last decade, including our core funders, grant providers, donors and partners, and now our mighty Pals.

We’re incredibly proud to have you on this journey with us and can’t wait to share the impact that our Pals will make.

Check out our Raisely for your regular Pals updates!