Many publishers have moved away from Creative Commons and other sharing licences, and any publisher can change their copyright policy at any time, leaving content published under earlier policy iterations in limbo without time-stamped records kept of previous agreements.
We also ran into problems sharing content created by multiple stakeholders.
An editor might OK our reuse of an article without consulting the original author – who then becomes justifiably concerned that their material has been replicated without their prior knowledge.
Or we might be given permission to reuse a story by the publisher of the copy, without them specifying the license conditions of the images used – which can cause a real headache if they were purchased from a third party originally.
These issues just posed too many liabilities and extra work for us to reproduce content that once was a perfect fit for FOTM.
Additionally, we feel there is greater value in providing our own commentary on the articles we share, rather than simply repeating what has already been said.
We recognise the links to local issues in many of the stories that we share, and we can give our own insights and maybe convince you to click on the link because it’s relevant to you.
And so we are in the process of updating our existing FOTM articles, removing duplicated content and replacing it with updated, original copy and links to the articles at their original locations.
Going forward, we will be sharing individual stories, videos and podcasts, as well as themed FOTMs comprising a set of related links with additional Meteor commentary.
This will replace one of the regular newsletters we send out each month (are you signed up for The Meteor newsletter? You can do so here).
With all that being said, here’s today’s FOTM, from The Big Issue. As described above, they used to offer their content for republication under a Creative Commons license, but this is no longer the case, so you’ll have to follow this link to read the story:
Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue covers the developments in media and online discourse that have fuelled the increase in racist rhetoric and attacks over the last 12 months.
While traditional media and politicians have played their usual role in steering the national conversation, the main players in 2025 were a new type of politician, more reactionary and populist; and social media, less regulated and open to anyone who wants a platform, from the person in the street to billionaires or rogue states with an agenda to push.
Here at The Meteor we are creating something different: community-owned journalism that’s not beholden to state or commercial interests. And if you’re not already, you can be a part of it from just £1 / month.
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Featured image: Needpix.com
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