At the fourth annual Sir Harry Evans Truth Tellers Summit in London this week, Breaker graced the stage for a panel about independent journalism, in front of hundreds of journalists, editors, and media executives.

On the panel, moderated by BBC media editor Katie Razzall, aptly titled “Journalism on a Credit Card,” Breaker was joined by London Centric founder and editor Jim Waterson. We compared notes on a topic we both know well — building independent media businesses from scratch.

“I did not take outside funding,” Breaker told the crowd, explaining how we used what had been my New York apartment as a down payment to fund the launch of Breaker Media. 

“There were the first four months — and no joke — I was waking up in the middle of the night spewing my guts up with stress because I was worried I was going to lose my life savings.”

Waterson, the former media editor at The Guardian who left after taking a voluntary redundancy, described a similarly terrifying transition into independent journalism.

“The Guardian was the only place I ever wanted to work,” Waterson said. “But then … I thought I’d give myself six months. I’d see if I could build something on my own.”

And the gamble is paying off. Waterson said London Centric now has 5,000 paying subscribers and enough revenue to support two additional staff members. But he emphasized the emotional volatility of the subscription business, “You live and die by whether your paid subscribers are going up,” he said. “The fear that they’re just going to sort of walk away from you is brutal.”

The pair also argued — with a shoutout to Breaker’s scoops on Rupert Murdoch’s 95th and David Ellison’s WHCD party — that independent journos are increasingly competing directly with major outlets on big stories because sources actually want to help startup media. 

Catch more in this week's episode of The Breaker Pod. Make sure you check us out and subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods.