Fumaça

Description

Fumaça is an independent, non-profit investigative journalism podcast based in Portugal. It has operated since 2016. It scrutinises systems of oppression.

Its subjects include the Zionist occupation of Palestine, “Fortress Europe” and anti-immigration policy, and natural gas extraction and “green capitalism”. It also covers gaps in mental health care, the private security industry, structural racism, domestic workers’ struggles, policing and the prison system.

The newsroom describes itself as independent and anti-authoritarian. It makes decisions horizontally and by consensus, without management boards or hierarchy. It follows its own editorial statute and answers to the public interest. It also calls itself a counter-power outlet, listening to people harmed by systems of oppression and questioning those who hold authority over them.

Fumaça is legally owned by Verdes Memórias, a non-profit association made up exclusively of newsroom members. It is financed mainly through recurring monthly contributions from its audience, alongside philanthropic grants that carry no editorial interference. It does not believe in neutral journalism, and instead discloses its own subjectivities, conflicts of interest and where its money comes from. Its output is freely accessible and free to republish.

Since 2016 it has produced eight series of investigative journalism and reported more than three million listens. It has built a community of over 1,900 contributing members. It has received 31 awards, including the Gazeta Revelação prize. It is based in Lisbon.