Essentially we’re a small business that calls its own shots and not a part of a larger publishing group like Fairfax Media or News Corp. This gives us the freedom to publish what we care about and find important, rather than being governed by the agenda of a bunch of big wig CEOs. In fact, a bunch of the digital publications you love are independent – Broadsheet Media, Junkee, Concrete Playground – it’s a pretty cool list! And every one of them helps keep the Australian media landscape diverse – something that’s crucial to a thriving democracy and ensuring we’re not all brainwashed into reading/thinking the same thing (just kidding, but not really).  But it does mean that all of us independent publishers are competing against big publishing companies with way more money, resources, and influence than us. To combat this, and to unite independent media around the country, the not-for-profit industry association, Digital Publishers Alliance (DPA), was born. We Are Explorers was one of the founding members, alongside other publishers like Urban List, Man of Many, Mamma Mia, and Time Out.