Daily Maverick

Daily Maverick is a South African online news publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It claims to have a readership of approximately 10 million readers per month. It was founded in 2009 by Branislav Brkic, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of the publication, and Styli Charalambous, its Chief Executive Officer.

It is known for its investigation of the Gupta Leaks,  which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.

That investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture. In 2018, Brkic received the Nat Nakasa Award for his role in the investigation. In 2021, Charalambous also received the award.

History
Daily Maverick was launched in 2009 by Brkic and Charalambous following the closure of Brkic’s former print magazines, Maverick and Empire. They started a “daily ipad newspaper” in 2011 to complement the existing website; it closed in 2013. The weekly print newspaper, DM168, was launched in 2020.

In 2018, the Daily Maverick launched Maverick Insider, a voluntary membership plan that doesn't have a paywall or standard donation request. Contributions from readers will keep the Daily Maverick free for those who can't afford to pay.

The Daily Maverick hosts articles by Declassified UK, a group of independent journalists who investigate British foreign policy, the UK military and intelligence agencies and Britain's most powerful corporations.

Daily Maverick’s membership model has been widely recognised as a successful example of the emerging membership trend that invites audiences of news publications to pay to become part of a readership community.

In addition to its membership programme, the privately-owned publication also hosts paid live events. It has received philanthropic funding from the Open Society Foundation, Donald Gordon Foundation, Elaine & David Potter Foundation and ABSA. It is a participant of the Media Investment Development Fund’s South African Media Innovation Programme.

It also produces podcasts  and documentary films, including Influence, directed by Poplak and Diana Neille, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Section 16, which details the online attacks on Daily Maverick’s women journalists, debuted at the Encounters Film Festival.

Branko Brkic
Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic is a Serbian-born South African journalist, publisher and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the independent online news daily Daily Maverick, which was launched in 2009.

In 2018, Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award for initiating the collaborative corruption investigation into the Indian-born Gupta family and former South African President Jacob Zuma, known as the GuptaLeaks. The investigation won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award alongside Rappler, the Filipino publication founded by Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa.

Brkic was a book publisher in Yugoslavia before immigrating to South Africa in 1991. In 1998 he launched Timbila, the former South African National Parks magazine and co-founded the IT business magazine Brainstorm in 2001 with Jovan Regasek.

Brkic launched the print business magazine Maverick in 2005, launching its sister publication Empire magazine in 2007. Both magazines closed in September 2008. Brkic and his partner, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous, launched Daily Maverick in 2009.

Styli Charalambous
Styli Charalambous is the co-founder and CEO of South African online news publication Daily Maverick.

A regular instructor on revenue models in journalism for the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, Charalambous also was a member of the steering committee for the Forum on Information & Democracy’s working group on sustainability in journalism. In 2021, he was awarded the Nat Nakasa Courage and Integrity Award for his contribution to South African journalism.

Charalambous designed and launched the group’s “Maverick Insider” membership programme, recognised globally as an example of a successful membership model. He speaks globally about media sustainability membership models, including the International Journalism Festival, the International Symposium on Online Journalism, World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. He has published on the topic for Northwestern University’s Knight Lab and Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism’s publications Nieman Reports and Nieman Lab.

Charalambous co-produced The Highwaymen, a podcast by Daily Maverick’s Richard Poplak and Diana Neille.

With a degree in finance and accounting from University of Port Elizabeth (now NMMU), he completed his articles in South Africa with Deloitte in 2002 and qualified as a chartered accountant.

Criticism
Daily Maverick has been criticised regarding its funding and finances, notably by the Independent Media Group. In August 2022, a judge ruled in favour of the Daily Maverick when it sued a former columnist for posting on social media that he had been paid to write articles critical of Independent News.

Awards

 * 2010 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Publisher Awards – Best Editorial Team – Daily Maverick
 * 2011 – Bookmarks – Product Awards – Email Marketing – Email Publication – Silver – First Thing Newsletter – Daily Maverick
 * 2011 – Bookmarks – Craft Awards – Editorial (Media – News, Magazines, Radio and TV Stations/Networks) – Silver – Daily Maverick
 * 2011 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Awards – Best Digital Editorial Individual – Stephen Grootes – Daily Maverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Core Awards – Websites/Microsites/Mobisites – Publisher Sites (Mass Appeal) > R5m Turnover – Bronze – Daily Maverick and iMaverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Core Awards – Email Marketing – Email Publication – Silver – First Thing Newsletter – Daily Maverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Core Awards – Applications and Tools – Tablet Publication – Bronze – iMaverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Core Awards – Integrated / Mixed Media – Multi-platform Publisher – Bronze – First Thing Newsletter, Daily Maverick and iMaverick – Daily Maverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Craft Awards – Editorial (Media – News, Magazines, Radio and TV Stations/Networks) – Silver – First Thing Newsletter, Daily Maverick and iMaverick – Daily Maverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Awards – The Digital Maverick – Branko Brkic
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Awards – Best Digital Editorial Individual – Branko Brkic – Daily Maverick and iMaverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Awards – Best Youngster – Sipho Hlongwane – Daily Maverick
 * 2012 – Bookmarks – Special Honours Awards – Best Publishing House – Daily Maverick and iMaverick
 * 2012 – SAB Sports Media Awards – New Media – Social Media Correspondent of the Year – Styli Charalambous – Daily Maverick
 * 2012 – Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism – Runner-up – Greg Marinovich – Daily Maverick
 * 2013 – Vodacom National Journalist of the Year Online winner – Greg Marinovich – Daily Maverick
 * 2013 – Bookmarks – Craft Awards – Editorial (Media – News, Magazines, Radio and TV Stations/Networks) – Silver – Daily Maverick
 * 2013 – Bookmarks – Individual and Team Awards – Best Digital Editorial Individual – Rebecca Davis – Daily Maverick
 * 2016 – CNN Multichoice African Business Journalism Award – Economics & Business Award – Diana Neille, Richard Poplak, Shaun Swingler & Sumeya Gasa, Daily Maverick, South Africa ‘Casualties of Cola: Outsourcing, Exploitation & the New Realities of Work’
 * 2016 – Vodacom Journalism Award – Online Winner – Diana Neille, Sumeya Gasa, Shaun Swingler, Richard Poplak. Daily Maverick, Casualties of Cola
 * 2016 – Taco Kuiper Investigative Journalism Awards – First Runner-up
 * 2016 – SAB Sports Media Awards – Digital Media – Converged Media – Antoinette Muller
 * 2016 – SAB Sports Media Awards – Digital Media – Written Media – Antoinette Muller
 * 2016 – SAB Sports Media Awards – Digital Media – Online Video – Leila Dougan
 * 2017 – Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism – #GuptaLeaks – 19 journalists from AmaBhungane, the Daily Maverick and News24
 * 2018 – Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity – South African National Editors’ Forum – Branko Brkic
 * 2018 – Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Award – #GuptaLeaks – Scorpio, amaBhungane and News24
 * 2019 – SAFTA – Golden Horn award for Best Documentary Short – Nanlaban: The Philippines War on Drugs – Chronicle
 * 2019 – Vodacom Journalist of the Year – Multi-platform – Sune Payne and Leila Dougan – Daily Maverick
 * 2019 – Vodacom Journalist of the Year – Financial/Economics – Marianne Merten
 * 2019 – Global Shining Light Award – #GuptaLeaks – Daily Maverick
 * 2020 – Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Award – Investigative Journalism: Journalist of the Year – Pauli van Wyk – Daily Maverick
 * 2020 – Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Award – Investigative Journalism: Columns and Editorial – Richard Poplak – Daily Maverick
 * 2021 – Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity – Styli Charalambous
 * 2021 – Thomas Pringle Award – Best Portfolio – Tevya Shapiro – Daily Maverick
 * 2021 – International Sports Press Association (AIPS) – Certificate of Achievement Award – Craig Ray – Daily Maverick
 * 2021 – Vodacom Journalist of the Year (VJOY) Awards – Digital Vibes – Pieter Louis-Myburgh – Daily Maverick
 * 2021 – Taco Kuiper Award – Digital Vibes – Pieter Louis-Myburgh – Daily Maverick
 * 2021 – SA Book of the Year Awards – Best Non-fiction – Six Years With Al Qaeda – Stephen McGown – Daily Maverick
 * 2021 – Digital Media Africa Awards – Best Paid Content Strategy – Maverick Insider – Daily Maverick