Ayo Johnson, a Bermuda- and West Africa-based journalist, has founded a ‘digital journal’ which launched yesterday.

The journal, which is called Politica, is found on the Think Media website.

On its launch, Politica includes a ‘Featured Story’ about One Bermuda Alliance leaders’ association with US real estate mogul Nathan Landow, who had political connections in America’s Democratic Party and has pursued some casino interests.

The journal has an ‘independent public editor’, Bryant Trew, whose role is to field and investigate complaints about Think Media’s journalistic products and report his findings to the public, according to a press release announcing the new journal, which added that Mr Trew can also launch his own investigations.

On their website, Politica says it produces “high quality, high integrity journalism for vulnerable communities around the world.

“Our immediate focus is Bermuda and the other populated remnants of the British Empire. As resources grow, we plan to operate wherever independent journalism is needed.”

As a business model, Politica says: “We don’t really know” how it will be sustained financially.

While they state they are not rejecting advertising: “We do know that advertising centred business models have steadily eroded the editorial independence of our newsrooms — especially in vulnerable societies such as ours.

“So we want to avoid as much as possible financial links with powerful people and organisations and instead depend directly on our readers and audiences.”

There is a $3 fee for accessing from the website the full length version of the featured article.

Glenn Jones, a former journalist who is now general manager at Media House, the Bermuda Sun newspaper’s parent company, has acted as a guest editor for the feature story, former Royal Gazette photographer Glenn Tucker’s photography is used and there is illustrative work by Makeem ‘Haz’ Bartley.

Useful website: www.think.bm.