Equinox

Two French journalists based in Barcelona decided to found an online radio station in 2011 to inform their compatriots living in the city about local news and culture. Aurélie Chamerois and Nico Salvadó were then working as correspondents for several French-speaking media, and dedicated a small part of their time to Equinox Radio. Three years later, they launched a news website, Equinox Magazine, which has been growing ever since. Today, they run a sustainable project that employs four full-time staff and four collaborators.

Its audience is made up of French people living in Catalonia. "There are about 60,000 very heterogeneous people," says Chamerois. "There are expatriates who have been living here for 25 years and people who have just arrived, as well as young people in their 20s and people in their 70s. We provide them all with a very pedagogical way of explaining, we help them integrate and understand what is happening in Catalan society. And we are very proud of how they value us.”

Equinox Radio today broadcasts only music online, since the weight of the editorial project is carried by Equinox Magazine. "We realised that it was difficult for the audience to connect at a specific time to listen to the daily radio programme we were doing. We started to transcribe the audio to text on the website, and we saw that it was read much more than it was listened to. It also was very much shared on social media," recalls Chamerois. "We started to cut radio programmes, and due to the huge demand for information during the Covid pandemic, we decided to devote all the effort to Equinox Magazine."

The website is free to access, and offers information on current political and social events, cultural and weekend proposals, and live coverage when there is any important local news. It includes a weekly newsletter and two podcasts (one on Barcelona stories and the other on entrepreneurship).

The sources of revenue are local advertising, branded content, institutional advertising, events and the sale of content to French, Belgian and Canadian media. Equinox Magazine also accepts small private donations. "Donations do not represent an important income, but they help us to have an open channel of engagement and relationship with our audience," says Chamerois.

The name “Equinox” refers to balance, since day and night last the same length of time on the equinox. Chamerois explains that they wanted a media outlet which would unite cultures. “We are a French medium in Catalonia and also a Catalan medium in French,” she says. Nico Salvadó explained it this way in an interview: "Our DNA is half French and half Spanish, it represents the mixture of French and Spanish culture.”

The founders have accumulated several lessons, especially on the management side. "As entrepreneurs, we have learned that we run a business. Many journalists find it hard to accept that role, but you can be a company and maintain your independence," Chamerois acknowledges. "We have also learned to remain innovative, to be audacious, to use our freedom to try things out. The best example is that we were born as an online radio station, and today we are an online magazine."

Last updated: July 2023

Last updated date: August 2023