A city magazine is to receive £200,000 of funding to invest in journalism.

The Bristol Cable says it intends to use the cash, granted by the Omidyar Network, for possible projects including hiring a “community media coordinator”, and developing an online platform.

The Omidyar Network is a self-style “philanthropic investment firm” which was launched by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, and has awarded the Cable an unrestricted grant of £100,000 a year for two years.

The Cable was launched in 2014, and is run as a media co-operative with more than 1,700 members contributing an average of £2.50 a month to its running costs.

It currently publishes every three months in print, with 30,000 free copies distributed across Bristol, and also regularly publishes stories online.

The Cable will present its full strategy and plans for spending the grant to members at its next Annual General Meeting on 14 May.

An announcement on the Cable’s website states: “Our main approach will be to invest in the things that will bring and sustain members: producing quality, impactful investigative journalism, supported, informed, produced, and discussed by members.”

“Some of the innovations we’re looking at include hiring a community media coordinator, so we can continue to open the door to the media for a range of people, alongside our training programmes. We will also be investing in developing an online platform to make it easier for members to contribute, discuss, and make decisions about our media.

“This grant is a big responsibility. As we work towards our long-term aim of being mainly funded by member contributions, we’re working hard to strengthen our organisation by ensuring our policies, procedures and strategies are up to scratch.

“We’ve still got some way to go to get to this stage. But we’re hopeful that with the continued support and contributions of our members and (the many still needed!) future members, we will continue to reshape what local media means. We have to.”

A spokesman for the Omidyar Network said: “The Cable’s ethos and practice is driven by a determination to turn readers from consumers into producers and owners of their media. This relationship is a radical departure from the traditional model of local news media.”