A weekly newspaper lauded as the UK’s best has launched a one-off plea for financial support with a swipe at similar drives run by bigger publishers.

The Camden New Journal is appealing for reader donations to help protect its “campaigning, investigative journalism” as it marks its 40th anniversary.

The New Journal, an independent and free title, said in an editorial that these were “tough times” and the news industry had never before “faced so much jeopardy”.

But it also hit out at companies “still employing executives on ludicrous wages” and those who “want to take your donations but also pay dividends to shareholders.”

The editorial states: “We are one of the last newspapers to suggest that donations could be made – and we do so hopefully as a singular event.

“You may have found news outlets hounding you for money every time you visit their website. At others, they are asking for donations to maintain ‘campaigning journalism’ with little evidence of any campaigns being run.

“Then there are the appeals that have come from companies still employing executives on ludicrous wages.

“And watch out too for those who want to take your donations but also pay dividends to shareholders. How does that add up?”

The New Journal was jointly named Free Weekly Newspaper of the Year along with the Jewish News at the most recent Regional Press Awards.

The editorial went on to state donations would “simply covering the costs of good, solid journalism, rather than making profit for somebody else”.

It added: “None of the staff has a sports car, none of us holidays in Barbados or St Tropez; our motivation is simply to maintain Camden’s community voice as it has now been for four decades.

“Any donation will go straight to your local paper, working on the ground here – with no risk that it will be swallowed up by a conglomerate with hundreds of titles all around the UK.

“We will simply use it to help pay for our reporting operation during this difficult post-lockdown period and while the events, which normally advertise locally, are only slowly returning.”

The campaign comes after the CNJ sent a van full of supplies to Ukrainian refugees following an appeal for doantions. The campaign’s success provided a splash for the paper last week, pictured above.