The Nerve, the publication launched six months ago by five former Observer journalists including Carole Cadwalladr, is expanding its team.
The outlet is hiring two investigative journalists and two columnists, saying the “incredible support” from paying readers has allowed it to do so.
They include Sangita Myska, who was a regular host on LBC until her time at the station was ended “prematurely”, as political commentator.
Listeners speculated that her departure was linked to an interview she carried out with an Israeli government spokesperson and The Nerve noted that she has “gained a name for her fearless commentary on Gaza”.
The Nerve was launched by Cadwalladr (its investigative journalist), ex-Observer New Review deputy editor Sarah Donaldson (now Nerve editor-in-chief), editor Jane Ferguson (now executive editor) and senior editor Imogen Carter (now head of culture), and former Observer creative director Lynsey Irvine (now also creative director).
They used their redundancy payments from Guardian News & Media to launch the brand, having chosen not to transfer from GNM to Tortoise Media when The Observer was sold in April 2025.
The Nerve launched at the end of September, promising culture journalism that connects the dots with tech, politics and art.
More than 900 paying subscribers signed up in its first week.
The Nerve now has 30,000 paying and free subscribers and has had 2.5 million total page views.
The Nerve has hosted ten member events so far in Manchester, Liverpool and London.
Paid subscriptions are its main source of revenue but it also generates income through ad placements on Beehiiv, the publishing platform it uses, and has received some philanthropic grants to support its public interest investigations.
The founders noted The Nerve has more combined followers on X and Bluesky (52,700) than The Observer’s main accounts (49,400), which had to start its digital presence from scratch after leaving GNM.
The Nerve is now hiring four new journalists to join the team, which currently has regular contributors including former Observer columnists Stewart Lee and Philippa Perry.
Editor-in-chief Donaldson said: “We left The Observer just over a year ago having taken redundancy and opted for a very uncertain future.
“It honestly feels nothing short of a miracle that just six months in, having taken the decision to leap off the cliff, we are able to recruit two leading investigative reporters and two big-name columnists
“If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have said this was impossible, but we’ve built Nerve from the ground up because we’ve had this incredible support from our readers. We believed there was a gap for a title that combined investigations and political analysis with brilliantly curated cultural coverage and events, and we’ve found a really supportive audience in tune with that we’re doing.
“We have no big investors. The support of our readers and the energy of our team has enabled us to do this – and these four exceptional journalists exemplify what we are trying to do.”
Myska will write a twice-monthly column for The Nerve. She said: “The members of the all-female founders’ team are, like me, seasoned professionals who honed their skills in the
mainstream.
“We believe it’s fearless, independent, value driven journalism that will meet the challenge of the rise of the hard right as it merges with Big Tech. I’m excited to be part of a team that will offer readers a much needed alternative in the corporate media landscape.”
She will be joined by Cory Doctorow, author of the recent book Enshittification, who will write an insider’s guide to Silicon Valley and tech economics.
Alice McCool, who The Nerve said “has written about dark money flows into UK organisations, particularly linked to gender and LGBTQ issues”, is joining from the Good Law Project where they are an investigative journalist.
McCool picked up the Innovation of the Year award at Press Gazette’s British Journalism Awards in 2022 for helping to create Eco-Bot.Net, an AI-powered, open-data platform that tracked and analysed corporate greenwashing and climate disinformation.
Also joining as an investigative reporter and feature writer is Lucia Osborne-Crowley, who currently works as a UK court reporter for Law360 and has written three books including The Lasting Harm, an account of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.
Cadwalladr said the new investigative reporters would help build on The Nerve’s coverage including an investigation into AI surveillance firm Palantir.
The outlet has collaborated on investigations with Dutch outlet Follow the Money, El País in Spain and Austria’s Der Standard.
“Lucia’s track record speaks for itself: she’s an exceptional journalist and writer whose coverage of the Ghislaine trial is the epitome of having Nerve,” Cadwalladr said.
“And Alice’s investigative work into far right money flows into the UK is key to the Nerve’s core journalistic mission.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
