UK publishing association develops specialist reference projects covering overlooked materials as part of a growing independent publishing ecosystem
The Materials Journalism Foundation is expanding its work in specialist independent publishing, developing a growing collection of reference publications concerned with materials, substances, objects, craft traditions and the physical culture of everyday life.
The Foundation is a UK unincorporated association established to support accessible public-interest information about subjects that are often fragmented between technical literature, historical archives, academic work and specialist publications.
Its current publishing projects include tar.fyi, an independent reference publication dedicated to tar, pitch, resinous materials, traditional coatings and historic uses, alongside Paper101, a specialist publication concerned with paper, its manufacture, dimensions, forms and applications.
The Foundation’s work is based on a deliberately narrow idea: ordinary materials deserve serious journalism and reference material of their own.
Tar, paper, timber, lime, metals, pigments, fibres, stone, glass and other everyday substances have played substantial roles in industry, architecture, transport, craft, agriculture and domestic life, while reliable information about them is often difficult to find in one accessible place.
The Materials Journalism Foundation was established to help close that gap.
TAR joins the Information Economy Alliance
TAR.fyi has now become an accredited member of the Information Economy Alliance, an independent network administered by SCRIBE for publications operating outside the largest mainstream media institutions.
The Alliance brings together independent and specialist publications while leaving editorial control with each individual member.
Its existing membership spans general news, local reporting, specialist reference publishing, research and independent analysis.
TAR’s membership reflects a broader definition of what useful independent publishing can look like.
The publication is not primarily a breaking-news service. Instead, it has been developed as a focused reference archive intended to answer questions about a single family of materials clearly, accurately and accessibly.
Its coverage includes the properties and historical uses of tar, different forms of tar and pitch, traditional coatings, maritime applications, craft uses and the terminology surrounding materials which are frequently confused with one another.
The Information Economy Alliance’s accreditation framework recognises publications with a serious editorial purpose, a meaningful publishing record and compatibility with the Alliance’s principles.
Membership does not transfer editorial authority to the Alliance and does not constitute statutory or governmental press accreditation.
Building specialist publications around overlooked subjects
The Materials Journalism Foundation’s approach differs from the increasingly broad model adopted by many digital publishers.
Rather than building one publication intended to cover everything, the Foundation has begun developing tightly focused reference projects around individual materials.
Tar.fyi exists for tar.
Paper101 exists for paper.
The intention is that each publication can develop sufficient depth to become genuinely useful to readers looking for answers about a particular material without requiring them to navigate a larger general-interest publication.
The Foundation describes its work as informational and educational rather than advisory. Its publications distinguish between historical use and contemporary guidance and do not substitute for professional advice in fields including engineering, construction, conservation, chemistry or safety.
Part of a growing independent publishing ecosystem
TAR’s admission to the Information Economy Alliance comes during a period of wider development among a number of independent publishing projects associated with the Alliance.
Sheffield-based Astronomica Ltd recently announced an expansion of its own work across publishing, design, digital communications and media services.
Astronomica, founded in 2023, has developed projects spanning book publishing, websites, creative services and independent online media. Its recent expansion brings those activities into a broader publishing and communications operation.
The company is directed by publisher and designer Q. G. Wingfield, whose work has increasingly involved the development of independent publications, publishing infrastructure and projects concerned with how information reaches readers online.
The result is an emerging network in which a publication does not need to resemble a conventional newspaper in order to perform a useful informational function.
A site answering detailed questions about paper or tar may occupy a very different editorial niche from a local newspaper or current-affairs publication, but it still contributes to the wider information economy.
TAR will remain focused
Membership of the Information Economy Alliance will not broaden Tar’s editorial remit.
The publication intends to remain what it was built to be: a resource about tar.
Its existing editorial material covers subjects including how tar dries and softens, why tar historically carried economic value, maritime uses of tar and the distinctions between different tar products.
The Foundation says future development will continue to concentrate on useful evergreen material, terminology, historical context and overlooked material culture rather than pursuing general news for its own sake.
The Foundation also intends to continue developing Paper101 and may establish additional specialist publishing projects where there is a clear informational gap.
The Information Economy Alliance provides those publications with a wider institutional context while allowing each project to retain its own editorial purpose and identity.
About the Materials Journalism Foundation
The Materials Journalism Foundation is a small UK unincorporated association established to publish and support clear public-interest information concerning materials, objects, substances, craft traditions and the physical culture of everyday life.
It operates Tar.fyi and Paper101 as specialist reference publications.
The Foundation is independent, does not currently employ staff and is governed by its constitution.
About TAR.fyi
TAR.fyi is an independent reference publication about tar, pitch, resinous materials, traditional coatings, historic material uses and related subjects.
It is operated by the Materials Journalism Foundation and is an accredited member of the Information Economy Alliance.