The Correspondent: Innovative journalism platform for "Unbreaking News" is shutting down

This week is the culmination of an effort to launch an ad free, membership model journalism site called The Correspondent - it builds on a hugely successful launch in the Netherlands. I’ve joined and given a gift membership to help fund the launch - I believe this kind of digital journalism builds on everything we know about humane use of technology - I encourage forum members to take a look and consider supporting it: https://thecorrespondent.com/

The Correspondent

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Yes, I fully support this initiative and will join the crowdfunding. Saw the founder on CNN yesterday, and know him from Dutch TV. I think if they make it, we can follow the Correspondent as an exemplar of Humane Tech. Thank you @khkey, for posting this.

Spread the word, and share this Tweet and this Mastodon Toot.

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Ha, it seems like they will reach their crowdfunding target with ease. They just increased the target from 2.2M Euro to 2.5M. Bit sneaky, though. Humane? :clown_face: :slight_smile:

Could you say more? My understanding is that their target has always been $2.5 million (not Euro) - that’s what I’ve seen in all their communications - did I miss something?

Oww, it is good that you are pointing that out, Karen. When I saw 2.5M I did a search and found 2.2M Euro. But it was the first time I checked from mobile. And contrary to my laptop, there it shows the amount in Dollars. Cause of my confusion found, and I stand corrected. I edited prior comment, added clown face :slight_smile:

I’m just relieved that there isn’t any game playing there - I believe the kind of approach they’re taking is so needed, and as far as I have been able to research who they are and what they’ve already done they have struck me as very legitimate - I’ve joined and given gifts of membership - I’m so hoping we’ll all have access to this form of digital journalism.

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Totally agree. It’s direly needed.

Yes, it’s all great! Except, you don’t get paid writing a piece for it as a journalist/reporter. The majority of the people writing for them at the moment are well-known authors, publicists, etc., who don’t need the money. So once again, very bad for the rest of us out there, trying to make a living as a journalist/reporter.

Okay, good to know. Do you have that experience with the Dutch version of the Correspondent?

If that is the case, then it is an interesting subject to think about on this forum, and we can make them aware that we intend to make them an Exemplar of Humane Technology, and involve them in discussions on what that entails.

In this Medium article, they say they’ll be hiring. It’s hard to imagine they can hire people without paying them.

From February we’ll be hiring correspondents, editors, developers, and designers. Let us know if you’re interested in being part of the team here.

To my regret The Correspondent will stop their services at the end of the year. Their vision of bringing “Unbreaking News” was really appealing, and their founding principles are an exemplar for journalism platforms.

The Correspondent founding principles

1. We are your antidote to the daily news grind

2. We do not take ad dollars of any kind

3. We fight stereotypes, prejudice, and fearmongering

4. We don’t just cover the problem, but also what can be done about it

5. We collaborate with you, our knowledgeable members

6. We don’t take the view from nowhere. We tell you where we’re coming from

7. We protect your privacy, by minimizing the personal data we collect

8. We want to be as inclusive as possible

9. We always put journalism before financial gain

10. We believe in transparency and continued self-improvement

Here’s the sad announcement:

I changed the title of this topic (which was about the first announcement of the platform) to reflect its end-of-life.