With “De Correspondent”, we follow the Unbreaking.
Unbreaking news. Two words we are not used to seeing side to side. However, this phrase absolutely depicts the identity of “De Correspondent”, a news website which was launched on September 2013 in Amsterdam, through a crowdfunding world record, by raising $1,7 million from 19.000 backers.
But what is the thing that makes this website so different from all the other newsrooms? Why so many people want to fund such an entrepreneurial endeavor? Is there any fresh idea that “De Correspondent” could offer to the global reading audience? What do the founders mean by talking about “Unbreaking News”? Is it just another catchy title or is it supposed to bring radical change to the news world?
We can answer the above questions by taking a closer look not only to the modern news world, but also to the way it works. The people of “De Correspondent”, after re-examining themselves as readers, finally came up with the idea of this unique digital newsroom, aiming to make the reading audience more active in the news production process.
At first, they found out that the main goal of new media, was not so much the individuals’ thorough information, rather than achieving a large number of views and likes. Random news and facts “conquer” the whole world for a while and then, they disappear, being registered as “documents”, until something similar comes up. In the meantime, people worldwide are not aware of who controls the data they receive, being quite disinterested in the news distribution, when, in fact, the everyday crowd is whom consists the main character of the global occurrences.
By launching this website, the founders, decided to give the opportunity to the once passive audience, to express their thoughts on anything they are interested in, through an online journalistic news platform, which also preserves some important values, such as co-operation spirit, membership and ad-free posts. Based on “membership”, not on “subscription”, “De Correspondent” makes its people the main members of a community, in which they interact, exchange thoughts and absolutely complete each other, without being just another “subscriber”, who only read, watch and learn stories and incidents.
“De Correspondent” believes in its readers’ power, perceiving them as the most important source of information. The founders of the newsroom invite people to become active members and discover this alternative kind of co-operative journalism, along with them.
From the beginning, “De Correspondent” had adopted ten (10) basic principles, which made the website stand out. First of all, it is an antidote to the daily news grind, based on the fact that news is mostly about what happens just today and not about what happens every day, which leaves people almost uninformed. “De Correspondent” wants to redefine what news is about by focusing to the foundational facts. Secondly, it is an ad-free news website that provides qualitative journalism, while at the same time; people of “De Correspondent” fight all kinds of stereotypes, prejudice and fearmongering. Moreover, the website aims to give solutions to the problems, instead of just covering them up, putting, always, the collaboration with its members at the first place.
Furthermore, the website wants to be as inclusive as possible, aiming to include members with different opinions, from a broad variety of backgrounds, in order for them to interact with each other, leading to the world’s awakening. At the same time, “De Correspondent” is always open to new ideas, while protecting its’ members privacy, by minimizing the personal data it collects, and is, also, against modern era’s dominant entrepreneurial model, which actually aims to financial maximization. Last but not least, the founders of “De Correspondent” wish for the maximization of their members’ trust, while putting above all, the qualitative journalism, transparency and continued self-improvement.
In this day, the time has finally come, that an innovative and unusual journey at the world of journalism is about to start!
Aiming to the assemblage of $ 2,5 million, the founders of “De Correspondent”, wish to launch the newsroom in the springtime of 2019. The amount of money was gathered smoothly, with, of course, the help of its members, who were willing to offer as much as they could afford, thus earning a free year of active participation in the platform. Today, the process has been completed with absolute success, always with the decisive contribution of the 45,888 members, currently being part of “De Correspondent” family, who managed to raise $2,627,070 million.
The “Unbreaking News”, with which “De Correspondent” whishes to inform, as well as extend the horizons, of its audience, creators and other participants of the platform, comes to overturn the way the “everyday news” are transmitted and received both. In this case, that kind of news, does not reflect in any way just the events that come crushing the everyday life’s routine, rather than the typical, as well as unconventional stories and situations experienced by humanity. And that’s because these are, in fact, the news, where one has to look for the true messages and the real essence of life, which, in the long run, is the thing that really matters and the one, that could bring an actual change to the world.
While many people are distraught only by the view of the title “Breaking News”, some manage to keep their temper and look for a deeper meaning. Why not all?
Follow the Unbreaking.
