Civil’s growing community of newsrooms
100 and Counting!
Starting today, Civil is opening the door to news organizations from around the world. That means any newsroom that practices ethical journalism can sign on to be part of our grand Civil experiment in community owned and operated platform. (Click here to get started). What began with our group of pioneering “first fleet” newsrooms is now open to anyone.
Why Civil? News organizations are struggling with financial sustainability, decreasing levels of trust and increasing budget constraints. This year alone, over more than 2,000 journalists have lost their jobs in the U.S., continuing a trend that has decimated newsrooms in the last 15 years. Meanwhile, the threat to journalists has increased. Seventy-eight journalists were killed last year around the world, with another 326 journalists imprisoned for their work in 2017. If it were just a question of journalists losing their livelihoods and, increasingly, their lives, it would be reason enough for urgent action. But the impact of this reality on the whole world has been massive — depriving citizens everywhere of the information they need to fully participate in society and depriving them of their right to hold their governments accountable.
These are the challenges have inspired us to act with a decentralized community that will support news organizations with both sustainability and trust. The Civil Foundation is providing newsrooms with support and mentoring, educational programming, discounts and freebies, archiving and monetization tools and a community of like-minded journalists.
More than 100 organizations from five continents are joining so far.
Here are just a few:
Rappler (Philippines)
Rappler is a critical, independent voice in a country whose government is increasingly targeting and lashing out against press freedom. Rappler’s founder, Maria Ressa, has been continuously targeted with politically motivated legal attacks. We recently published a Q&A with her on this topic, and what’s next for Rappler and Civil. Here’s what Maria told us: “There are lots of people trying to work on the same solution. This is part of why we’re joining Civil. I want to be part of the global community, and Civil has [the right] principles. This is also where I think that social media platforms should be going.”
Transitions (Czech Republic)
Transitions (TOL) is a nonprofit focused on independence and impact journalism in the post-communist countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union. In additional to featuring original reporters, they also conduct journalism and media training for reporters in the region. Here’s what Executive Director and Editor in Chief Jeremy Drucker had to say: “As in other parts of the world, the lack of trust in the media in Central and Eastern Europe is a critical factor in the spread of disinformation. That’s one of the reasons why we are particularly excited to be an early member of Civil and its groundbreaking, self-regulating community approach, designed to weed out the bad actors. In this day and age, we really need experiments like Civil to figure out the road ahead.”
Libya Institution for Investigative Journalism (Libya) launching soon
A new news organization that will focus on in-depth investigative reporting in Libya. CEO Moutaz Ali told us: “As we have a special interest to promote Investigative Journalism in Libya, we are very keen to join Civil [as a] newsroom, which opens wide new horizons for journalists and journalism in general by [offering a] diverse marketplace for local, international and investigative journalism.”
ADN Sur (Argentina)
ADNSUR is the largest newsroom in Argentinean Patagonia offering regional perspective on national and international affairs. Here’s what founder Ana Tronfi has to say: “Civil offers the journalists of ADNSUR a window to the world from Patagonia Argentina… [As part of] Civil, we aspire to add new tools to our work in what we consider a daily task: to exercise quality journalism and to build bridges of trust and credibility before our audiences.”
El Intercambio (Guatemala)
El Intercambio is a data journalism outlet covering social and political issues in Central America, and how they impact the wider world. Founder Ximena Villagrán says, “We wanted to join Civil to experiment with new financing models and expand our support networks and relationships with other independent media.”
Gotham Gazette (New York)
Gotham Gazette is a pioneering nonpartisan New York City-based online watchdog publication that covers city and state government and has a rich tradition of reporting on local elections as well as policy that affects everything from the spaces where New Yorkers live and play to police tactics and civil rights. “We at Gotham Gazette are excited to join the Civil community as part of our effort to reach more people who care about good local news reporting and tap into expertise that leaders of other publications may offer to members of this new network.” — Ben Max, Gotham Gazette Executive Editor
Datadista (Spain)
One of Spain’s fastest growing newsrooms, Datadista is an investigative newsroom focused on better explaining the reality that surrounds us and exposing corruption where it exists. Founder Ana Tudela is particularly excited about using blockchain stating “important part of the damage caused by the copy+paste and the clickbait era… If it is traceable, you can know where it comes from. Can you imagine a better weapon in the future against fake news? Let’s start using it.”
Other newsrooms joining Civil include:
Monday Note (Paris) This must-read blog and newsletter that has been covering digital media business models and technology since 2007 founded by long term journalist and entrepreneur Frederic Filloux.
The Forward (New York). Founded in 1897 as a daily newspaper, the Forward focuses on news of relevance to American Jews, including issues, arts, culture and opinion.
The Clinic (Chile) A widely-read Chilean newspaper that offers analysis and opinion on politics, culture and current affairs that’s been publishing a mix of news and satire for more than 20 years.
All of these newsrooms will begin to appear on the the Civil Registry over the coming weeks. We look forward to many more in the months and years to come.
If you’re a news organization interested in joining Civil, please click here.
If you’re a citizen interesting in becoming Civil Member, click here.
And if you’re just interesting in making a donation to the Civil Foundation, Click here.
Thanks!
