“Anjan Sundaram shines a light on inspirational humanity in some of the world’s most important wars, for which he has been called one of the great reporters of our age.” — TED.com
Origins of Stringer News
Stringer News is a media distribution platform that complements the philanthropic mission of The Stringer Foundation, which was conceived during conversations with philanthropists after my MainStage talk at TED 2024.
The Stringer News platform addresses the crisis in global journalism that has resulted from pressures from authoritarian regimes and organized crime, failing business models, misaligned leadership, and dwindling community. Freelance reporting has become extremely risky and financially precarious, yet such reporters play a vital role by bringing controversial, overlooked, and critically important global news stories to audiences around the world, while shining a light on the plight of the world's most vulnerable populations.
Freelance reporters lack uncensorable news outlets to publish stories, are increasingly underpaid, and lack community, and they are easily isolated and targeted by authoritarian regimes, lawyers, and criminals, resulting in publishing, financial, and health challenges that few independent reporters are equipped, trained, or resourced to face. As an independent journalist, I've experienced firsthand the financial, physical, and personal pressures and sacrifices required to report on some of the world's most pressing yet underreported stories.
Stringer News Mission
Stringer News is an uncensorable, Nostr-enabled, global news platform that amplifies and distributes critical yet marginalized human rights stories alongside mainstream news content, while also innovating in journalism to enable payments and messaging. Its vision is to rival the major global news platforms as an equitable news source, while breaking down inequities and barriers between stories and audiences.
The Stringer News platform aggregates content from across The Stringer Foundation's community as well as its partner organizations--from journalists as well as human rights activists--innovating a new model of open-source journalism and content production that restores trust in the media and in the news at a time of rising distrust, with grave consequences for democracies and free societies.
Stringer News Impact and Measurement
Stringer News creates impact along three dimensions: on the news stories, on journalists and activists, and on the subjects featured in stories. Its impact is clearly and quantifiably measurable along the following dimensions:
Reach of news stories (daily views, shares, engagement)
Financial freedom of human rights journalists and activists
Financial freedom of key subjects featured in human rights stories