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We believe that journalism¹ has the power and the responsibility to make a positive impact on society: helping people navigate their lives, providing them with the information and the context they need to meaningfully participate in their communities, and strengthening democracy.
We believe that a people-centred approach² is a necessary condition to guarantee the financial sustainability of the industry, albeit not a sufficient one: creating products and experiences that add value to people’s lives is the main factor leading to a sustainable business.
We believe that people who are curious about a better future for journalism must come together to imagine entirely new products and experiences without feeling constrained by the way things are and might have always been, embracing an attitude of purposeful playfulness to create novel ideas and solutions – just as alchemists worked to turn base metals into gold.
News Alchemists is a movement that helps everyone in journalism put people’s needs and curiosity and the benefit of society at the centre of everything they do.
We work together to learn how we can measure the success of our organisations not just in engagement and profit but in the value our journalism creates – and make every single editorial and business decision based on maximising that value. We work on this mission by:
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Advocating for the importance of embracing a people-centred approach
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Gathering and sharing evidence of how it leads to financial sustainability and higher trust in journalism
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Co-creating radical new solutions that create value for people and society
News Alchemists is a project created in 2024 by Mattia Peretti as part of his ICFJ Knight Fellowship. Mattia Peretti is a learning experience designer, project manager and facilitator, working in journalism and media.
News Alchemists would not exist without the support of designer, artist and facilitator Aslı Sevinç.
The founding members of News Alchemists are Annika Ruoranen, Sannuta Raghu, Shirish Kulkarni, Jeremy Gilbert, Agnes Stenbom, Uli Köppen, Aldana Vales, Feli Carrique, Styli Charalambous, Martin Schori, Laura Krantz McNeill, Nick Petrie, Tshepo Tshabalala, Nikita Roy, and Rishad Patel.