Mobilized News: building cooperative media
We’re interviewing people already creating media through cooperation, shared ownership or collective production. We want to understand what works, what remains difficult and what others can learn.
- Who are you, and what is your role?
Please provide your preferred name, title, organization, location and the communities you serve. - What does “cooperative media” mean in your organization?
Describe your legal structure and how ownership, decision-making and participation actually work. - What problem brought your organization into existence?
When did you begin operating, and what need were existing media or production companies failing to meet? - What has changed most in your work during the past six months?
Identify a specific development and explain its practical impact on your members or productions. - Which recent production best demonstrates your approach?
Provide its title, release date, participating partners and what made its production cooperative. - Who has a meaningful voice in decisions?
Explain who can vote, how leaders are selected and how disagreements are resolved. - How are contributors paid and credited?
Describe compensation, revenue sharing and how you handle unpaid work. - Who owns the finished work and the underlying rights?
Explain how copyright, licensing, distribution income and creative control are allocated. - How does the organization fund its work?
Identify your main revenue sources and any conditions that could influence editorial or production decisions. - What evidence shows whether your model is financially sustainable?
Share figures you can disclose, specifying the reporting period and whether they are audited, internally recorded or estimated. - What measurable difference has cooperation made for creators?
Provide evidence involving income, costs, access to equipment, working conditions or distribution—and a comparison where available. - How do you verify facts before publication?
Describe your sourcing, review and corrections process, including who is accountable when something is wrong. - How do you protect editorial independence?
Give an example of how you handled pressure from a funder, member, advertiser or distribution partner. - How are you using—or choosing not to use—AI in production?
Explain your current practices concerning verification, consent, copyright, compensation and disclosure. - Where is your organization most vulnerable to disruption?
Consider funding, cybersecurity, platform dependence or the loss of key people. What safeguards have you actually implemented? - Has cooperation helped you prevent a problem from becoming a crisis?
Describe a specific case, the early warning signs, the action taken and what evidence supports the outcome. - What has not worked as expected?
Share a setback or unresolved tension, what you changed and what others should understand before adopting your model. - What would another community need to reproduce your approach?
Identify the essential skills, resources and conditions—and which parts depend on your particular circumstances. - What collaboration opportunities are available now or in the next six months?
Explain what partners could contribute, what they would receive and how to participate. Distinguish confirmed opportunities from proposals. - What should Mobilized independently verify before publishing this interview?
Please identify supporting documents, relevant public records, people we can approach separately and any important limitations in your answers.