News journalists, led by a former war correspondent for PBS, are launching a news platform called Noosphere to respond to a rapidly shifting media industry.
The platform is focused around mobile users and will feature a TikTok-style video feed and content from independent journalists that are vetted by the company, according to Semafor.
“I had essentially built an incredibly successful career in an industry that was collapsing, which is a very weird place to be, where you just collect trophies while the audiences are getting smaller and the finances are not working,” Noosphere CEO Jane Ferguson said. “And it became apparent to me that this was actually terminal, and certainly in the television business.”
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The platform will initially charge subscribers $15 a month, a price that will later increase to $19.99, with the revenue from users being shared among journalists and content creators for Noosphere.
“What we really wanted to do is build the architecture for the best journalists to enter the content creator economy,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson thought of the concept for Noosphere while teaching at Princeton, where she realized the traditional business model for reporters was rapidly disappearing.
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Ferguson is one of a growing number of journalists and entrepreneurs that are moving to seize on rapidly shifting trends in the media industry. It is a transformation that played an especially important role in the 2024 campaign season, with both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris appearing on major podcasts in order to connect with young voters and appeal to a wider demographic base.
Trump appeared on podcast giant Joe Rogan’s show in late October in an interview that has gained over 56 million views since being posted on YouTube alone. News reports have revealed that Harris’ campaign spent over six figures on Harris’ appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
Fox News’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
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