Bringing quality information to TikTok and Insta

Dear Reader,

Tens of millions of Americans get their “news” from TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. And very often, what they’re getting isn’t real news. Ask a 15-year-old if they know the source of their news, and the answer is often their friend or favorite influencer on Insta. The Conversation is now getting into the mix and bringing to them the people who should be influential because they do know what they’re talking about – the real experts. 

This is in some ways harder than the written articles we’ve focused on for years. Translating a thousand words of facts into an interesting minute of video that upholds our standards of accuracy and trustworthiness takes new skills and new ways of thinking.

We need your help to become a trustworthy source of information for new audiences on video platforms and social media. Each short video we adapt from one of our articles requires a significant investment of staff time and effort: writing, fact-checking, working with the academic author on shooting a video, editing the video, and posting it across multiple platforms.

Some of our recent TikToks

With the help of a small grant from the Institute for Nonprofit News, we’ve started experimenting – and bringing expertise on subjects ranging from constitutional law to microplastic pollution, from Islam to nutrition. These videos, narrated by the researchers and professors, are starting to reach a growing audience.

Will you help us grow our video efforts today? Your donation will play a key role in helping us bring The Conversation’s journalism to the people who need it most.

Video represents a new opportunity to expand the model of The Conversation and bring quality information onto platforms where it is sorely lacking.

Luckily, this isn’t rocket science (although if it turns out to be, we have aeronautical engineers who can explain it). But it requires resources, and that’s why we need your help.

Thank you in advance for partnering with us in this effort.

With thanks,

P.S. We’re giving away an e-book to every donor on how AI is making a difference to our world. If you make a major gift of $1,000 or more, we’ll mail you the latest release from our Critical Conversations book series. It’s a thought-provoking collection of some of our most insightful articles on higher education.

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