Mission: Fair Observer aims to inform and educate global citizens of today and tomorrow.
Fair Observer is an independent, nonprofit media organization that engages in citizen journalism and civic education.Â
Our digital media platform has nearly 2,500 authors from over 90 countries, cutting across borders, backgrounds and beliefs. With fact-checking and a rigorous editorial process, we provide diversity and quality in an era of echo chambers and fake news.
We are democratizing the global discourse. Anyone can publish with us from around the world. All we ask is that people make fact-based, well-reasoned arguments and follow our Editorial Guidelines. Democracy depends on discourse and suffers when there is censorship or cacophony.
Our editors come from around the world, too. We train them regularly to ensure they keep up our quality standards. As you know, social media has no editorial oversight. In contrast, our largely volunteer editors hold our authors accountable, providing a global public good for everyone with no paywalls blocking access.
Note that our crowdsourced volunteer model is based on our educational and training programs. We conduct these for editors, authors and others on subjects such as writing, editing, critical thinking and more. Specifically, we inspire young people around the world to be more engaged citizens and to participate in a global discourse.
We believe democracy is in crisis partly because journalism is suffering. If people are not informed and educated, they make poor choices. Social media has shortened attention spans, peddled falsehoods and promoted polarization because of its attention-grabbing and profit-maximizing model.
As a nonprofit, we are free from owners and advertisers. We have swum against the tide when journalism is shrinking. In 2021, Pew Research Center found that newsroom employment fell by 26% between 2008 and 2020. It is for this reason that we have come up with a new crowdsourced, cost-effective model of journalism based on your donations to achieve our mission.
The US Internal Revenue Service has granted section 501(c)(3) status to Fair Observer with Employer Identification Number (EIN) 46-4070943. The US Library of Congress recognizes the media platform — https://www.fairobserver.com/ — as an online journal: ISSN 2372-9112.
