Byline Media Ltd

Imagine getting paid well to write the kind of stories you actually care about. And imagine never having to see another ‘listicle’, ‘native ad’, or even any kind of advert. That’s the goal of Byline, a new platform for truly independent journalism. Byline uses crowdfunding to directly match readers with journalists. For journalists: Byline offers the prospect of a regular income. We also offer tools to engage readers; incentives to encourage more readers to pay; and, a distribution platform to grow the journalist's overall audience. There is no all-powerful editor, and no pressure from advertisers. We directly match journalists with paying readers. Journalists with top-quality backgrounds are already signing up. For readers: Make your bespoke newspaper - Byline recommends work based on your tastes, unbundling 'the news' to give you only what you want. And in return for payment, gain benefits from the journalist, such as exclusive content like interview notes, and the right to ask questions, or suggest future content. Those who join will be part of a group that includes: The National Union of Journalists; NKNews, The Tab, the feminist writer Julie Bindel, who will visit forty different countries to investigate prostitution; former reporters from the iconic but now defunct San Francisco Bay Guardian; veteran British investigative journalist Graham Johnson; and others such as a Kenyan journalist on LGBT life in that country, a Vice reporter on the lives of dictators’ children, and a Spanish journalist with access to new information on the killing of Che Guevara. We are also planning to launch with columns from a few esteemed, provocative and insightful commentators: ‘heterodox’ economist Ha-joon Chang, author of “When China Rules the World” Martin Jacques, FT “Agony Uncle” columnist and founder of Shanghai Tang Sir David Tang, and two leading intellectuals on the Israel and Palestine conflict, Norman Finkelstein and Benny Morris.