Radical collaboration in a time of existential transformation

Journalism faces an existential crisis. AI disrupts traditional workflows, ad revenues collapse, audiences fragment across platforms, and news deserts expand worldwide. Amid this upheaval, one strategy emerges as essential: radical collaboration.
But collaboration means different things. This panel brings together pioneers of three distinct models that are reshaping journalism's future. ICFJ and Code for Africa merged their organizational strengths—global networks meet African technology innovation—to create Plus Hub, shared infrastructure that provides free AI, tech stacks, security tools and strategic coaching to journalists worldwide. Hearken transforms audiences from passive consumers into active co-creators who drive coverage decisions through participatory processes. CLIP coordinates cross-border investigations with partners like Bellingcat and Forbidden Stories, providing security support, encrypted collaboration platforms, and international distribution networks that protect journalists while amplifying impact.
Together, these speakers demonstrate how collaboration—between organizations, with communities, and across continents—offers journalism's most promising path forward.
This panel showcases collaboration at three crucial levels:
Organisational: The Plus Hub merges ICFJ's global training networks with Code for Africa's network across 26 African countries. The result: journalists gain no-cost access to collaborative OSINT dashboards, AI-powered verification tools, and data analytics platforms. This shared infrastructure model directly addresses news deserts by pooling resources no single organization could afford alone.
Community: Hearken redesigns journalism's relationship with audiences. Instead of treating the public as consumers measured by clicks and shares, Hearken helps newsrooms design systems that listen, respond, and evolve with their communities. Research shows this approach increases both subscriber revenue and community trust—turning audiences into stakeholders who invest in journalism's survival.
Cross-border: CLIP proves investigative journalism can cross continents through coordinated collaboration. When Mexican journalists faced death threats while investigating colleague Miroslava Breach's murder, CLIP created a safe space for anonymous publication, brought in Bellingcat for open-source analysis, and partnered with Forbidden Stories for international distribution. The investigation went public. The journalists survived. Since 2019, CLIP has coordinated nearly 100 media partners across Latin America, demonstrating that "the tide lifts all boats"—collaboration multiplies impact rather than diluting it.
Each model addresses different aspects of journalism's crisis while sharing a core principle: value comes not from being first but from working together to deepen quality, expand reach, and rebuild trust.
Moderated by Maggie Farley.
Organised in association with International Center for Journalists.