Five new and interesting summer launches on our radar

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The journalism industry never stops innovating. While many take a summer break, the entrepreneurs and creators among us continue building solutions to some of our biggest challenges.

From expanding source diversity to discovering new sources of freelance work, here are five tools reshaping how we gather, create, and distribute news.

Bring women's voices to your reporting

Quote This Woman+ is an organisation dedicated to “transforming gender representation in the media landscape by promoting women+ voices and narratives that reflect African demographics and perspectives.” Their website features a database of women experts that you can filter by field of expertise (politics, migration, economy etc.), with the advantage of all users being verified. This is especially important in a time AI-generated “experts” infiltrating similar databases.

Connecting citizen journalists and local newsrooms

Beyond sourcing, verification remains crucial, especially for user-generated content. PressHop has just launched an app that allows freelancers (or members of the public) to capture newsworthy events as they unfold and sell them to local publications. The top feature is user verification, which aims to eliminate dodgy submissions and help speed up content verification.

As for the creators, they can capture and sell their content straight from their phones, either exclusively to one publication or upload it to a marketplace for everyone to see. Newsrooms can also commission local creators via the app to capture local events.

New Substack for discovering freelance gigs

Speaking of freelancers, a new Substack newsletter by journalist Amy Palmer, Writing Leads UK, shares fresh gigs every week. The model is clever: non-paying subscribers get a sample of what’s on offer, while those who pay get full access. You can sign up for £5 monthly or £46 annually. The thinking here is that a modest paywall will keep subscriber numbers lower so you don’t end up with thousands of people pitching for the same opportunities.

Creating viral video content

Once you've secured the work, the next challenge is reaching new audiences. Sophiana, the new tool by journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer, helps you script, produce and share viral videos with your audience. Whether you are looking to make more explainers or reach younger audiences, vertical video is a format journalists can no longer afford to ignore. A free version gives you limited access to features, while the paid-for version will transform your phone into a mini-production studio, complete with a built-in teleprompter. The app also works in Spanish and Arabic.

Fact-checking and bias-detecting tool

New online tool Stringer wants to help journalists fact-check information by cross-referencing it against a database of credible sources like government agencies, academic research, and verified news organisations. The tool promises to flag claims that can't be substantiated, and it suggests sources for verification.

What did we miss? Let us know