Every generation builds its own defense of truth. Ours begins here.

Every generation builds its own defense of truth. Ours begins here.
Journalists are being hunted, jailed, and silenced. Their investigations buried, their voices extinguished. With each disappeared story, a piece of our collective memory is lost.
Witness.Press makes erasure impossible. We are building the world's first decentralized press-freedom infrastructure — a network where truth cannot be silenced, censored, or erased. Join us in creating a future where every journalist's story endures and no truth dies with its witness.
This is not a media company. It is a covenant between those who risk their lives to tell the truth and those who refuse to let that truth die.
The Crisis: Truth Under Fire
In the past two years, more than two hundred journalists have been killed, detained, or disappeared. Each one carried stories that never reached the world.
This is more than a statistic. It is a systematic assault on memory itself. From the shadow of surveillance states to the brutal force of targeted violence, from coordinated disinformation campaigns to the silent erasure of algorithmic censorship, the very foundations of truth-telling are under unprecedented attack.
Traditional media, despite its best intentions, can no longer guarantee the safety, ownership, or permanence of a reporter’s work. When a journalist falls, their stories too often vanish. When governments censor, entire narratives fade into silence. When platforms de-platform, years of vital reporting can simply cease to exist.
The memory of truth is eroding. We are losing not just the present, but the past. The question is not if we need a new infrastructure for journalism. It is whether we will build it in time.
The Opportunity: A New Architecture for Truth
Technology now allows for something that has never existed before: An infrastructure of truth that cannot be silenced, censored, or erased.
Distributed
No single point of failure. Stories live across a resilient network that cannot be shut down by any one authority or attack.
Encrypted
Military-grade protection for sources, data, and identities. Security built into every layer of the platform.
Human-Powered
Direct connections between journalists and communities who care. No intermediaries. No gatekeepers. Just truth and trust.
Immutable
Timestamped and preserved forever. Once published, stories cannot be altered, deleted, or disappeared.
Not another outlet. An infrastructure for truth itself.
Our Vision
The mission is audacious in its simplicity: To create a world where no journalist's story disappears, and no truth dies with its witness.
Truth is a commons. Journalists are its stewards. Witness.Press is its infrastructure.
Stay Safe
Encrypted check-ins, emergency protocols, and automatic mirroring protect journalists in real-time
Stay Sovereign
Full ownership of data, bylines, and intellectual property — no platform lock-in or control
Stay Supported
Direct community funding for travel, gear, insurance, and protection needs
Stay Seen
Global distribution and verification ensuring work endures and reaches audiences worldwide
The Witness Network: Three Layers of Protection
Safety & Identity Layer: Protection Begins with Presence
Protection begins with presence. Our SOS "Witness Button" ensures live check-ins from any location. Should a journalist fall silent, emergency mirroring immediately uploads their data to distributed servers, creating an unconfiscatable backup. A verified identity registry, maintained with NGOs, secures authenticity while safeguarding anonymity.
Publishing & Preservation Layer: The Permanent Record
Journalists publish live dispatches — text, video, voice — directly to the network. Each piece is immutably timestamped using blockchain and stored on IPFS/Arweave, creating a permanent, tamper-proof record. Our dual-publication protocol allows simultaneous release through existing media partners, amplifying reach while maintaining sovereignty. Once published, stories cannot be altered or erased. They become part of the indelible record of history.
Support & Sustainability Layer: Infrastructure for Survival
This is not charity. It is infrastructure for survival. Every journalist has a direct support profile, enabling patrons to contribute without middlemen. Transparent "needs boards" show specific requirements: from insurance to legal aid. Support flows from monthly patrons, one-time donors, and institutional grants, creating sustainable funding that fortifies editorial independence.
The tools of journalism should protect, not endanger.
This is the Witness Rig. A lightweight, wearable press kit designed for the field — hands-free, voice-activated, always ready. Built for truth, not extraction. It transforms every journalist into a node of verified truth.
01
One-Touch Check-In
A single press: "I'm here. I'm on assignment." Crucial safety data, instantly transmitted. Presence, confirmed.
02
AI-Powered Capture
Audio and video. Live AI transcription. Instant translation. Metadata tagging. Truth, searchable. Shareable.
03
Offline Resilience
No signal? No problem. Local caching secures every word, every image. Auto-upload when connection is restored, even via satellite. Nothing is lost.
04
Hands-Free Operation
Voice commands. Smart glasses. Operate equipment while keeping hands free and eyes forward. The story comes first.
Ethical Design Principles: No data retention by hardware manufacturers. Open hardware specifications. "Witness-Ready Device" certification. Sustainable, repairable. Privacy-first alternatives to Big Tech surveillance platforms.
The Founding Generation
They are the founding generation of a decentralized newsroom.
Two hundred voices forming a global constellation of presence, protection, and permanence.
$15M
Series A Investment Need
Funding to launch the network and prove the model
200
Founding Journalists
Creating continuous content and proof of concept
40+
Countries Covered
A truly global network from day one
$12M
Year 1 Operating Budget
Salaries, safety, tech development, and operations
The Market: Truth-Seekers Everywhere
Where the traditional newsroom ends, the Witness Network begins.
1.1M Professional Journalists
The global landscape of truth-tellers
3.4M Documentarians
The expanded ecosystem of witnesses
50+ Press Freedom NGOs
Allies in the fight for transparency
Our Foundations: Built on Proven Pillars
Witness.Press draws strength from models that reshaped industries, adapting their core principles for the fight for truth. From GitHub, we embrace shared infrastructure for collaboration. From Substack, the power of independent voices. From ArtStation, the impact of discovery to amplify work. From Wikipedia, the principle of open verification for unwavering trust. From Patreon, the understanding that emotional connection fuels enduring support.
Protection
Like GitHub's version control protects code, we protect journalists and their work
Independence
Like Substack freed writers, we free journalists from institutional control
Permanence
Like Wikipedia preserves knowledge, we preserve truth immutably and transparently
Independence must be funded — but never bought.
1
Individual Support (Primary)
90/10 revenue split with journalists on Patreon-style patronage. Supporters fund reporters directly, with minimal platform fees covering transaction costs only.
2
Institutional Partnerships
Verification API licensing, syndication rights, and safety module subscriptions for media organizations who want to enhance their own infrastructure.
3
Foundation Grants
Support from Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, Mozilla Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation for public-interest technology development.
4
Enterprise SaaS
White-label tools for NGOs, universities, and research institutions who need secure reporting and verification infrastructure.
This is truth powered by the people who value it most.
Trust is Our First Architecture
Truth Cannot Be Bought. It Must Be Sustained.
Truth cannot be bought — but it can be sustained by those who believe in it.
Witness.press accepts only curated sponsorships and stewardship contributions. These partnerships enhance journalists' safety, visibility, and reach, always without editorial influence. We operate on a "Public Trust, Private Support" model, reimagined for the global, digital, decentralized press.
Sponsorship Tiers
Ethical Firewall & Transparency
No brand logos or advertising in story content or videos
No direct funder-journalist contact without Witness Foundation mediation
No sponsorships from companies involved in arms, surveillance, fossil fuels, or state-run propaganda
All donations routed through Witness.press Foundation, which disperses funds based on need, geography, and risk profile
Quarterly Transparency Ledger publicly displays all donors, amounts, and allocations — powered by blockchain verification
Like public broadcasters, our sponsors support the platform and its mission. Never the message.
The Cost of Truth
Our Commitment
200 journalists worldwide, each paid $3,000/month salary + $5,000 annual stipend ($41,000/year)
Total annual salary cost: ≈ $8.2 million
Platform, ops, and tech overhead ≈ 40%
Total budget target: ≈ $12 million per year
Goal: cover at least 70–80% of this cost through sponsorship + patronage by Year 2–3
Sustaining the Architecture
The Promise of Sustainability
Year 1: $6.5M–$9.0M (Mid Case: $7.7M)
Year 2: $10.5M–$14.0M (Mid Case: $12.0M)
Year 3: $16.0M–$24.5M (Mid Case: $20.5M)
Key Milestones
Break-even: between Month 14–18 under mid-case growth
Self-sustainability threshold: 150 journalist patrons + 5 major underwriters + 25K micro-donors
By Year 2, recurring base can support all 200 journalists without continuous venture infusions
"Witness.press operates like PBS for the world's frontline journalists — a public good sustained by enlightened patrons, ethical sponsors, and everyday citizens who refuse to let truth disappear."
The Movement — We Are Witness
When truth is dangerous, presence is protection. When witnesses are threatened, networks become shields. When stories face erasure, permanence becomes resistance.
Truth survives. Not by chance — by design.