Thread by @free_thinker

Thread:

I wish to make it clear that @AltNews has never approached TOI group for any kind of fact-checking tie-up. The reason we haven't is because see an inherent conflict in the way media corporates such as the TOI group function, and the cause that @AltNews is chasing.

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https://twitter.com/free_thinker/status/1174331672944205825

The very fact that the group runs @TimesNow and @MirrorNow in an attempt to cater to individuals of differing ideologies shows that they're more interested in the business of journalism, rather than journalism.

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The only time one such tie-up was announced was with @firstpost. The tie-up was essentially about @AltNews enabling individuals in @firstpost via training, and the content produced by either organisations could be re-published via both platforms. No money involved whatsoever.
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The tie-up with @firstpost never took off after it was first announced. Firstpost stopped communication the day after the tie-up was announced. They probably found all my anti-Ambani tweets.

https://twitter.com/firstpost/status/912288266266730497

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A Gujarati daily had also started republishing 3 of @AltNews stories per week at one point in time. They stopped when we called them out in one of our stories.

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These experiences with various organisations and their inherent insecurities made our resolve even stronger that we don't want any direct association/partnership with any big media org and that @AltNews will always work independently.

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We publish our content under an open license (Creative Commons) and many organisations such as @scroll_in, @thewire_in, @newslaundry, @thenewsminute have republished our stories on and off. We don't charge for this content.
Some orgs also use our stories without attribution.

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The only way we make commercial income is through trainings. We have no advertisements on the website, nor have we ever partnered/approached a big ticket advertiser.

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And hence we reached out to readers of @AltNews every month for donations because that pays for a large chunk of our expenses as an organisation. We also have a grant from @IPSMF_.

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The ecosystem which @Iyervval is a part of hates @AltNews because we are a fiercely independent organisation which shan't be influenced by any external agencies.

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