NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Environmentalist Christine Holland closely follows journalist Tiffany Higgins’ stories from the Amazon River region, frequently sending her comments and questions. This week, Higgins responded to one message about her piece on the Brazilian arts community by sending Holland a lengthy personal video.
They’ve turned the usual one-way conversation between a journalist and consumer into a two-way one, and a deal announced Friday indicates that is much more likely to be happening in the future.
The New York-based news company signed a multiyear licensing agreement with British broadcaster Sky 草莓传媒 to make available its technology that facilitates such connections through an app. Sky immediately announced that it would begin experimenting with its usage for its defense and security experts, promising 鈥渁 dedicated experience expressly designed for highly engaged audiences.鈥�
The organizing principle of the whole thing: Give audiences access 鈥� not only to the news but to those who report it.
Talking to other companies about similar deals
Noosphere’s founder, former war correspondent Jane Ferguson, said she’s been talking with some U.S.-based news companies about similar deals.
鈥淕etting the endorsement of the industry is really special for us,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t has been a long time coming for them to be ready for this level of a change.鈥�
Ferguson’s 2-year-old company hosts some two dozen journalists 鈥� among them former NBC 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� moderator and former CNN journalist 鈥� working almost like independent contractors. They specialize in a more personal style of reportage from all over the world, and part of that is making themselves available to people who follow their work.
Holland, a retired marketing executive from Menlo Park, Calif., said she’s corresponded with Higgins several times, often through text messages in the Noosphere app. She feels it brings a personal stake to the stories, more like the journalist is talking to them with their work. For years, a common complaint about television news is that it feels like they’re telling stories from 鈥渙n high.鈥�
鈥淲ith this, I am much more inclined to remain loyal鈥� to the journalist and news outlet, she said.
That’s likely music to the ears of news executives who spend countless hours looking for ways to combat declining viewership or readership. The rise in journalists going independent on Substack or YouTube, some of whom offer subscribers personal access for a price, shows the appeal to consumers for the 鈥渁uthenticity鈥� of feeling journalists are reporting directly to them, Ferguson said.
鈥淚t’s so hard to know what is even written by a human being anymore,鈥� Holland said. 鈥淚 really appreciate that there is a real human being behind the story.鈥�
A chance to feel more connected to the news
Mike Varga, a retired businessman who lives near Tampa, Florida, said he’s accustomed to getting no response or pro forma replies when writing to news organizations or politicians. But Todd sent him a brief video 鈥渢hank you鈥� when Varga complimented him on a story about tariffs. He wrote to Ferguson after she did a story about the late British war photographer Paul Conroy, and she invited him to a focus group meeting about Noosphere.
It makes him feel more connected to a place where he turns for news. 鈥淚t’s kind of surprising more media organizations don’t do that,鈥� Varga said.
When a consumer subscribes to Noosphere to follow the work of a specific journalist, that person gets a part of the subscription fee in a revenue-sharing agreement. That business approach is not part of what Noosphere is selling to a broadcaster like Sky, but giving their journalists more independence might be a way to save money and 鈥渘ot lose them to YouTube.鈥�
Meanwhile, some journalists in legacy media crave more independence but are frightened by going totally alone and still like the platform that a big company can offer, she said. This is a potential middle ground.
鈥淲e see a lot of appetite for deals like this,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re very interested and looking forward to expanding into the U.S. marketplace.鈥�
Ferguson and Sky 草莓传媒 didn’t offer financial details of their arrangement, nor has Noosphere publicly said how many subscribers it has.
___
David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and .
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
