Newtral

Newtral specialises in audiovisual production, fact-checking and new narratives. It was founded in 2018 by journalist Ana Pastor, who is well-known in Spain as a television interviewer.

Pastor is the sole owner of the outlet, which today employs 72 people, including journalists, engineers, researchers, programmers, producers, directors, graphic designers and documentary makers.

"We are not a television production company, but we make programmes. We are not a media company, but we inform. In this new world, you don't have to be just one thing," said Pastor in an interview in 2019. Currently, the team is also working on a line of research and development in artificial intelligence.

Joaquín Ortega, content director, refers to Newtral's diverse activity and describes it as "a media start-up focused on audiovisual production, fact-checking, new narratives and explanatory journalism; public service that reduces noise". The company’s content includes science, politics, transparency, climate change, energy and gender equality. This content is published on its free-access website and on social networks, as well as a newsletter and a podcast.

Newtral’s name is the fusion of the words “news” and “neutral”, and its motto is "stories that matter and fact-checking". "We don't defend any political party or ideology," says Ortega. "It's the basis of fact-checking." The methodology the outlet uses is available on its website.

The company derives its revenue from television production for clients such as Spanish broadcaster AtresMedia, Netflix or HBO, and from fact-checking work for companies such as Meta or TikTok, Ortega explains. In 2021, it had a turnover of €4.9 million and a profit of €158,000, according to the outlet's website.

Newtral is a verified member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). In May 2019, the Newtral Education project was launched to help foster critical thinking in schools, colleges and universities. In 2020, Newtral established the Master's Degree in Digital Verification, Fact-Checking and Data Journalism in collaboration with San Pablo CEU University.

Among the lessons learned in the organisation’s first five years, Ortega highlights prioritising human relations in the team. "It is something that was not foreseen, we have been creating a business culture that is not the usual one in the media," he says. A second lesson is related to the "slow and quiet" way in which the company grows as it adds new projects. "It allows us to be creative, maintain our environment, be independent and do what we like," says Ortega.