Tortoise

In the race to understand the world, when everyone is running to find out about everything, Tortoise is building "a different type of newsroom, for a slower, wiser news".An independent media outlet, Tortoise was founded in 2018 by the former Times editor and BBC director of news James Harding; the US Ambassador to Sweden and then the UK, Matthew Barzun; and the former president of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones, Katie Vanneck-Smith.In order to launch, the media outlet launched a Kickstarter campaign in October 2018, raising £539,035 — exceeding its target of £75,000. A membership media organisation, Tortoise is funded by 50,000 paid members, individuals and organisations, and by various partners.The organisation focuses on five main topics, defined as "the big five forces shaping our lives, societies, our world": technology, natural resources, identity, finance, and longevity.In ThinkIns, a series of editorial meetings and online and in-person events, Tortoise encourages input from members to inform Tortoise journalists' future reporting.Since its creation, Tortoise has produced trendy podcast series such as Hoaxed, investigating one of "the most serious British conspiracy theories of all time". Tortoise audio has "Slow News stories designed for listening" such as The Slow Newscast, Editor's voicemail, and Sensemaker Daily. Understanding its audience's preference for listening to its long-reads content, in 2022, it expanded into audio.A recent deal with Sky group will adapt Tortoise's original podcasts into high-end series and features across scripted and documentaries.The information in this media profile was collected through desk research.