Less-covered stories, reported to one standard.
Independent reporting on the stories that get less attention, held to one standard. Every figure sourced. Free to read.
Most newsrooms cover the same small set of stories. Other places go unreported for years. Not because nothing happens there, but because nobody is sent.
VOTVS reports on those places, wherever they are and whoever is involved. We publish articles, documentaries and short video. Every figure is checked and every source is named.
We are independent and reader-funded. No owner picks our stories. No advertiser picks our subjects.
People speak for themselves
We quote people directly. They describe their own situation; we do not do it for them.
Plain language
No jargon. If a sentence needs a glossary, we rewrite it.
Every figure has a source
Each story lists what we read, who published it and when. If we get something wrong, we correct it in public.
One standard, wherever the story is.
Media attention is not spread evenly. Some places are covered constantly; others almost never. The gap has little to do with how much is happening there. It has to do with where reporters are sent and what editors expect readers to click.
VOTVS works on the thin side of that gap. Which story we cover is decided by how little of it has been told, not by who is involved in it. Inside the story the standard is the same for every party: named sources, checked figures, a date on every number, and corrections in public when we get something wrong.
That is not the same as treating every claim as equally true. Fairness is a method, not a halfway point. Where the evidence is clear we report it plainly, and we apply the same rules to everyone in the story - including whoever holds the power in it.
We commission local reporters.
We hire freelance reporters, photographers and video editors, especially people covering their own area. Pitches go to hello@votvs.com
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