The reasons many journalists haven’t invested time in interacting with audiences are deep-seated and financial. How can we develop a more nuanced understanding of the potential value of audience engagement?

I contacted a number of Dutch members of De Correspondent to learn more about why they share their knowledge with the writers, why they became members in the first place and what they think makes DC different. Here is what they told me.

At De Correspondent, writers are encouraged to define their own beats and pick subjects they are passionate about, driven to understand.

NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen explains why he's teaming up with De Correspondent on its U.S. launch— and why figuring out a membership model grounded in trust is one key to journalism's future.

Johannes Visser is part-time teacher, part-time Education Correspondent. He regularly uses student input (ages 15-18) in his journalism, including in his podcast Listen up!, which he puts together every other week with some of his students.

Many traditionally educated journalists think of interacting with their readers as a lot of extra work. The first instruction we give them when they start working for De Correspondent is simple: “This is your work.” We tell them that around 50% of their working time should be spent on these conversations.

If the last decade has proven anything, it's that our financial system is broken. But our Progress Correspondent Rutger Bregman wasn’t satisfied with pointing fingers at Wall Street. He decided to take matters into his own hands.