What is News Alchemists?

I'm glad you asked! First of all, my name is Mattia, and it's great to meet you 🙌

News Alchemists is... honestly, I haven't figured out what word to use to describe it yet. I used to say it's a movement, but it's also a project, a community, someone said it looks a little like a think-tank (😮‍💨)... but I'm wandering off already.

If you hit the Subscribe button, for you News Alchemists is first of all a newsletter. To be precise, it's a curation of links I send every week via email to make you think and give you hope about redefining journalism and its role in society.

Why? Lots to unpack here but trying to be brief: because I think it's quite obvious that the relationship between journalism and the people it aims to serve is broken. But I also think we can heal this relationship if we stay hopeful, nurture our sense of purpose, and learn from one another. That's what I hope to do for you with this newsletter:

1. Share insights and inspiration that give you hope;
2. Help you stay connected with the purpose that got you into journalism in the first place;
3. Learn from the many smart, kind, and courageous people who work every day to use journalism as a force for good in society.

Oh yes, let's put a face to the name, this is me. Hi again! 👋👋 Keep scrolling if you want to know more about me.

A little bit about me, and a little more about News Alchemists

Mattia is the name, and you know that already. Peretti is the last name (not related to BuzzFeed's CEO, sorry.) I'm Italian, I live in London, and I lived in Paris and in the Netherlands before. When I was younger... No, just kidding, you're not here to read the story of my life.

I'm a learning experience designer, a project manager, and a facilitator. I perform these roles in the journalism industry, carrying with me the imposter syndrome that comes from not being a ✌️journalist✌️and not having studied journalism.

But I like to think that my 10 years of experience working in the journalism support space – at the European Journalism Centre, with JournalismAI, and as an independent consultant – have put me in a great position to understand the challenges that this industry is facing and what we can do about them. Mostly because these experiences gave me the chance to learn every day from some of the smartest (and most often also kindest) people who work in journalism and care deeply, like I do, about its role as a force for good in society.

Last year, I was lucky enough to become a Knight Fellow with the International Center for Journalists. I used the fellowship to develop the concept for News Alchemists: a movement that helps everyone in journalism put people’s needs and curiosity and the benefit of society at the centre of everything they do.

If you want to learn more about the vision and the beliefs behind News Alchemists, and meet some of the fantastic people who helped me bring it to life, check out this page – which soon I will fold into this website. #workinprogress

Enough for now. Find me on LinkedIn if you want to chat, or email me at xhgmattia@gmail.com. I'd love to learn more about you and what brought you to News Alchemists.