Who we are

We are a Paris-based, independent digital media founded in 2011 around one mission: to be the first truly international source of journalism in the English language.

What we do

We deliver exclusive, English editions of news stories, in-depth reportages and analysis from more than 40 countries and 15 languages, working with the world’s leading news organizations and top international journalists to discover the right stories and apply our unique system for journalistically-driven translation and adaptation.

We also produce original stories and essays and multimedia projects, while keeping up-to-date with latest news developments across global sources, delivering Worldcrunch Today, a daily newsletter with a decidedly international perspective.

How we do it

We set out more than a decade ago to build an innovative worldwide source of quality journalism from the bottom up, with the express objective to serve the internationally-minded reader. Our starting point, each day, is to actively break down that invisible wall of language that shuts off much of the world’s best news coverage from an English-reading public. Our team of international journalists who hail from 15+ countries connects each day from around the world — with our core team in Paris — to dig into news sources from different countries and languages, to search for the seemingly small story that tells a bigger truth, to tell how global events are playing out in local realities around the world, to find new ways to recount the news of the day. The stories that we translate in full are always done so with permission from the news organization or journalist that published them in the original language. The articles authored by the Worldcrunch team often begin from events and stories we find in the international press that may be undercovered by outlets in the U.S. and UK. We also offer our own consciously international eye on the big stories of the day, always attentive to movements, ideas, trends and habits — the bad news and the good — that ever more are transcending borders.

— A note on the stories we choose: Some may see a pattern in the stories we write and articles we choose to translate. Some may see no pattern at all. The truth is that the topics, angles and opinions are driven both by what’s happening in the world and the quality of the articles that we find to translate. As noted above, we can only translate if we have properly secured the licensing rights to do so, which means that plenty of articles we’d like to deliver in English remain locked within the original language.
More generally, we try to explore new topics and opinions, and challenge our own preconceptions. We aim to publish articles that are interesting, informed, well-written and original. So no, we don’t have an agenda per se, nor do we “agree” with every viewpoint we publish. With that said, there are limits, and we actively avoid any articles that incite hatred, promote any kind of prejudice or aim to misinform the public.
In short, we see the ultimate value in the quality and diversity of the articles we have access to in all the languages of the world. It is, as our French colleagues would say: our raison d’être.

— A note on how we translate, adapt and edit stories: Every piece we choose to publish is assigned to a professional (human!) translator. Typically, our translators are also journalists, who know how and where to adapt the translation and provide context that will allow the international reader in English to fully understand the topic — even if the original journalist was writing for a local or national audience. That may mean adding identifiers, explaining local expressions, and providing historical background.
Though our standards are timeless, we actively embrace technology where it can help us do our work better and more efficiently. Some of our translators use AI tools such as Google Translate, DeepL, etc, for purposes of rapidity and accuracy. Generally, AI tools work better for straightforward political and informational journalism, but are weaker when there is more literary writing and stories that “change register” or use colloquialisms or regionalisms. Every translator uses the digital tools they find helpful, but each is responsible for the quality of their work, which subsequently undergoes two rounds of thorough review by a senior editor and proofreader to ensure both maximum accuracy and readability.
Ultimately, both the credit and responsibility for what we publish is shared with the media and journalists we partner with, whose reporting and writing in their native languages is the original source for so much of what we do. It is a privilege for the Worldcrunch editorial team to make their work available to as wide a readership as possible.

How we choose stories

Journalists and translators from around the world are the ones who spot interesting stories from our partner publications and beyond. They choose them based on our editorial line, which wants to bring to light different takes on the story of the day, while also uncovering those issues that are under the radar.

Sometimes we also rely on AI tools to scan partner publications to flag news stories for our translators, especially when there are breaking news stories or hot takes we would like to get as soon as possible from a certain country. Even in that case we rely on veteran journalists and translators who know the language of origin to make sure that we spotted the right piece.

What we believe

Worldcrunch was not founded to promote any one cause or political ideology. But there are certain values (journalistic and otherwise) that we strongly adhere to:

  • We are convinced that exploring the world helps challenge our own preconceptions — and a wide range of perspectives makes us both smarter and more humble.
  • We trust facts and science.
  • We believe journalism has a duty to defend universal human rights, tolerance and freedom of expression.
  • We believe in the power of a good story, well told.
  • We think there is almost always value in keeping the conversation open, but know where to draw the line.
  • We will make mistakes, and do our best to learn from them.
  • We trust the intelligence of our readers.
  • We are building something to last.

Our business model

As an independent digital media, we’ve always had to be resourceful. After several years of a business model based on syndication sales of our articles to other media, we are now focused on taking our journalism directly to readers.

Of course, producing quality information comes at a cost. But we also believe it must be as widely accessible as possible — and a media should be a relationship built over time with readers. For this reason, we don’t advertise discounted one-time offers, which are designed to “convert” into the much higher full price. Instead, we propose one fixed price — hopefully affordable to you — that will never change.

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