NEW YORK (AP) — Environmentalist Christine Holland closely follows journalist Tiffany Higgins' stories from the Amazon River region, frequently sending her comments and questions. This week, Higgins responded to one message about her piece on the Brazilian arts community by sending Holland a lengthy personal video.
They've turned the usual one-way conversation between a journalist and consumer into a two-way one, and a deal announced Friday indicates that is much more likely to be happening in the future.
The New York-based news company Noosphere signed a multiyear licensing agreement with British broadcaster Sky News to make available its technology that facilitates such connections through an app. Sky immediately announced that it would begin experimenting with its usage for its defense and security experts, promising “a dedicated experience expressly designed for highly engaged audiences.”
The organizing principle of the whole thing: Give audiences access — not only to the news but to those who report it.
Noosphere's founder, former war correspondent Jane Ferguson, said she's been talking with some U.S.-based news companies about similar deals.
“Getting the endorsement of the industry is really special for us,” she said. “It has been a long time coming for them to be ready for this level of a change.”
Ferguson's 2-year-old company hosts some two dozen journalists — among them former NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd and former CNN journalist Chris Cillizza — working almost like independent contractors. They specialize in a more personal style of reportage from all over the world, and part of that is making themselves available to people who follow their work.
Holland, a retired marketing executive from Menlo Park, Calif., said she's corresponded with Higgins several times, often through text messages in the Noosphere app. She feels it brings a personal stake to the stories, more like the journalist is talking to them with their work. For years, a common complaint about television news is that it feels like they're telling stories from “on high.”
“With this, I am much more inclined to remain loyal” to the journalist and news outlet, she said.
That's likely music to the ears of news executives who spend countless hours looking for ways to combat declining viewership or readership. The rise in journalists going independent on Substack or YouTube, some of whom offer subscribers personal access for a price, shows the appeal to consumers for the “authenticity” of feeling journalists are reporting directly to them, Ferguson said.
“It's so hard to know what is even written by a human being anymore,” Holland said. “I really appreciate that there is a real human being behind the story.”
Mike Varga, a retired businessman who lives near Tampa, Florida, said he's accustomed to getting no response or pro forma replies when writing to news organizations or politicians. But Todd sent him a brief video “thank you” when Varga complimented him on a story about tariffs. He wrote to Ferguson after she did a story about the late British war photographer Paul Conroy, and she invited him to a focus group meeting about Noosphere.
It makes him feel more connected to a place where he turns for news. “It's kind of surprising more media organizations don't do that,” Varga said.
When a consumer subscribes to Noosphere to follow the work of a specific journalist, that person gets a part of the subscription fee in a revenue-sharing agreement. That business approach is not part of what Noosphere is selling to a broadcaster like Sky, but giving their journalists more independence might be a way to save money and “not lose them to YouTube.”
Meanwhile, some journalists in legacy media crave more independence but are frightened by going totally alone and still like the platform that a big company can offer, she said. This is a potential middle ground.
“We see a lot of appetite for deals like this,” she said. “We're very interested and looking forward to expanding into the U.S. marketplace.”
Ferguson and Sky News didn't offer financial details of their arrangement, nor has Noosphere publicly said how many subscribers it has.
David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
FILE - Jane Ferguson, founder of Noosphere, is photographed in the site's office, in New York, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenage suspects killed three men in a shooting at a San Diego mosque Monday before killing themselves a few blocks away, authorities said. Police Chief Scott Wahl said a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego was among those killed and that the case is being investigated as a hate crime.
About two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects called police to report that her son was missing, Wahl told a news conference. She feared he might be suicidal, and she eventually realized that several of her weapons were missing, along with her vehicle.
The case became even more urgent when police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and that he was in the company of an acquaintance, and officers began using whatever technology they had available to locate the teens, including automated license plate readers.
Wahl said that’s when police began getting reports of a shooting.
The Islamic Center is the largest mosque in San Diego County, according to its website. It's about 9 miles (15 kilometers) north of downtown San Diego.
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There had been no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego, but San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said investigators were aware of “generalized hate rhetoric” in the case and are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Wahl noted that the mother of one of the suspects found a note he left behind, but the chief declined to disclose its contents.
Wahl says that about two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects called police to report that her son was missing.
Wahl told a news conference the she feared he might be suicidal, and she eventually realized that several of her weapons were missing, along with her vehicle.
The case became even more urgent when police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and that he was in the company of an acquaintance, and officers began using whatever technology they had available to locate the teens, including automated license plate readers.
Wahl said that’s when police began getting reports of a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Responding officers found the three victims at the mosque and the two teens dead of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a vehicle nearby.
That’s according to Sharp Memorial Hospital spokesperson Erica Carlson.
Carlson says the hospital did not expect to receive additional patients but was staying in contact with the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.
The hospital declined to provide additional details.
That’s according to the center’s website.
Aerial TV footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and being walked out of the parking lot of the center as it was surrounded by scores of police vehicles.
Parents were directed to a nearby area to retrieve their children.
The white mosque is in a neighborhood of homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.
“All of the kids are safe,” Wahl said, appearing emotional. “Our hearts go out to the families that are in this moment being notified of what has happened to their loved ones.”
Imam Taha Hassane also said at a news conference that “all the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected.”
Tazheen Nizam of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Diego says that “no one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
Nizam says in a statement that CAIR is “working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.”
That’s according to Chief Wahl.
Wahl says that as officers responded to the mosque, they also fielded reports of gunfire a few blocks away, where a landscaper was shot at but was uninjured.
He says the suspects were found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby.
Imam Taha Hassane says it also works to build relations in the community.
He told a news conference that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier Monday to learn about the Muslim faith.
That’s according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.
Chief Scott Wahl says both suspects are believed to be teens and that the case is considered to be a hate crime.
“We are grateful to the first responders on the scene working to protect the community and urge everyone to follow guidance from local authorities,” his office posted on the social platform X.
Children hold hand as they walk near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People carry weapons at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A woman watches from a distance at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Two men embrace at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Police stage at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Police stage at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A body is covered with a tarp at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People stand behind police tape at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A sheriff's deputy stages at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
