The Typewriter aims to provide a global readership news and opinion articles written from the local perspectives (thetypewriter.org).
The story began when a group of university students who are passionate about global politics and how things are in the world start to realise there is a majordisconnect in society – the disconnect between what is actually happening on the ground when the news break, and what is being reported by international media.
As we enter the digital age where exposure and popularity determines the success of failures of media outlets, existing international media channels will inevitably need to portray and deliver stories in which their target audience would find appealing. The demographics of a news channel’s home audience now dictates how news will be reported, and this can hardly be reflective of what an ideal international media outlet should be.
Hence, we decided that the world has had enough and the world deserves a better way of communication. We wanted to start something new. Gone are the days where the likes of CNN, Al Jazeera or BBC dictate the stories of the world. Gone are the days where an American for instance, gets to fly to a country in the Middle East and reports back to an American audience what’s going on over there.
Instead, we, as people of these countries, take charge and tell our own stories from our own point of view.
Why should a foreign correspondent write about a certain country when we can find individuals perfectly capable of telling their stories on their own?
So in 2013, our Editor-in-Chief traveled around Europe, trying to meet up with bright minds who share the same views and passion, persuading them to join the team and then they started writing. That’s how it all began, with the ambition to express one’s genuine ideas from the local perspective, and then sharing it to readers from afar.
Now, we have over 200 writers and staffers from over 80 countries. We have attracted over over 4 million viewers.
When one considers the amount of hard work we have put into this project, one might ask, “why are we doing this?” and “why are we going through all the trouble?” It is belief that the only way to change the world for the better, is for us to actively share our thoughts and feelings with one another, that drives us to keep moving forward.
May it be newspapers, magazines, books, songs, art, poetry, sentences, phrases, words or punctuation… They will all be meaningless if they do not serve and one and true purpose of building a connection. As writers of the Typewriter, by telling our stories from the personal perspective, by telling our stories in the most heart-felt manner, we build this genuine connection between the hearts, minds and souls of the writer and those of our readers. And by building this connection, by creating this bond, between people across continents and oceans, perhaps we can understand each other a little bit more, realise each other’s differences and respect them.
On top of all that, we also do sincerely hope that, in this day and age of youth apathy in everything; in this day and age of over-flooding of pop culture and a gradual disappearance of well-informed and intellectual debates; we as the youth of the world can stand up and tell people that yes we do care, and yes we will act.
This is why we started The Typewriter.
That being said, we do not operate merely as a media organisation. Just like an actual typewriter, we want to become a tool for communication. We hope to translate the thoughts of an individual into words and published to the world. This is why we do not have an editorial board, nor do we filter or ‘screen’ our writers. As long as you have a voice and you want to be heard, submit an article and tell us your story. We will make sure that your opinion will be factually-accurate, based on your local perspective and point of view, and facilitates a constructive debate on issues that matter.