Stone is a transparency tool for journalists and other researchers, which provides a streamlined end-to-end solution for capturing, logging, editing, annotating, and sharing research as video.

We believe the biggest problems facing journalism and the information ecosystem more generally - distrust and disinformation - cannot be addressed through control and appeals to institutional legacy. The church and state tried that half a millenia ago with the printing press and it was a disaster.

Now as then, the solution is not an institution or an individual. It’s a process, one that’s open to everyone.

We wanted to build a tool that enables users to turn valuable, original research into something they could share. Something that would help elevate and sustain quality journalism. Something that would earn trust and a bigger audience by telling the story behind the story.

Our founding team originally met in Cairo in 2011. Austin, Aliya and Daniel witnessed a revolution facilitated by the democratising power of new information technology. However, they also saw the effects of disinformation and deteriorating trust first-hand.

Joined by co-founders John and Sebastian, they initially tried to start a publication in order to practice “transparent journalism”, but realised that the tool they (and the rest of the industry) needed to streamline the process, didn’t exist. So they decided to build it.

Fast forward a few years, a few early iterations and a whole lot of conversation with journalists, media professionals and academics across the world, they connected with Duncan, who has helped build the Stone platform, as it exists today.