Tell us about 360info. What is the service about and what does it aim to achieve?
Today’s newsrooms are striving to deliver more to their readers with less. They already tap the knowledge of researchers and other experts, but there are many complex issues they lack the resources to tackle. In contrast, universities are heavily invested in doing just that, but they don't share their research widely with the public. This is where 360info steps in.

Working with universities in 190 countries, we bring in expert perspectives to deliver diverse, deeply informed and globally relevant information. We help newsrooms facing the twin pressures of decreasing budgets and competition from poor quality information providers.
 
360info has partnered with open-source software company, Sourcefabric, to establish Newshub as a newswire service, akin to a “research Reuters”. Unlike proprietary newswires that come at a cost, 360info's Newshub allows you to download, edit, remix and share content for free.
 
Our ultimate objective is to better inform citizens, offer solutions, counter disinformation, and add a diversity of voices to the media ecosystem.
 
Who is your audience? Who are you hoping to reach?
360info is a supplier of content to the world's newsrooms, digital publishers, education providers, and civic society outlets. We want our information to flow seamlessly without friction to as many platforms and publishers as possible.

What sort of content do you publish, and how often?
360info collaborates with researchers, NGOs, development bodies, media outlets and on-the-ground experts around the world with local knowledge to help shape our commissioned reports.

Special Reports are 360info’s main product, delivered weekly. Covering big global issues from different country perspectives, with bylines from researchers around the world, these can be pegged to slower-burn news issues or events of global significance.
 
Our Deep Context packages offer an in-depth view on a complex issue currently in the news. Each includes a short series of articles and a briefing note designed to assist journalists looking to inject research evidence into their reporting. Along with the articles we publish, we also allow anyone to alter, reproduce and remix the data interactives, graphics, and multimedia we create. 

Tell us about your editorial team. Who covers what?
360info is led by Andrew Jaspan, Founder of The Conversation websites, and staffed by a team of professional journalists who curate the service, delivering evidence-based content that is rigorously checked and safe to use. We invest in editors to produce content of a comparable standard to other newswires but provide it to publishers at no cost.
 
Our team is headquartered at Monash University in Melbourne, with editors based in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, and Delhi, and more to follow.
 
How has the newswire service evolved since its launch?
360info is a global collaborative project. We launched our first hub servicing the Asia Pacific region in November 2021 and have since published articles by researchers at more than 200 universities in 35 countries. We now supply our content to over 1,200 outlets with a potential reach of 45 million readers per month. Expansion into Europe, Africa, and the US is planned over the next two years.
 
Our aim is for 360info to become an indispensable media resource, offering free content, ideas and talent for newsrooms and publishers around the world.

Is 360info open to working with PRs? If so, who should they get in touch with and what sorts of story pitches are you interested in receiving?
Authors writing for 360info must have a current affiliation (staff, adjunct or PhD candidate) with an accredited university or research institution, and may only write on their area of research and expertise.