The news cycle moves fast and compresses geography. A flood in Bangladesh, a protest in Tbilisi, a drought in the Horn of Africa — each becomes a headline for a day, then disappears. The people living through these events continue to live through them long after the cameras leave.
Photojournalists, citizen reporters, and documentary photographers have always been the first witnesses. But the infrastructure for sharing their work has consolidated into a handful of wire services and social platforms that filter, curate, and ultimately control what reaches a global audience.
DISPATCH is a different kind of infrastructure. It is a map, a archive, and a direct channel between the person holding the camera and the person who needs to see what that camera captured.
Every image is reviewed by a human editor before it appears publicly. We would rather be slow than wrong.
All EXIF data — including embedded GPS coordinates — is stripped from every uploaded image. Contributors may submit anonymously. We will never knowingly publish information that endangers a source.
We publish our editorial standards, our funding sources, and our moderation decisions. We do not accept advertising. We do not sell data.
Contributors retain full copyright over their work. DISPATCH displays clear attribution on every image and provides usage licensing tools so journalists and organizations can compensate photographers fairly.
A photograph without a location is a photograph without a story. We believe placing images on a map — and keeping them there over time — is itself an act of journalism.
DISPATCH is independent. We are not owned by a media conglomerate, a government, or an advertising network. Our only obligation is to the record.
Anyone with a camera and a story. We welcome professional photojournalists, documentary photographers, local stringers, and citizens who happen to be present at a moment that matters. Credentials are not required. Integrity is.
Contributors with established track records can apply for a Verified Journalist badge, which signals to editors and viewers that their work has been independently confirmed. Verification does not confer any editorial privilege — all images go through the same review process.
DISPATCH operates under an editorial firewall. The platform's developers, funders, and administrators have no authority over what is published or rejected. Editorial decisions are made exclusively by the moderation team according to published standards.
We do not take sides. We publish documentation of events across the political spectrum, from every region of the world. Our metric for publication is evidentiary value, not newsworthiness as defined by any particular outlet or ideology.
Questions about DISPATCH's mission or editorial standards? Write to dispatch.realnewsalliance@gmail.com