The Guardian: Immediate impact on the business
The Guardian knew their readers wanted to be part of the conversation, but lacked the tools to engage them directly at scale. Traditional submission methods were slow, fragmented, and difficult for newsrooms to manage. By implementing Contribly, The Guardian launched Guardian Witness, creating a direct pipeline for audience contributions, instantly transforming passive readers into active participants.
Topline numbers:
Within the first 10 weeks of launch, The Guardian received
25,000+ contributions, with
18,000 reviewed and published and
450+ approved for use directly on the Guardian newsdesk.
About The Guardian and the Challenge
As one of the world’s leading independent news organisations, The Guardian is known for ambitious journalism and strong community values. But they faced a fundamental challenge:
Fragmented submissions: Readers created content every day, but sharing it with editors meant navigating clunky email inboxes, social feeds, or third-party platforms.
Missed opportunities: Valuable perspectives, eyewitness stories, and media were being lost.
Verification difficulties: The newsroom lacked a simple way to vet, contact, and re-engage contributors.
The Guardian needed a solution that would let them harness audience contributions directly, at scale, while keeping journalistic standards intact.
How Contribly addressed the challenge
Contribly provided the dedicated newsroom software to launch Guardian Witness — a branded platform where readers could respond to call-outs, share photos, videos, stories, and engage with editors.
Key features that solved their pain points:
Streamlined submission hub: One branded channel to collect, edit, and verify contributions.
Instant scalability: Thousands of submissions could be organised and moderated in hours, not weeks.
Verified contributor network: Readers’ details were captured securely, allowing editors to build a growing pool of “citizen journalists” they could call on again.
Custom call-outs linked to news coverage: Journalists could create call-outs in minutes and get live, on-the-ground perspectives from readers.
Example: When protests erupted in Brazil, The Guardian published a call-out on Guardian Witness. Despite not marketing to Brazil or its public, over 500 reports were submitted within 36 hours — all direct, verified, and ready for publication.
“Contribly gave us a tool to pull in, edit, verify and target our community’s stories. Readers felt represented, and we built loyalty around Guardian journalism.”
The results
The Guardian achieved immediate and long-term impact:
Rapid community growth: In just 10 weeks, 25,000 contributions flowed in; 18,000 reviewed and published; 450 approved for frontline newsdesk use.
Global reach unlocked: Without targeted promotion, reports arrived from around the world, including hundreds from Brazil — giving The Guardian a new international audience.
Verified contributor base: 118 trusted contributors identified during early assignments, providing a ready-made network of “community journalists” for future stories.
Editorial efficiency: Newsrooms processed large volumes of content in hours instead of days, freeing journalists to focus on storytelling rather than admin.
Commercial impact: Guardian Witness helped secure the largest sponsorship deal in the Guardian’s history, adding commercial value alongside editorial transformation.
A new dynamic with readers: A positive, social, engaged community formed — readers not only consumed news but actively shaped it alongside Guardian editors.
The Guardian transformed how they engage with readers, turning audience voices into publishable journalism at speed and scale. Contribly enabled them to unlock thousands of authentic stories, build trusted contributor networks, and create both editorial and commercial growth opportunities.
If your newsroom is ready to fuel stories with UGC without the chaos, Contribly can help. From call-out to compelling story — faster, simpler, and built for serious journalism.