The Typewriter

So how did The Typewriter began?

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 major disconnect in society. The disconnect between what is actually happening on the ground when the news break, and what is being reported by international media.

Most certainly, nearly all international media outlets ultimately serve a particular sector of humankind. And a news channel run by editors and journalists who all live and work in the same country, and share same cultural background, could hardly be really reflecting what the ideal international media outlet should be.

That is why 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 an American 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.

So in 2013, as our Editor-in-Chief and his partner in crime were travelling all around Europe during their exchange year, 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 yearn to express one’s genuine ideas from the local perspective, and then sharing it to readers from afar.

Now, We have over 130 writers and staffers from over 75 countries. We have attracted over 130,000 readers and over 3 million in page views. We are accepted as a legitimate news source on google news and we have been invited and acknowledged by the UN as a youth organisation.

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; in this day and age of serious scepticism of the world; 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.

This is our story.