NEW YORK — Nov. 24, 2025 — Newsreel, the interactive and social news app designed to help the next generation build healthier media habits, today announced an investment from the Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group (APMG). The partnership represents a rare bridge between public media’s civic mission and a new generation of startups rebuilding trust in how people engage with the world around them.

The investment marks a key milestone in Newsreel’s early growth. Over the past year, the company has launched its app in colleges and libraries nationwide and was named a 2025 Resource of the Year by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). The Glen Nelson Center’s backing will help accelerate that momentum as Newsreel expands its reach in the U.S. and Europe and prepares to open its pre-seed round in early 2026. The company is seeking to build on its recent traction and strategic partnerships to scale its platform and meet growing demand from educators, libraries, and young readers worldwide.

“Social media companies are eating news’ lunch,” said Jack Brewster, Newsreel’s founder and CEO. “We’ve completely ceded the direct relationships we once had to readers to Big Tech. I’m not waiting for another platform to save us. Journalists built the content that made those feeds valuable in the first place, and now we’re building the technology that puts people, not algorithms, back at the center. This investment shows that credible media can innovate on its own terms and punch back by creating something better.”

“At Glen Nelson Center, we look for companies that are reimagining the future of media,” said Jeff Freeland Nelson, APMG’s director of venture investments. “Newsreel represents exactly the kind of mission-driven innovation we aim to support, combining rigorous journalism with the kind of human-centered design young audiences actually want to engage with.”

Founded by Brewster, a former Forbes and NewsGuard journalist, Newsreel turns verified reporting into interactive story stacks, polls, and quizzes that spark discussion rather than doomscrolling. Its new social layer lets users see how their friends are engaging with the news, nudge them to read certain stories, compare polling responses, and compete on leaderboards. Every Friday, users can join a live weekly quiz to test their knowledge and compete for cash, turning staying informed into a shared ritual rather than a chore.

“Every design choice we make is about making credible news feel social, rewarding, and habit-forming without the toxicity that defines most feeds,” said Brijesh Tiwari, Newsreel’s Chief Technology Officer.

Rebuilding the digital commons and making news “feel human again”

Newsreel’s ultimate goal is to help rebuild what Brewster calls the “digital commons,” a shared civic space for curiosity, reflection, and credible conversation in a time of fractured attention spans. By blending journalism, interactivity, and social connection, the company aims to make news feel human again.

“As journalists, we’ve seen firsthand how social media turned a borderless public square into a noisy, fragmented one,” Jon Ponciano, Newsreel’s VP of business development and a former Forbes journalist. “With Newsreel, we’re using technology to rebuild that space, a place where curiosity, credible information, and connection can thrive again.”

What’s coming next

The Glen Nelson Center’s investment helps fuel the next phase of Newsreel’s social roadmap. In the coming months, the app will introduce:

• Communities, inspired by Reddit and Strava, where users can discuss stories in interest-based groups.

• Polling boards, which bring together users with similar and differing ideological profiles to compare perspectives and spark dialogue.

• A video feed featuring vetted journalist-creators and explainers, designed to be as engaging as TikTok, without the “AI slop.”

• European partnerships with universities and media organizations, extending Newsreel’s reach and connecting young people across borders through shared curiosity.

About Newsreel

Newsreel is an interactive news app helping the next generation build daily news habits through swipeable story stacks, polls, and quizzes. Designed for attention spans shaped by the digital age, it makes credible information simple, social, and engaging. Learn more at newsreel.co.

About Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group

Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group identifies, elevates, and invests in groundbreaking media ventures led by a diverse group of visionary founders. Glen Nelson Center programs include College Emerging Voices, a series of design workshops with college students to create new vision for public media; the Horizon Fund, which invests in early-stage ventures with the potential to sustain and grow the media and journalism industries in the coming decade; and The Next Challenge for Media & Journalism, the largest media startup competition open to nonprofit and for-profit companies in the United States. Glen Nelson Center is a partner in Press Forward, a groundbreaking national initiative aimed at revitalizing and empowering local journalism. For more information on Glen Nelson Center, visit GlenNelson.org.