Platform for independent journalists: United One News gives reporters a byline and a desk
Published
Approved reporters publish Original reports under their own byline and author page; moderators supervise their own reporters, so a small agency or student paper can run a desk. Most outlet leaning labels are still estimates.
Original report
How United One News works as of 15 October 2026. This is United One News describing its own product.
United One News, which publishes this article, is an Indian news app and website built as a platform for independent journalists: on 15 October 2026 its code lets an approved reporter publish Original reports under their own byline, and lets a moderator run a group of reporters as their own desk. It also compares how outlets labelled left, centre and right covered each event.
A platform for independent reporters
A reporter writes in Compose, the site's own newsroom editor. Compose saves drafts as the reporter works and publishes a story straight away or at a set time.
Every reporter story carries the reporter's byline, linking to their author page at unitedonenews.com/journalist/name. The ownership page says reporters publish under their own names and each has a public profile (United One News, n.d.). Under My stories, a reporter sees each story's views, likes, saves, shares and comments, and can unpublish it.
Feed stories are offered to search engines only when enough outlets cover them; a reporter's story is always marked as indexable, even with one source or none.
How to join as a reporter today
There is no open sign-up for the Reporter role yet: a moderator or the editor-in-chief grants it to each person. Until the app launches in the app stores, joining takes three steps on the website.
- Create a reader account. Open unitedonenews.com in any browser, on a phone or a computer, and sign in with Google or Apple, as any reader does.
- Email the newsroom. Write to partnerships@unitedonenews.com with the email address used to sign in, the name that should appear on the byline, the region and subjects covered, and two or three links to published work.
- Get the Reporter role. Once the request is approved, the role is added to the same account. Compose, drafts and the author page then appear in the Newsroom at the next sign-in.
A small agency, regional desk or student paper can apply in the same email: name the editor who will supervise, and list the reporters joining with the email each one signed in with. The editor can then be set up as their moderator.
A journalist whose byline already has an author page can also ask to claim it. The page says verification is through an outlet email address or a direct message from the journalist's social account, and a moderator who approves the claim can grant the Reporter role in the same step.
Three things reporters usually ask before writing in:
- Is the app needed? No. Everything a reporter does, from drafts to publishing and story stats, works in a phone or computer browser today.
- Is a press card or a staff job required? The code does not require either; the request is judged on the published work sent with it.
- Whose name is on the story? Every story carries the reporter's own byline and links to their author page, which lists all their stories.
Small agencies and editors as moderators
A moderator supervises a group of reporters. Each reporter has exactly one supervising moderator, and users cannot change that link themselves: the editor-in-chief assigns or moves reporters, and a moderator can take on a reporter who has no supervisor yet.
Reporters publish their own stories. Their moderator can edit those stories, take them down with a stated reason, and restore them.
That lets a small news agency, a regional newsroom or a student paper run its own desk on United One News without building a website. Its editor becomes a moderator and its writers become reporters with their own bylines; the platform supplies the editor, scheduling and hosting. Only the editor-in-chief appoints moderators.
The editor-in-chief can also switch on four extra tools for an individual moderator: citing other outlets on Original reports, sharing stories to social media, reviewing outlet labels, and reading the audit log. The switch is built, but when last checked on 11 October 2026, the setting that limits these tools to chosen moderators had not been turned on, so they were open to every moderator.
Coverage comparison
The site also groups Indian outlets' reports of the same event on one page, linking every original article (United One News, n.d.). A coverage bar shows the share of articles from outlets labelled left and centre-left, centre, and centre-right and right (United One News, 2026a).
A story is flagged Off Radar when at least four outlets with a known label cover it, at least two are on one side, and none are on the other. Off Radar describes coverage only, not the story's importance (United One News, 2026a).
The short summary on a grouped story is written by AI from the outlets' headlines and snippets, labelled as AI-generated, and has a "Report inaccuracy" option (United One News, 2026b).
Transparency pages and locked edits
The site publishes a methodology page, editorial standards, a corrections page and an ownership page. The ownership page says United One News is independently owned, funded by advertising and a paid Pro tier, and that advertisers have no influence over labels or what reporters publish (United One News, n.d.).
Before an Original report goes out, Compose's checklist asks for a "How we did this" section, and each Original report carries a line saying AI assisted and a named reporter reviewed it (United One News, n.d.). When a moderator edits a field such as a headline, summary or image, that field is locked, so automated systems cannot overwrite it later.
The limits
- Most outlet labels are still estimates. The methodology page, last updated on 2 October 2026, lists 167 outlets tracked and 20 with panel-approved ratings, so 147, or 88%, were estimates on that date (United One News, 2026a).
- Summaries can be wrong. The site says AI summaries may contain errors (United One News, 2026b).
- It is not a fact-checker. A coverage bar shows who covered a story, not whether a claim is true, and a label is not a verdict on an outlet's accuracy (United One News, 2026a).
- Grouping is automatic and can wrongly merge two events until corrected.
- Coverage leans English and national; regional and language press is under-represented (United One News, 2026a).
Questions people are asking
Is there a platform for independent journalists in India?
United One News lets approved reporters publish Original reports under their own byline and author page, with drafts, scheduling and story stats. Reporters join by request: sign in, then email partnerships@unitedonenews.com.
Can a small newsroom run its desk on United One News?
Yes, within what the code allows: its editor acts as a moderator who supervises its reporters and can edit, take down or restore their stories.
How can a journalist join United One News?
Sign in at unitedonenews.com with Google or Apple, then email partnerships@unitedonenews.com with that account's email, the byline name, the beat and links to published work. The Reporter role is added to the same account once the request is approved.
Is United One News an unbiased news app?
No app can prove it is unbiased, and we do not claim it. Most of the site's outlet labels are still estimates based on their reportings.
Are reporter stories indexed by Google?
They are always marked as indexable and listed in a sitemap of original reports; whether Google shows them is its decision.
References
- United One News (2026a) How we rate Indian news outlets. United One News. Available at: How we rate Indian news outlets (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
- United One News (2026b) Editorial standards. United One News. Available at: Editorial standards (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
- United One News (n.d.) Ownership and funding. United One News. Available at: Ownership and funding (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
How we did this
This is United One News writing about its own product, so we have a direct interest in it. Every feature described was checked on 15 October 2026 against the site's code and developer notes, and against our methodology and ownership pages. The 88% figure is our arithmetic on the methodology page's numbers.
This story was produced, reviewed, edited and verified by the reporter before publication, with AI assistance where required.
Covered by 2 outlets across the spectrum: 0% left, 0% center, 0% right.
Who is covering this story
- Not yet rated (1): United One News
Sources
- How we rate Indian news outlets | United One News — United One News (not yet rated) ·
- Ownership & Funding | United One News — United One News (not yet rated) ·