Inspiring Conversations with Rahim Jessani of The Unfortunate Truth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rahim Jessani.

Hi Rahim, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story begins with a simple belief in people. I believe that if people are given the right information, knowledge, and stories, they will want to make a difference. I saw this during the pandemic when millions of people learned how broken our criminal justice and policing systems are.

This belief is why I started The Unfortunate Truth, the first national student news outlet dedicated to protecting societies through education and grassroots action. Today, we are prideful in being a news outlet, fully run by the youth, with a thorough fact-checking process that focuses on helping and reporting from the ground up rather than the top down.

We hope to one day compete with some of the biggest news companies while also taking care of those in need.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are two main struggles. One is our business model, which many close journalist friends of mine have dubbed “stupid” or unrealistic. Currently, 100% of our revenue from newsletter subscriptions, gifts, or ads is given to the stories we cover while our journalists are funded through their university or work for school credit.

However, given my recent graduation from Boston College, this funding has now significantly gone away, so we are looking for funding to build a bigger team to cover more stories and expand our network. Right now, production has slowed down, but we are actively searching for the next opportunity to set up us financially so we can compete in the big leagues.

Two is the current state of journalism and media. People don’t respect journalism as they once did and often conflate reputable news organizations with something from a random Twitter (X) account. In addition, people don’t care about facts and numbers as much as they care about being right.

The average reader is not seeking out conflicting opinions or general news stories, they are searching for stories that reflect their own beliefs and experiences. Not only does this force us as a news organization to make tough decisions about stories, but it also shifts the focus away from people who need help and news that matters.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Unfortunate Truth?
The Unfortunate Truth is a student-led news outlet dedicated to protecting marginalized communities by creating factual, digestible, and personal content. I think I am proud of the fact that we are all young students. We don’t see the perspective of young people in the news/media, so it’s great to see our audience, which is of various ages, see the perspective of the youth. In addition, TUT is a media company that is grassroots.

Unlike major news companies, we are not owned by a big media conglomerate but are funded through small gifts received from people who follow us or through our universities. Although I do wish sometimes we had a massive investor, the grassroots approach makes this the “people’s media” and we aren’t forced to write click-bait stories like some news companies are. Finally, what makes it different is that our end mission is to help people. You don’t have to agree with our content to know that we just care about making a better society for those who are often underserved or underrepresented in the national news.

A good example would be our work with gender equality in global education. Back in March, we helped raise donations for the Malala Fund, which is an amazing non-profit dedicated to helping girls receive an education in areas where they are heavily discriminated against. These are the stories that matter to us and why our audience continues to support us – despite our ups and downs.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
This is not my favorite memory, but it’s something that I reflect on a lot as a young adult. I was on a family vacation in Nevada and my family and I were at a mall before 4-year-old me got lost. I didn’t know what to do until a gracious lady came up to me and asked me where my parents were.

She talked to me for a few hours, helped me remember the number of my parents, and helped me find my way back to them. As a little kid, at the moment it was very traumatizing, but today I think about the goodness of that lady and the power of helping others. In a world today that is sometimes so cruel, it’s nice to remember those little moments of gratitude.

Contact Info:

• Website: theunfortunatetruth.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_theunfortunatetruth_/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D

Image Credits
Yahoo.News: https://news.yahoo.com/iranian-soccer-player-sentenced-death-143355945.html