Question 1

What is Suru?

Accepted Answer

Suru is a publishing platform built specifically for local journalists and independent news publishers. It combines a mobile-first capture tool, Suru's drafting assistant, and a journalism standards framework — so you can go from scene to published story in under an hour, without compromising on editorial quality.

Question 2

Who is Suru for?

Accepted Answer

Suru is for solo journalists, small editorial teams, and local media entrepreneurs covering a specific geography — a city, a borough, or a neighbourhood. If you're covering a patch that deserves better journalism than it's getting, Suru is built for you.

Question 3

How is Suru different from WordPress, Ghost, or Substack?

Accepted Answer

Those platforms were built for general publishing. None of them were designed around the specific economics, workflows, or editorial standards of local news. WordPress requires constant developer maintenance and has no native drafting intelligence. Ghost is clean but developer-centric. Substack is optimised for national voices and social discovery. Beehiiv is a newsletter growth tool. Suru is the only platform purpose-built for the journalist covering a single borough or mid-size city — with Suru's drafting that understands local reporting, and standards tools that give readers a reason to trust what they read.

Question 4

Is Suru only for professional journalists?

Accepted Answer

No. If you live in a neighbourhood and care about what's happening in it, Suru can help you report on it properly. The journalism check and editorial framework exist to help anyone produce credible, fair, well-sourced reporting — regardless of whether they have a journalism degree.

Question 5

How does capturing a story work?

Accepted Answer

Open Suru, tap the microphone, and talk through what you're seeing. Add photos or video from your camera. Suru transcribes your audio, attaches your geo-tag, and assembles everything into a draft news story. You can also type notes or upload media directly — Suru meets you wherever you are.

Question 6

What is the journalism check?

Accepted Answer

Before you publish, Suru runs an editorial audit on your draft. It scores your story across three dimensions: sourcing (are claims attributed?), neutrality (is the language fair and balanced?), and verifiability (can the facts be confirmed?). It flags specific issues with explanations, and gives you a checklist of facts to confirm against your notes. You decide what to fix and what to override. Nothing is blocked — you're always in control.

Question 7

Does Suru publish my story automatically?

Accepted Answer

No. The Publish button only activates once you've run the journalism check and ticked the attestation checkbox, confirming you've reviewed the facts and take editorial responsibility for the story. Every published piece includes an AI-disclosure footer.

Question 8

What is the attestation?

Accepted Answer

Before publishing, you confirm: "I take editorial responsibility for this story. Facts have been confirmed against my notes and recording. AI assistance will be disclosed publicly on the published page." This is timestamped and stored permanently with the story. It keeps editorial responsibility where it belongs — with you.

Question 9

Can I edit the draft Suru produces?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. Suru's draft is a starting point, not the final word. Every field — headline, subheadline, dateline, body — is fully editable. Suru learns your voice over time and gets better at drafting in your style.

Question 10

What media formats does Suru support?

Accepted Answer

Audio (voice notes), photos, and video. All are first-class inputs to the drafting process. Video is transcribed automatically, with key quotes identified and a written companion drafted if you want one. Suru hosts and delivers your video — no YouTube dependency.

Question 11

What is a publication on Suru?

Accepted Answer

A publication is your editorial home. You could say it's your newspaper. When you create an account, Suru sets up your publication automatically, initially named after you and your beat (e.g. "Sara's Hackney Stories"). You can rename it at any time.

Question 12

Will I get my own URL?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each publication lives at its own address on suru.cc — for example, suru.cc/p/sara-in-hackney. Readers can find your stories directly at your URL. No algorithm, no newsfeed — just your coverage of your patch.

Question 13

How much does Suru cost?

Accepted Answer

Suru is free to use right now. You can sign up, capture, draft, and publish stories at no cost. Paid plans are coming soon — we'll give existing publishers plenty of notice before anything changes.

Question 14

What will pricing look like when it launches?

Accepted Answer

We're planning a revenue share model that rewards your growth — the more you earn, the less we take — alongside a free tier so smaller publishers can keep publishing. Full details will be announced ahead of launch.

Question 15

Does Suru handle payments from my readers?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. Reader subscriptions and payments aren't live on the platform today. Once monetisation launches, Suru will manage subscription payments end to end so you can focus on the reporting.

Question 16

What is the Editorial Charter?

Accepted Answer

Every publisher on Suru adopts an Editorial Charter at onboarding. It covers accuracy and verification, independence and ethics, fairness and tone, corrections policy, and community standards. The mission statement is personalised per publication; the standards are universal across the platform. It's your public commitment to your readers.

Question 17

Does Suru control what I publish?

Accepted Answer

No. The journalism check is advisory. Every flag can be acknowledged or overridden by you. Suru advises; the publisher decides. All editorial discretion and legal responsibility remain with you at all times.

Question 18

What happens if I make a factual error?

Accepted Answer

Suru logs all corrections automatically and attaches them permanently to the published piece. Version history is maintained and accessible. The Transparency Advisor will prompt you to append a correction note when you change a published figure or fact.

Question 19

Is AI assistance disclosed to readers?

Accepted Answer

Yes, automatically. Every story published with AI assistance includes a disclosure footer on the page. This is non-negotiable and applied by Suru regardless of the level of AI involvement.

Question 20

How do I sign up?

Accepted Answer

Start a capture — no account needed. When you're ready to run your journalism check, Suru will prompt you to create a free account with your name, email, and your beat. Verify your email and you're in.

Question 21

Is there a free tier?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can capture and draft stories for free. Full details on what's included in the free tier are coming soon.

Question 22

Is Suru available on mobile?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Suru is designed mobile-first. The capture flow — voice, photos, video, geo-tagging — is built for use in the field from your phone.

Question 23

Where is Suru available?

Accepted Answer

Suru is currently focused on the UK market, with London boroughs and mid-size English cities as the primary launch geography. Expansion to other English-speaking markets is planned.

Question 24

Who built Suru?

Accepted Answer

Suru is a DoublePortrait Labs production.

Everything you might want to know about Suru.

About Suru

Capturing & publishing stories

Publications & URLs

Pricing & payments

Editorial standards

Getting started

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