Guide

Publish a community interview

Two examples of long-form community interviews published on Suru — and the workflow behind them. Both were captured on a phone, transcribed and drafted by Suru, and published under an independent local publication.

A community interview is a specific form: one subject, their voice, their story, in enough depth that a reader finishes the piece feeling they actually know the person. It's the format local newspapers used to run every week and mostly stopped running. Suru brings it back — and makes it fast enough for one person to sustain.

Two community interviews, published on Suru

Cover image for the Josh Bowles interview

The Sandoval Sentinel

The Entrepreneur: Josh Bowles on Two More Years and elevating what Hackney Wick already built

Josh Bowles co-founded Two More Years, a community venue in Hackney Wick, after a Mormon upbringing and missionary work in Russia. The interview traces the through-line from those early years to the decisions behind opening a space designed to serve — rather than gentrify — one of London's most creative districts.

"We didn't want to be another venue that arrived and changed the neighbourhood. We wanted to elevate what Hackney Wick already built."

How it was made in Suru: Recorded on a phone at the venue, transcribed by Suru, drafted, verified against the audio, and published to The Sandoval Sentinel in under an hour of edit time.

Read the full interview →

Cover image for the Hervé Constant interview

The Sandoval Sentinel

From Casablanca to Hackney: Artist Hervé Constant on a life in the studio

Hervé Constant's career spans French theatre and London's art scene. The interview covers the solitude of the studio, his lifelong connection to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, and why he defines success as simply the ability to keep working.

"Success, for me, is the ability to keep working. Everything else is decoration."

How it was made in Suru: A single long-form conversation at the artist's studio. Audio uploaded to Suru, transcribed and drafted overnight, then edited and published the following morning.

Read the full interview →

Publish your own community interview

Pick your subject, arrange 45 minutes, and let Suru handle the rest. Free to start, published under your own local publication.

Start free Read the interview guide →

Frequently asked questions

Can I publish an interview with someone else on Suru?

Yes. Suru is designed for exactly this — long-form conversations with the people in your community, published under your own local publication. You keep editorial control; your subject signs off on the record.

Do I need my own publication to publish an interview?

Every Suru account gets its own publication — a masthead, a URL, and an RSS feed. You set it up in a few minutes during onboarding, then everything you publish lives under that publication.

How long does it take to publish a community interview?

The two interviews above went from recorded conversation to published story in a single afternoon. Suru handles the transcription and first draft; you handle the edit, the fact-check, and the sign-off.

What kinds of interviews work best on Suru?

Long-form conversations with a person whose story deserves telling — a founder, an artist, a councillor, a shopkeeper, an activist. Anything where the subject's own voice carries the piece.

Suru is a storytelling platform for citizen journalists. About Suru · More guides