When building the Legitimate app in 2020, Caoimhe and Gerard Donnelly had did have some pushback about what kind of journalists they were going to allow to sign up. To them, the concept was like Rotten Tomatoes — if they don’t let on all the journalists, how would people know which ones they like best? 

Legitimate is an app for journalists where they can have a profile with a portfolio, run transcriptions, connect with other verified journalists, and follow journalists they like. It’s called “Legitimate” because everyone on the platform is verified with an ID and a live photo check.

Legitimate wants to be the go-to app for journalists and it’s on its they’re on their way there with 3,500 members from some of the biggest publishers in the world. 

“The motivation behind starting Legitimate was to try and add to the media literacy tools and to sort of add to the fight against disinformation,” Caoimhe said. “So if you could see exactly who was producing your content, and what else they’d written, you’d have some context before you click on it.”

The Donnellys didn’t want their opinions to get in the way of deciding who they would allow to join the app, so the only qualification they check is for verification that someone is real and who they say they are. 

“We were just seeing so much nonsense being shared,” Caoimhe said. “We were seeing family members send links going, ‘Have you seen this?’ ‘Can you believe this?’. . . And we were just like, ‘No, I can’t believe this; I can’t believe you’re believing this.’ ” 

This sentiment about false information is well founded — nearly 80 percent of US consumers encountered false information about the pandemic. 

Caoimhe sees a few big issues in journalism today. Newspapers aren’t always able to generate revenue, but it becomes easier if they offer niche content. She said a second problem is that people need to develop media literacy: they don’t trust what they see or they do trust disinformation; however, there are initiatives to teach media literacy at a very young age, such as classes at colleges and secondary schools. 

“It’s going to take a while,” Caoimhe said. “It’s taken 10 years for it to get this bad, so it is going to take 10 years to get out of that.”

Caoimhe also thinks Artificial Intelligence is a blessing because it can save a lot of time, but it’s going to hugely impact what kind of content people are exposed to in the future. AI creators are stealing content to build their AI databases, and others are training their AI based on disinformation. 

“There are a lot of people who are trying to do good, too,” Caoimhe said. 

Caoimhe said that local and smaller civic journalism outlets have opportunities. Journalists can be on the ground in their community and holding local politicians accountable.  Such opportunities are available for journalists who can’t access the big-name newsrooms. 

The Donnellys, the two-person team that is entirely responsible for Legitimate. are based in Dublin. They started with no ties to journalism. She said it’s tough but it’s possible to start something new, like a new newsroom. Caoimhe was a primary school teacher for 18 years and a vice principal for seven years. Gerard is a coder.

Caoimhe and Gerard first developed the app in 2020 for journalists to create portfolio pages, to blog and the ability to run a newsletter. Then they interviewed 100 journalists, in all different positions — freelance, staff and editors — to figure out what they needed. 

Legitimate added an inbox so journalists wouldn’t get their emails scraped when put on the internet. They have a contacts page, which allows notes and tracks messages within Legitimate, so journalists don’t have to lose all their contacts when they switch newsrooms. There’s a transcription feature.  

They also added an AI called Cicero. It doesn’t generate new material, instead it generates tips based on the best journalism practices and SEO, including for headlines. 

Legitimate doesn’t sell journalists’ data. It is going to offer a premium level with storage online, enhanced AI features and upgraded transcription. It also offers job advertisements, which coincides with making these verified portfolios available to companies looking to fill jobs.

“People do still need their news,” Caoimhe said. “It’s just about getting it out there.”

(For more information about Legitimate, explore its home page HERE.)

–July 4, 2023–