ABC Live was originally developed by ABC News & Info Services. The platform is currently owned and operated by Aantu Baantu Chaantu Private Limited, which is responsible for its management, operations and editorial framework.

We believe that credible journalism must remain editorially independent while also having a sustainable financial foundation. Therefore, ABC Live seeks to support its operations primarily through research services, knowledge partnerships, training programmes and other disclosed professional activities.

This funding model allows us to invest in evidence-led journalism while reducing dependence on advertising revenue, political funding and undisclosed corporate sponsorship.

Our Funding Model

ABC Live follows a research-driven funding model.

Instead of building its journalism around clicks, sensational headlines or paid access, the platform generates revenue by providing professional research and knowledge services to eligible institutions and organisations.

These services may be offered to:

  • Law firms and legal institutions
  • Universities and academic bodies
  • Think tanks and research organisations
  • Non-governmental organisations
  • Environmental and sustainability bodies
  • Public-policy institutions
  • Professional associations
  • Independent researchers
  • Other organisations requiring evidence-based research support

Revenue earned through such activities helps support ABC Live’s editorial, research, technological and operational requirements.

How ABC Live Generates Revenue

Custom Research Services

ABC Live may undertake commissioned research assignments in areas connected with its institutional expertise.

These services may include:

  • Legal and public-policy research
  • Legislative and regulatory analysis
  • Environmental, social and governance research
  • Climate and sustainability studies
  • Public finance and economic-policy research
  • Governance and institutional analysis
  • Strategic and geopolitical research
  • Data collection, verification and interpretation
  • Research reports, briefing papers and background studies

Commissioned research services remain separate from ABC Live’s independent editorial decisions.

Knowledge Partnerships

ABC Live may collaborate with universities, policy institutions, legal forums, advocacy organisations and independent researchers.

Such partnerships may include:

  • Joint research projects
  • Co-published white papers
  • Policy briefs
  • Research-based public-interest reports
  • Academic consultation
  • Knowledge dissemination
  • Public discussions and expert dialogues

Where a report results from a formal partnership, ABC Live seeks to disclose the nature of that collaboration.

Training and Capacity Building

ABC Live may organise professional and educational programmes for journalists, students, researchers, legal professionals and institutional teams.

These programmes may cover:

  • Research-based journalism
  • Data journalism
  • Legal research and judgment analysis
  • Public-policy research
  • Source verification
  • Fact-checking methods
  • Environmental and sustainability reporting
  • Use of public records and official datasets
  • Responsible use of artificial intelligence in research

Training fees may contribute to the platform’s operational sustainability.

Publishing and Research Support Services

ABC Live may also provide research editing, data presentation, document analysis and knowledge-publication support.

However, such services do not give a client, partner or contributor control over ABC Live’s independent editorial coverage.

Editorial Independence

Funding and editorial decision-making remain separate.

A research client, knowledge partner or service recipient cannot purchase favourable news coverage, suppress critical reporting or determine ABC Live’s editorial conclusions.

Editorial decisions are guided by:

  • Public interest
  • Documentary evidence
  • Legal and factual accuracy
  • Source reliability
  • Relevance to readers
  • Fairness and transparency
  • ABC Live’s published Research Methodology

Where a financial, professional or institutional relationship creates a possible conflict of interest, ABC Live seeks to disclose that relationship prominently.

Advertising and Sponsored Content

ABC Live does not design its editorial agenda around advertising demands.

Where advertising, sponsored material, partnership content or paid communication appears on the platform in the future, it should be clearly identified and visually separated from independent editorial content.

Paid or sponsored arrangements will not automatically influence ABC Live’s reporting, analysis or conclusions.

Free and Open Access

ABC Live aims to keep its public-interest journalism freely accessible.

Readers should be able to access reports without encountering a compulsory subscription or paywall. This approach supports wider public understanding of law, governance, policy, geopolitics, the economy and the environment.

Our funding model is intended to support open access while maintaining the resources required for serious research and editorial review.

How Revenue Is Used

Revenue earned through research services and other disclosed activities may be reinvested in:

  • Investigative and public-interest journalism
  • Long-form research reports
  • Legal and policy analysis
  • Data collection and verification
  • Fact-checking and source review
  • Researcher and editorial remuneration
  • Technology and website infrastructure
  • Multimedia and visual research presentation
  • Digital archives and public databases
  • Training and institutional development

The objective is to strengthen ABC Live’s ability to produce accurate, accessible and evidence-based journalism.

Conflicts of Interest

ABC Live recognises that research services and institutional partnerships may create actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

Therefore:

  • Commercial relationships should not determine editorial conclusions.
  • Relevant financial relationships should be disclosed where necessary.
  • Sponsored or partner-supported work should be clearly labelled.
  • Research clients should not receive undisclosed influence over editorial reports.
  • ABC Live may decline assignments that compromise, or appear likely to compromise, editorial independence.

These safeguards form part of our commitment to transparency.

Work With ABC Live

ABC Live may assist institutions and organisations that require independent, structured and evidence-based research.

Potential collaborators may include:

  • Policymakers
  • Law firms
  • Universities
  • Research institutions
  • Think tanks
  • Environmental organisations
  • Professional associations
  • Public-interest bodies
  • Independent researchers

Research assignments are considered according to subject expertise, institutional capacity, ethical requirements and possible conflicts of interest.

Building a Knowledge-Funded Journalism Model

ABC Live seeks to develop a sustainable Indian media model in which journalism is supported by knowledge, research and public service rather than by sensationalism or undisclosed influence.

This approach allows research work to support journalism while journalism makes reliable knowledge available to the wider public.

Readers, researchers and institutions that use or recommend ABC Live’s professional research services contribute to the sustainability of this model.

Transparency Commitment

ABC Live will endeavour to disclose material funding arrangements, knowledge partnerships and sponsored projects whenever such disclosure is relevant to a published report.

The platform may revise this funding statement as its services, partnerships and revenue model develop.

For more information, readers may contact the ABC Live Research Team or explore the available research services.

ABC Live — Making Complex Public Issues Simple.