Fergus Bell

Founder and CEO, Fathm, UK

Fergus Bell is the founder & CEO at Fathm, a multi-award winning independent news lab, agency and consultancy. Fathm has a mission of working with people who are trying to spark creative change and drive sustainability in media by improving newsroom processes and efficiency, making use of emerging technologies, and tackling the ever increasing problems of mis and disinformation.

Fergus is an experienced journalist, editor and leading expert in digital newsgathering, verification, newsroom innovation and collaborative journalism projects. He spent eight years as a journalist and producer at the Associated Press, where he became their first International Social Media and UGC Editor. He then headed up newsroom partnerships and innovation for digital newsgathering start-up, SAM Desk.

Since 2015 Fergus has been advising broadcasters, publishers and start-ups on social and digital newsgathering, newsroom transformation and innovation. In 2017 he co-founded Pop-Up Newsroom, a framework for collaborative journalism projects that has already seen success in the US, UK, India, Sweden and with the multi-award winning “Verificado” – an initiative designed to monitor for misinformation during the Mexican elections. He joined the Online News Association’s Board of Directors in 2020.