Introducing SCNR

It’s pretty simple: Subverse News is now SCNR. 

You can pronounce it like we do—“SCANNER”—as in Scanners or A Scanner Darkly.
Or you can spell it out like a top-heavy dinosaur cable news outlet — “S-C-N-R,” which could stand for Simulation Corollary News Retrospective.

Simulation, because it seems increasingly plausible that we’re living in a simulation. 

Corollary, because, now more than ever, we will be witnessing the devastating effects of us being “all in this together.” 

News, because we’re going to break major stories with a small wrecking crew of elite muckrakers commingled with the bleeding edge of documentary filmmaking. 

Retrospective, because we are applying documentary-filmmaking techniques to capture the news like never before so that we may reconcile what is new with the past.
Or SCNR could stand for something else entirely: Sick Cybernetic Ninja Robots; Scumbags, Chupacabras, Nematodes, and Reprobates; Subversively Comprehensive News Reporting.

At its core, SCNR is whatever you want it to be. 

We aren’t here to tell you what to do or how to think. Our job is simply to observe, report, and investigate the most troubling and inspiring aspects of this strange new era. 

Think The Economist if it were guest-edited by Philip K. Dick in partnership with Satoshi Nakamoto and Marie Colvin, filtered through the lens of a hybrid news-documentary series directed by an AI clone of Werner Herzog, and you’re 1/4 of the way there. 

SCNR is much more than this, and in the coming weeks and months we will be fortifying our content offerings with new series across platforms.

In the spirit of Subverse, SCNR will be be apolitical, factual, and above all else give a voice to those whom may otherwise be relegated to footnotes of history, or silenced by the powers that be. In short, the whistles will be blowing. Loudly. 

To execute this vision we have brought on former editor-in-chief of Vice Media Rocco Castoro to spearhead editorial and business operations. More recently he was added to the board of directors. More to come on that soon. 

Coinciding with Rocco’s involvement last October, we decided to leave the theater space-slash-studio in Connecticut and moved operations to Philadelphia. 

Shortly thereafter we also started working with various talented producers and video editors around the globe who elevated our production quality and story development.
We have also brought on hardworking and multi-talented production manager Rebecca Gibian.

In Philly, we found an office space to accommodate the new staff and our production needs, but soon after, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Pennsylvania shut down non-essential businesses. Although CISA considers journalists to be essential workers, Pennsylvania specifically excludes internet news publishers and broadcasters from the state’s life-sustaining businesses list. This meant we had to improvise.

As for the way we’re rolling out content, we're currently roving around the country in an RV converted into a mobile production unit, which is why the previous model of daily content is on hiatus. Soon we'll be back to posting videos semi-regularly, but it will be in the verité-style of the last several videos we put out on the YouTube channel.

Along with the change in brand name, we're establishing a limited liability subsidiary company under Subverse Inc. called SCNR Media LLC. This will protect Subverse Inc. from liability that goes along with the new, ambitious projects we've taken on and plan to pursue in the course of our reporting.

On the road right now is a crew of three creators -- Rocco Castoro; Ellington Tynes, Director of Photography, who has works on HBO, ARTE, and Netflix; and myself.

In other news, Bill Ottman will no longer be on the Subverse board of directors, allowing him to focus on his Minds social media platform. We also completed our annual report, which should be out pretty soon.

We’re hearing from our audience that the changes to our content and brand are resonating with them, and we’re encouraged that during these unusual times we still have unique stories to chase down and people willing to tell them. We’re excited to have you on this journey with us.

Stay tuned and stay healthy,
Emily Molli, Chief Content Officer