A news agency boss pursuing legal action against Buzzfeed after it branded him the “king of bullshit news” in a story has launched a non-profit organisation to help support freelance journalists.

Michael Leidig, who runs Central European News, has used his own money to set up the Fourth Estate Alliance after the 7,000-word Buzzfeed News article “devastated” his hopes of outside investment, he said.

He claims the FEA, which officially launched yesterday, is already supporting some 40 media professionals, including reporters, sub-editors and photographers.

It aims to create online “newsrooms” where journalists can work together to produce news content that they can then send to publishers who are targeted as a match for stories and pictures using “metadata”.

Payments for news and images are then divided between members of the newsroom teams that produced them.

Leidig, who is also vice-chairman of Britain’s National Association of Press Agencies, said: “Being a freelance journalist has the potential to be the best job in the world – it just lacks investment and organisation.”

He said he spent a decade developing the project before Buzzfeed published allegations that he had faked stories and quotes in news content sent out by his agency – claims which he denies.

Leidig has filed an $11m libel suit against the website over the story. Buzzfeed has fought the claim, which is being heard in US courts.

Added Leidig: “Although the Buzzfeed story caused me to lose a substantial investment in this project, I never stopped believing in its potential to help freelance journalism, which for too long has been the poor relation of media staff jobs.

“Developments has been a lot slower as a result [of the Buzzfeed story], but on the other hand it is now a project by journalists for journalists, with nobody else looking to profit from their work.”

Leidig claimed the project provides “full transparency over the way a story is produced”.

Press Gazette editor-in-chief Dominic Ponsford has acted as an unpaid advisor to Leidig in the creation of the Fourth Estate Alliance.

SIGN UP HERE FOR

MEDIA MONITOR

Press Gazette's weekly email providing strategic insight into the future of the media

Subscribe