Retro Report is an independent, nonprofit news organization.
At a time when misinformation is rampant and there’s disagreement over objective facts, our team of award-winning journalists and educators is creating trusted documentary videos and classroom resources. Our work brings a greater understanding of current events, fights misinformation and encourages inquiry.
Retro Report has produced more than 250 short documentaries and video series in partnership with The New York Times, PBS, the New Yorker, VICE, Scientific American, NBC News, Politico, Time, The Guardian, Univision and others.
We combine reliable and compelling journalism with history, civics, and media literacy education. Our work illustrates the impact of the past on the present using documentary storytelling, combating the information crisis by
- Revitalizing history and civics education
- Providing nonpartisan journalism that is grounded in facts
- Creating media literacy tools.
OUR PROGRAMS
Retro Report Education
- Free resources for teachers in the format that most engages students: digital video
- Lessons and activities to engage learners of all learning styles and socio-economic backgrounds
- Professional development opportunities for educators (Browse our living library)
Retro Report Living Library
- Free access to over 250 videos that are updated as stories develop
- Tools and videos to teach media literacy skills
Retro Report on TV
- Each year, Retro Report produces TV and film projects that tackle important issues
- Our distribution partners include PBS Frontline, NewsHour, and VICE-TV (Explore our broadcasts)
OUR IMPACT
Retro Report videos have been viewed over 70 million times on RetroReport.org, The New York Times, PBS, YouTube and Facebook.
Classroom resources reach 20,000 educators each month.
Lesson plans have been viewed more than 400,000 times.
Our journalism has been nominated for many awards including: 9 Emmy Awards, 11 Edward R. Murrow Awards, 3 Mirror Awards, 11 Webbys, and many others.
Our media literacy tools are working. A Retro Report video to teach search literacy was tested on 1,000 participants by M.I.T.’s Teaching Systems Lab and Stanford History Education Group. In a pretest, only 8 percent of participants could identify the source behind an unfamiliar website. After participants watched our 90-second video, we saw more than 150 percent improvement: 21 percent answered a similar challenge correctly.
OUR ORIGIN
Retro Report was founded by Christopher Buck, who drew up the blueprints for a living news library. The project was launched in 2013 by Buck, his partner Larry Chollet, Executive Producer Kyra Darnton and a team of producers, reporters and editors.
Retro Report has produced hundreds of short documentary videos, reaching tens of millions of viewers through longstanding partnerships with The New York Times, PBS, the New Yorker, Univision and many other national news outlets. We have produced two prime-time television series for PBS and VICE, and feature-length documentaries including the Emmy Award-nominated “Enemies of the People,” “American Reckoning” and “Facing Eviction” for Frontline.
In 2020, we began providing free educational resources to teachers and students across the country after hearing from teachers that our videos help solve a growing problem in the classroom: bringing history to life for their students.
Retro Report is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization under the Internal Revenue Code. We seek tax-deductible donations from foundations, institutions and individuals to support our work.
