Digital Journalism Task Force Holds #DJTFCHAT on Entrepreneurial Journalism

By Ameena Rasheed, NABJ Digital Journalism Task Force Intern

DJTF Secretary Kiratiana Freelon held a DJTFCHAT last night on  The HOW, WHAT, WHY and WHEN of Journalism Entrepreneurship.

Her guests were:

• Cynthia Liu, founder of the K12 News Network, a site that provides local communities with news and advocacy tools about education. She is a 2011 recipient of the Unity Journalists of Diversity New U: News Entrepreneur grant;
• Jeremy Caplan, Director of Education for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism;
• Jason Frazer, a NewU fellow and founder of Wealth Empower, a content syndication service; and
• Gina Gayle, a multimedia journalist and educator.  

Click here to see the Storify of the event.

NABJDigital Profiles Kelly Virella of Dominion New York

By Talia Whyte, founder and principal of Global Wire Associates and freelance journalist

Kelly Virella

There is a growing number of journalists who are leaving traditional media outlets to create and run their own online news sites.  Kelly Virella is one of those enterprising journalists.  She left her job as the deputy editor of City Limits magazine and website last year to start the news organization, Dominion of New York.  I spoke to her recently about life as a journalist turned entrepreneur.

NABJ Digital: What is Dominion of New York and why did you start it up?

Kelly Virella: Dominion of New York is the online magazine of black intellectual swagger. We report about innovative thinkers, artists and leaders. We investigate complex issues and we blog about current events relevant to the global black diaspora from a progressive-to-radical political perspective. We take our name from the hip-hop refrain, “We run New York,” which symbolizes the aspirations of the hip-hop generation for freedom and power. I started DoNY because I knew a lot of people who wanted a black publication that was more cerebral and stimulated critical thinking. I aim to create one that is commercially viable by giving it beautiful and accessible graphics and editorial.

NABJ Digital: In addition to your contributors, how many people help you run it, or is it all you?

Virella: About 40 people have contributed to the site thus far and another 30 are working on projects in the pipeline. My business partner, veteran ad sales executive Darryl Dye, is our sales leader. My social media consultant is Demetria Irwin, the former managing editor of MadameNoire.com. Also helping me is my husband and co-investor Michael Starkey.

NABJ Digital: How does your website stand out from other sites geared towards African-Americans?

Virella: We’re nerdier. LOL! Our mission is to nourish the life of the mind of people who love black culture. So we’re more cerebral and bookish than your average, with a lot of posts devoted to books, ideas and thinkers.  We also publish a lot of long, thoughtful, literary pieces that other sites wouldn’t touch.

NABJ Digital: Why do you think more black journalists should pursue entrepreneurial ventures?

Virella: I believe that every black family should aim to generate an entrepreneur because we need businesses to create jobs and economic growth that will help us assume leadership and control in our own environments. Journalists who do this can help elevate the global conversation about race and promote change.

NABJ Digital: Have you ever run a business of this nature before?  What skills are required to pursue such a venture?

Virella: Before starting DoNY I worked for almost 2 years as the number two editor for a small New York City magazine and website called City Limits. That helped me learn some of the ropes of editing and understand the business model of websites. But I’m definitely a first time business-owner and that’s an entirely different beast. You have to be patient, teachable, have foresight, vision and perseverance, and be able to use your power as CEO effectively. You also have to be willing to work at least 12 hours per day. It’s not rocket science. It just requires a lot of work.

NABJ Digital: What is the hardest part about running your website?

Virella: Finding experienced freelance contributors who know how to write good pitches is the hardest part.

NABJ Digital: What is your business model?

Virella: Our first revenue streams will be ad sales and event sponsorships.

NABJ Digital: How has the website been received by others so far?

Virella: Very well. Last month — our fifth month online — we had 55,000 unique visitors in 155 countries and territories.

NABJ Digital: What are the long term goals for Dominion of New York?

Virella: I want us to expand the brand into ancillary products like anthologies of our top articles. But more importantly, I’d like to see DoNY become a major voice in the black diaspora.

Unity 2011 Video Pitches

By Jamerika Haynes, Multimedia Journalist, follow me on Twitter @JamerikaHaynes

The Unity Journalists of Color are giving media entrepreneurs the chance to win big. The group is hosting the ‘New U’ News Entrepreneurs Working Through Unity Program. Fourteen selected fellows created video pitches for a chance to win one of three $10,000 Ford Foundation sponsored seed grants. Co-Project Director, Doug Mitchell says the contest gives entrepreneurs of color the opportunity to be discovered.

“We feel like people of color are being left out of start-up of media companies,” Mitchell said.  “This project is meant to give these fellows a community of support.”

This is the second year for the contest. Voting will remain open until January 3, 2012. Winners will be in announced February 2012.

NABJ members who are up for consideration are:

• An educator, writer, and self-proclaimed “internationalista,” Roxanne L. Scott has lived in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia. She currently lives in Beijing, China and will take her first trip to Africa in January 2012.

• Jason Frazer is currently a TV Reporter for the CBS affiliate in Columbus. Prior to TV, Jason was a banking manager for four years.

• Kathryn Buford is a journalist and PhD student in sociology whose research focuses on social entrepreneurship, art and the women and history of the African Diaspora. She is co-founder of Live Unchained (liveunchained.com/liveunchained.com/blog) which, she is developing with a team of women artists, entrepreneurs and tech experts from around the world.

• Sherbeam Wright is a blogger and communications, brand and social media consultant. She has extensive experience working with journalists, authors and writers in using social media, PR and online marketing to develop and grow their brands. Sherbeam has a history of developing and driving strategic initiatives supporting the sales efforts of public enterprises and private tech organizations.

• Kelly Virella is a web technologist, an experienced, award winning journalist and entrepreneur with a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s from the University of California at Berkeley. In July, she founded and began working full time-time on Dominion of New York, the online magazine for black people who love interesting ideas.

Vote for NABJ members here.

Part 2 – 5 Concrete Steps To Moving The Needle On Media Entrepreneurship

By Michelle Ferrier, Ph.D.

After my East Coast Listening Tour (see my post from yesterday) where I connected with those in the media entrepreneurship ecosystem, I’ve gathered a few potential steps to move the needle on media entrepreneurship by or for people of color.

1. It took someone else’s perspective for me to see the value of the work of the Journalism That Matters Create or Die series of design | build | pitch events that were held in 2010 in Detroit and 2011 in Greensboro, NC. These events serve as a firestarter…an opportunity for passionate people to meet talented technicians and ignite innovation in the journalism space.  The passion of the Greensboro 52 or G52 has continued to live on our Facebook Create or Die group, where members share their projects, needs and support. We need to move more of these projects up the pipeline to funding and raise awareness for our successes. And it looks like Create or Die 3 will have an important place in this media entrepreneurship ecosystem.

2. The second step is to create more venues like Comcast’s DreamIt Ventures and UNITY’s NewU that increase the odds that diverse people and projects can pitch and be heard. As part of this mix, we need incubators that don’t require relocation to Silicon Valley or Boulder, Colorado. A “Bloom where you’re planted” model would bring together training and talent in a geographic space. Journalism That Matters piloted such an idea in Seattle in 2010. The Pacific Northwest Collaboratory was born as a support system for the new news ecology there. That successful experiment should be replicated in other regions.

3. The third step is education and training for the hundreds of potential business that wither at the doorways to incubators and pitch sessions. These projects could be successful if provided with nurturing, talent, and access to funds. We need a distributed model, probably online and in physical space, that will help give entrepreneurs just-in-time access to the information and people that can help vet and nurture new ideas.

4. The fourth step is the creation of a talent network so that media entrepreneurs can find and build a talented team that has a higher likelihood of success. Content ideas rarely get funded unless they have a strong technology play. Many ideas flounder because of the lack of a tech team early on in the process of product development.

5. The fifth step is to create a microfund to support application fees and travel fees for potential entrepreneurs to attend and perhaps pitch at the other startup weekends and venues around the country. These small loans, probably of a couple of hundred dollars, will help in identifying media entrepreneurs in need of just the services a robust network can provide (see bullet three and four).

I’d love to hear what others think is needed to make the whole ecosystem a tight, resilient, effective network. I’m still listening.

Dr. Michelle Ferrier is founder and publisher of LocallyGrownNews.com, a hyperlocal community news site now in its second year. She is also an associate professor in the School of Communications at Elon University.

 

Part 1 – Addressing The Blockage In The Media Entrepreneurship Deal Flow

By Michelle Ferrier, Ph.D.

In search of the larger picture of media entrepreneurship, I recently traveled from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., and environs to meet with incubator directors, serial entrepreneurs, and others in the digital intelligencia. My goal, I thought, was simple. Engage in conversations about the new media landscape and how to fund great ideas.

Admittedly, I went with my own preconceived notions on what I’ve dubbed the East Coast Listening Tour. I was thinking of creating an accelerator to help educate and fund journalism-based projects coming out of the Journalism That Matters Create or Die series of design | build | pitch events in Detroit and Greensboro.

But something shifted on that road trip. Perhaps, like in the movies, my character learns something about herself as she traveled down the highways. As I met with folks like Doug Mitchell, co-director of UNITY’s New U incubator and William Crowder, managing director of the Comcast DreamIt Ventures project and Dr. Chad Womack, cofounder of the Black Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative, I stopped thinking and talking. I put on my journalism hat. And I started asking questions and listening.

What is needed in the media entrepreneurship space for projects by and for people of color? What do project teams need in terms of education, training or funding? When do they need such interventions? Who is already servicing these people with the skills and knowledge to be successful? What is the audience that is not being served effectively?

Many on the National Association of Black Journalists’ Digital Journalism Task Force have talked about the lack of financing for journalism projects by or for people of color. New U was designed to help address that gap. DreamIt Ventures was designed to fill that need. But as I chatted with people just as passionate about media entrepreneurship, the larger media ecosystem became a bit clearer. And the gaping holes became increasingly apparent.

With more than 200 applicants for 16 slots in the 2010 class, New U has a very selective process for picking its final teams for mentoring. Four of the 16 go on to actual funding. Same scenario with DreamIt Ventures. Many more entrepreneurs are waiting for their shot than the number of slots available to accommodate them.

Venture capitalists talk about deal flow…the number of ideas it takes for the big one to be found. To me, it doesn’t seem as if we have any problem with deal flow with the hundreds of entrepreneurs of color waiting for a chance to be heard. What I see is a tremendous narrowing of the arteries leading to the heart of the matter – funding. And lots of ideas never see the light of day for lack of access to that flow.

Tomorrow, Part 2: 5 Concrete Steps to Moving the Needle on Media Entrepreneurship

Dr. Michelle Ferrier is founder and publisher of LocallyGrownNews.com, a hyperlocal community news site now in its second year. She is also an associate professor in the School of Communications at Elon University.

Apply For The 2011 UNITY New U Fellowship

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Now that we’ve all recovered from this year’s National Association of Black Journalists convention, I thought now would be a great time to remind members with an entrepreneurial bent that the deadline to apply for this year’s UNITY New U Fellowship is Friday, Aug. 26.

UNITY received a $100,000 grant from The Ford Foundation to implement New U: News Entrepreneurs Working through UNITY (New U), and they want YOU to apply for this program, in its second year. The New U project is intended to increase the number of innovative thinkers and product developers who are of color, providing them with a forum in which to develop and express innovative ideas.  Click here to see last year’s winners.

Despite NABJ no longer being a UNITY member, 5 of the program’s 15 slots have been reserved for those who are not members of the remaining UNITY partners — AAJA, NAHJ and NAJA.

The New U Fellowship national “startup camp” will be held Oct. 17-19, 2011 in Las Vegas. In addition to offering a unique formula based in training and one-on-one mentoring, the program includes a competition for four (4) fellows to win $10,000 each in start-up funding to help realize their entrepreneurial ideas.

Sheila Brooks Preaches The Entrepreneurship Gospel

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Last week, I received an assignment for the summer edition of the NABJ Journal: interview long-time member Sheila Brooks, owner of SRB Communications and winner of the first Pat Tobin Media Professional Award.  I met Brooks in 2008 at NABJ’s Watergate Conference on Political and Congressional Reporting.  We also both served on the selection committee for the inaugural Ray Taliaferro NABJ Entrepreneurial Spirit Award.

As I was interviewing Brooks for the Journal story, I asked her a question about how she has been a leader and role model for journalists wanting to go the entrepreneur route.  The conversation was so good, I decided to use it here on the blog.

For the third year, Brooks is leading an all-day Learning Lab workshop — Creating Wealth in an Innovation Economy — on Aug. 3 at this year’s NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair.

Look at what’s happening in the media industry, says Brooks, a 33-year veteran of television, building a career as a news director, reporter, anchor, and documentary producer at television stations across the country.  “So many journalists are losing their jobs or taking buyouts, whether they are in television or print,” she observes.  “We’ve all seen the changes because of the digital revolution.”

Brooks thinks that journalists with solid writing, producing and editing skills need to look at other career opportunities.  “That doesn’t end with public affairs or public relations jobs, but expands to entrepreneurship.  That’s when we’re in control of our destiny,” she states.  “Journalists can no longer rely on long careers in the media.”

No one likes to take that first step toward entrepreneurship, says Brooks.  “With my Learning Lab, journalists considering a move to entrepreneurship can meet those who have already done it, so they can see if this is something they want to pursue,” she explains.  “We look at things like what opportunities are out there, can I get contracts with organizations like the federal government and major corporations. We teach them how to leverage relationships.”

When I left the newsroom, the first thing I did was leverage relationships, says Brooks.   “I knew how management awarded contracts to production companies.  I also knew that if I could run a newsroom, I could run my own company,” she states.  “My facility looks like a television station and I own it.  We can give journalists the same opportunity to learn how to grow a prosperous business.

Small businesses are what drives this economy, says Brooks.  “But we have become so complacent about being in our jobs, because we have great jobs.  Back in the day, we worked in newsrooms run by managers who were committed to diversity goals and gave us opportunities, but many of those people are gone,” she notes.

Declining ad revenues and the growing digital platform have changed the traditional news mode, says Brooks.  “Journalists need to see all the opportunities out there.  Not everyone will want to do what I did – take big bank loans to buy equipment,” she warns.  “But there are others who can still grow a business and it doesn’t have to be that intense or have a large overhead.  Entrepreneurship can be addictive.”

Finding Your Entrepreneurial Inspiration

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

I am a journalist who has never been interested in following the entrepreneur path.  I just don’t have the desire or the mindset to do it.  But I know plenty of journalists who are thinking of or actually following their entrepreneurial dreams as a way to stay in the game as newsrooms continue with job cuts.  And I feel the Digital Journalism Task Force has a responsibility to help those follow those dreams.

Last week’s layoffs by Gannett and Media General brought up the entrepreneurial discussion once again.  My good friend — and partner in crime — Doug Mitchell is about to start year two of the New U: News Entrepreneurs Working Through UNITY competitive program.  Thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation, New U helps journalists of color who want to become entrepreneurs by having them    participate in a national “boot camp”.  It offers training and one-on-one mentoring and a competition for start-up funding to assist news entrepreneurs in realizing their ideas.

This year’s National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention and career fair includes four workshops — including year two of Sheila Brooks’ day long “Creating Wealth in an Innovation Economy” session — on entrepreneurship at this year’s convention.  And NABJ has the first Ray Taliaferro NABJ Entrepreneurial Spirit Award winner.

But beyond the convention, what is our organization’s commitment to helping members fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams?  I’m inspired by the efforts of members including NABJ Secretary Roland Martin, Mike Green, co-founder of the Black Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative, Meta Mereday, Editor in Chief of Savoy Magazine, Retha Hill, Executive Director of the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab at Arizona State University, Dr. Sybril Bennett, Associate Professor of the New Century Journalism Program at Belmont University, and Doug Mitchell, co-chair of NABJ’s Media Institute, co-director of the New U program and an adjunct professor instructor at the City College of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. among others.

I thank Dr. Syb for sending me a great example of bible scripture Isaiah 11:6: The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

NABJ historian Wayne Sutton writes at Black Web 2.0 about the entrepreneurial dreams of two 11-year-olds — Marci Lawson and Ben Brown — who pitched their ideas at the recent Triangle Startup Weekend in Durham, N.C.  Clips of their presentations are below.  They can be an inspiration to us all!

Friday Fast Five + Five – The Mashable Edition

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

Editor’s note: please join the NABJ Reinvention Committee and Digital Journalism Task Force for a BlogTalkRadio show, “In the Thick of My Career: Searching for the ‘New Me,’” April 29 at noon EDT. Neil Foote of Foote Communications and the University of North Texas, will show mid-career professionals how to revamp their skills and become more tech savvy.   And click here for the replay of our first show in this series — “The Young & the Restless: Keeping Hope & Journalism Alive,” which aired on April 15.  Our third and final show in the series will be “Laid Off, Bought Out & Scared: Managing My Life and Finances.”  This session with Past NABJ President Sidmel Estes of BreakThrough Inc., targets journalists who may have recently lost their jobs or fear they may lose them. We’ll discuss what you can do now to prepare for the worst, how you adjust to life without the office and offer Budgeting 101 tips.

As you know, I keep a Mashable bookmark folder on my laptop for these Fast Five tips.  This particular folder is bursting at the seams, so I deleted some items and decided to throw out the rest as a five plus five bonus edition.  Enjoy!

1. HOW TO: Turn Your Facebook Profile Photo Into a Video
2. 10 Online Tools and Tips for the Budding Entrepreneur
3. HOW TO: Jump-Start Your Career by Becoming an Online Influencer
4. Lanyrd Keeps Your Conference Life On Track, Via Twitter
5. Bring Your Tumblr Content to WordPress With Ease
6. Is Developing a Mobile App Worth the Cost?
7. 44 Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed
8. 8 Simple Ways to Improve Your YouTube Channel
9. HOW TO: Add Social Sharing Buttons to Your Website
10. HOW TO: Hire a Great Web Designer, With Y Combinator’s Garry Tan

Create or Die 2: Journalists, Innovators and Investors

By Mike Green, award-winning journalist and Chief Information Officer and a co-founder of the Black Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative

Editor’s note: please join NABJ’s Digital Journalism Task Force TODAY for a free webinar, Tapping our Oral Traditions: How To Add A Podcast To Your Print Story, from noon to 1:00 p.m. EDT.  Join multimedia journalist Vanessa Deggins as she shows how to create a podcast to accompany a print story. She will allow us to listen to some of her work and she’ll answer questions on how you can get started. The NABJDigital blog will also have links to resources Deggins recommends for producing podcasts.

What happens when you combine the intellect and innovative talks of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) with the high energy, passion and zeal of SXSW (South By Southwest: Music, Film, Interactive) and channel it into the media industry?

You get “Create or Die.”

Journalism That Matters is the umbrella organization that gave birth to this new paradigm of innovative spontaneous collaborations within the construct of a new kind of conference where people engage with the passionate purpose of bringing ideas to fruition.

“Journalism That Matters is known for creating high-energy, high-passion gatherings,” said Dr. Michelle Ferrier, one of the event’s organizers.  “Our goal is to bring together a network of thought leaders and doers in the digital space to reimagine a news ecology that serves all of us. Participants are always amazed at the creativity and action generated at the sessions. “

Create or Die 2 (Innovate, Incubate, Initiate) is the second iteration of an event that focuses on journalism innovation and diversity. Building upon the success of the first Create or Die conference held in Detroit last year, Create or Die 2 will be held June 2 – 5, 2011, on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

“The challenges of bringing more diverse voices and creating more viable business models are issues that can be and should be addressed together in the journalism world. As new media finds its place, we can shift a tragic trend by bringing more resources and energy to involving an increasingly diverse public,” said Peggy Holman, co-founder of Journalism That Matters and author of Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity.

Imagine a gathering of highly energized innovators from across myriad industry sectors engaging with entrepreneurial-minded journalists within a series of “unconference” style sessions that promote brainstorming, sharing, collaboration and production of new ideas that can be matched to interested funders.

“The design, build, pitch format is designed to create a ‘competition’ with people cooperating on innovating new journalism entrepreneurial ventures,” said Ferrier. “We want more people and communities of color engaged in telling their own stories and finding the means to do so through innovation.”

It’s no secret the media industry is influx. A transformation has occurred that disrupted old business models and encouraged journalists to embrace entrepreneurial endeavors that capitalize upon their knowledge, skills and broad connections. New technologies have opened doors to new opportunities. Journalists who once witnessed their innovative ideas wither and die within the management of deadline-driven newsrooms have found new life within a collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystem comprised of game developers, technologists, entrepreneurs, educators, investors, artists, filmmakers, etc.

The three day event is expected to bring more than 100 journalists, technologists, bloggers, educators, hackers, funders, community activists, designers, social entrepreneurs, and others who care about telling stories in diverse communities.  The format provides attendees with the opportunity to discuss those topics that are most pressing, while creating effective projects that bring real solutions.

“We have two main goals,” Ferrier said.  “One, is to bring together a dynamic, diverse group of participants who can examine the shifting media landscape for journalism entrepreneurial opportunities. Two, we want to leverage the knowledge network we’ve created to advance systemic changes in the distribution of funds, resources and knowledge to people and communities of color for journalism enterprises.”

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Dr. Michelle Ferrier is vice president of Journalism That Matters based in Seattle. She is an associate professor in the School of Communications at Elon University.  She is also the founder of LocallyGrownNews.com, a a hyperlocal website focused on allowing citizen journalists and community members to build their community conversation through good local information and networking.  You can read the NABJDigital profile of her here.  For more information and to register to attend Create or Die 2, visit the website at http://createordie2.org.