College Park, Md. – Calling all creative new media women. J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism is seeking to fund three women-led start-ups that will generate new ideas in the world of news and information and model a spirit of journalistic entrepreneurship.
Winners will be given $10,000 in funding to launch their ideas and blog about the process over the next year. Deadline for proposals is May 1, 2008.
The funding is part of a unique initiative to address issues of opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism.
Funded by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, the New Media Women Entrepreneurs (NMWE) initiative will:
o Provide $10,000 each to help launch three women-led news ideas.
o Honor a New Media Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in an awards program.
o Research women’s consumption and creation of news and explore creative opportunities in today’s newsrooms.
o Produce a day-long Women Entrepreneurs Summit to unveil pilot projects, spotlight other entrepreneurial ideas, and release research findings.
o Collect new ideas, research and more at www.newmediawomen.org.
“Women make the vast majority of household purchasing decisions. Women often articulate different definitions of ‘news,’” said Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab, which administers the project. “Yet existing research tells us that for the past two decades, women have comprised two-thirds of journalism school enrollments but make up only one-third of
newsroom workforces.”
Many women who do become journalists leave prematurely; others say they plan to. Still others are leaving to make their ideas a reality in cyberspace, Schaffer said. “What better time than now to see what women might bring to the table, given an opportunity?”
“The McCormick Tribune Foundation is excited to support this innovative project that will nurture the creativity and recognize the talents of women digital media entrepreneurs,” said Clark Bell, the foundation’s journalism program director.
“With seismic shock waves rocking all sectors of the news media, it is increasingly important to showcase promising digital entrepreneurs working to enhance the flow of news and information in their communities.”
The initiative will fund and reward new Web sites, mobile news services or other ideas that offer interactive opportunities to engage, inspire and improve news and information locally, nationally or among a community of interest. These can be solo ideas or team projects headed by women.
NMWE seeks to map the creative assets of women, validate ideas, and help newsrooms take some cues from big business, where top companies are disproportionately tapping women to develop creative, consumer-oriented cultures.
Check out existing research, suggest new research, and read the funding guidelines at www.newmediawomen.org. For more information, e-mail julie@j-lab.org.
J-Lab helps news organizations and citizens use new media technologies to create fresh ways for people to participate in public life. It also administers the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, the Knight Citizen News Network and the New Voices community media grant program.
The McCormick Tribune Foundation supports free, vigorous and diverse news media that provide citizens the vital information they need to make reasoned decisions in a democracy. The Journalism Program is committed to non-profits that support leadership in news organizations, develop future journalists and strengthen the quality of journalism.
