It’s been a busy week over at the Bay Area News Project, the yet-to-launch journalism startup in San Francisco backed by businessman Warren Hellman. The Project lost KQED as a partner, gained the New York Times (.pdf), hired a CEO and editor-in-chief (.pdf), and is getting ready to hire “about 15” journalists.
PaidContent interviewed incoming CEO Lisa Frazier (McKinsey & Company) and editor-in-chief Jonathan Weber (New West Publishing) about their new roles, and it’s well worth the read to get a glimpse into the non-profit’s plans.
“We’ve been focused on a five-year model, so getting to sustainability in five years and our aspiration in the outer years is to have an operating budget of $8-12 million,” Frazier said, adding that her salary will be $400,000. (Clearly, this isn’t a low-cost operation like most independent journalism startups today.) “This is about creating jobs for journalists and enabling them to practice their craft,” Frazier continued. “We’re building an institution. We’re here to provide this community service to the Bay Area for years to come.”
