This post is by Polly Kreisman, the self-described “editrix” of theloopny.com and mind behind InvestigateNY.com. The sites are trying to help define new journalism, and are grassroots efforts. We asked Polly to tell us more about her adventures.
- Steve
I am an obsessive journalist the way some people kayak or collect star trek trinkets. I can’t help seeing the world the way I believe it should be written or videotaped or edited. And then I can’t help reporting it.
A bit of a problem with the “legacy media” as some are calling it, is that it is eroding like the sands of time.
And how are some of us trying to solve that problem? By creating our own platforms, our own tiny newsrooms. The buzz term is Entrepreneurial Journalism. Another buzz term is Insanity. But I’m determined.
Venture #1 is in my hometown in Westchester County, NY, where I am the self-named editrix of the hyperlocal news site, theLoop.
But it’s more like the Wild West. There’s no assignment editor sending you to an apartment fire. There’s no wall of silence between your story and its audience. There’s no beginning, middle or end to your day. And there’s no more ‘one thing’ to call yourself. You’re the producer, reporter, producer/reporter, writer, managing editor, cameraperson and union.
I have been trying to write this blog post since 9:30 am. (Actually, since July 12.) It is now 7:16pm. In the interim, I have had to write and send out my bi-weekly newsletter, upload four new articles, format the artwork for a new advertiser and put it in the ad server, finish writing a business plan, field emails with news and content to post and then post it, gently kick my two 8-year olds out of my home office (twice), and plan the next installment of LoopTV…all after a meeting today regarding Venture #2.
Venture #2 is called InvestigateNY, and is inspired by an emerging model in this country in investigative reporting. At InvestigativeNewsNetwork.org, you will find the names of about 40 nonprofit regional journalism centers, many partnered with Universities and supported by grants, pushing the kind of stories and content to all platforms of media that we used to take for granted. We hope to be doing the same in New York by the fall.
My goals for today were to read virtual piles of articles I have saved about new business models in journalism and how to monetize (or as we used to say, make money), review grant applications and reach out to potential media partners. Never got to that.
So while all this entrepreneurialism can feed my news jones… and sometimes feed my family, many of us find ourselves doing all those jobs we considered impure back when the only goal was do better stories than the competition and keep a six-figure gig. I have had to wear hats I only feared were in the closet: Business Manager, Ad Sales (ew!), Computer Programmer, Pencil Pusher, Event Planner, Graphic Artist, Office Supply Acquisition, PR person and Accountant.
Then there’s the micro-version of things that will never change: Instead of the ballsy “Eat, Drink and Be Wary” segments we did at WWOR TV (anyone remember the rats at the Bagel factory on the West Side Highway?) or that month upon month–long siege with the Korean-American community excoriating my 7-months pregnant self and WPIX TV for finding (and confirming on video and in lab testing) that certain members were breeding dogs for the restaurant trade — it’s the local coffee bar in Larchmont, NY where I found rats dancing up a storm through the window. That proprietor, for a year, tried to shut us down, much the way the Korean Community tried to extract a retraction from the station, and much the way the H & H Bagel CEO came on the set with me one night and insisted I put the mice in the video. Only this time, I made nice and gave the guy a free ad. I had to. I live in this town.
One of the things I loved about being a reporter was the ability to do something new every day, meet people I never would have otherwise and learn about their jobs, which were so different than the one I had. And maybe along the way I can pass something of meaning on to someone, somewhere. And really, in that way, nothing’s changed.
Robert Niles, a digital pioneer, a man with two very profitable websites, one about violins, the other about theme parks, told a group of online journalists at a Knight Digital Media Center entrepreneurial boot camp recently, that journalists today should strive to “still have a chair when the music stops.” Maybe a roomful of them. The best way to do that, he said, is to always have more than one chair, even if you build it yourself.
And that’s the way things have changed the most.
No related posts.
That was HYPERACTIVE, not HYPER…
Only problem is I UNDERSTOOD Andy Rooney.
If I can't fathom it at breakfast, it's probably lost AND remote.
guest bloggers deserve a thumbnail picture of themselves here- i'll be left to envision 'polly' as the tasmanian devil spinning that cloud of dust without one
While rays of light still remain, investigative reporting and quality journalism are ceding to increasing amounts of press grandstanding, press fraternizing, press posturing, and press aspirations for fame. This self-destruction of America’s Fourth Estate should worry all citizens. In many cases, the press is becoming the celebrity, not the watchdog.
The Journolist, celebrity journalists, partisan press antagonizing each other and not the government–it is all a sign of the rise of the new celebrity press. A press that is concerned more about its image and its position in the political hierarchy it is supposed to be monitoring than it is about the people. Indeed, it seems what American journalism needs is another I.F. Stone, another Ernie Pyle, another Seymour Hersh. Instead, we are stuck with Keith Olberman, Sean Hannity, and the myriad of other “celebrity journalists” who seek fame, not fact.
Read More: http://bit.ly/bwf8g7
Polly! I was pleased to meet her during my two-day turn as 'visiting faculty' at the boot camp she mentioned (back in May at USC in Los Angeles). But she managed not to mention the most interesting story I took away from everybody I met there – Moon Over My Nanny. Look it up. Makes some of the detractors with whom we've dealt look absolutely rainbows/ponies/unicorns-like.
Establishing news sites ,is a good way to do a propaganda for our compny
Good post.
i remember watching your on air investigative reporting in the city for years. your segments were always tight and actually told a story rather than what we usually get, which is a bit of a tease and then frustration at having no clue what really happened. i'm happy to find your writing is as stimulating as watching you tell us about “it”. now that i'm no longer a city-dweller, it's really good news that i'll be able to “click” and be plugged in to polly again. move over arianna…
thank you Eddie- hope to be playing on Lostremote every few days. My best, Polly editor@theloopny.com
God Bless You and your efforts. I just don't think that is sustainable for the long term. Unending days, several hats and non-stop work don't bode well for the long term.
Yup. That's why I find very smart people to work with. No one should go it alone. Journalism should be collaborative.
We hear that one a lot. Our response is, name a business that did not begin with somebody working their butt off for at least a few years. I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but we know a lot of entrepreneurs, and whether they're running a coffee shop, restaurant, a retail store, a consulting firm, or whatever, they got the business going by working long hours, taking few if any days off, and then at some point – assuming it was a good idea and supported by customers – it finally got to the point where they had the revenue for employees, and the rest was history (stll hard work, but the business founders then get to step back a bit and start strategizing). Right now, because of the state of the news business, there are more than a few of us in that knock-yourselves-out startup mode. I don't think that should be discouraged. Those who get investment/VC bucks and come out of the box with a multi-employee team aren't any more sustainable in many cases, because they burn through their money without having had to be hungry enough to figure out how to become financially sustainable sooner.
Bootstrapping in Seattle,
TR
TR's site is a model. And working your butt off can be fun when you believe in what youre doing.
Yes, it can, but not forever. I just said it isn't a sustainable model for anyone who wants a life. It is a model that can be done in the short term. But one-person staffs are vulnerable to illness, monetary shortages and other issues. When a one-person staff gets mono for instance, what happens to that business for three weeks?
neither TR nor I leave ourselves that vulnerable. as i said, good journalism is collaborative and we have help.
Is a loopny like a jeepney?
You'll wesr out faster than a Walmart stereo anyway.