Start.coop’s Shared Media Services Project
The Challenge: Facing job loss and declining wages, more journalists are launching local, independent media organizations. They often get bogged down in building operational infrastructure, distracting them from their core mission and skillset: producing editorial work that serves the community. Many independent media organizations are looking for more efficient operational systems.
Our Vision: We are building a Shared Media Services operational hub enabling small, worker-friendly media organizations to (a) save money on more efficient back-office services (e.g., legal, HR, bookkeeping), (b) save time via best practices, and (c) enhance worker benefits.
Partners: Start.coop is a systems change catalyst committed to building a more equitable and resilient U.S. economy that shares prosperity among the many, not just the few. This project takes place in partnership with Defector Media, a worker-owned journalism company that has become a model for journalists wishing to escape ongoing corporatization of the news and information sector.
Other project partners include University of Colorado Boulder - Media Economies Design Lab, Freelance Solidarity Project, National Writers Union, and The NewsGuild, with funding from Press Forward, a national initiative to reimagine local news.
The funding is part of Press Forward’s Open Call on Infrastructure, which is providing $22 million to 22 projects that address the urgent challenges local newsrooms face today. Press Forward’s recipients are strengthening newsrooms’ sustainability – tackling revenue and operations challenges so the field can thrive long-term. Other recipients are working to protect a free and independent press, ensuring newsrooms have safety protocols in place, mental health services to help reporters heal from trauma and burnout, and legal resources to face challenges to their reporting. For more information, visit pressforward.news/infrastructure25.
Interested in working with us?
If you're an independent publication looking to receive services once our program is up and running, please fill out this form.
If you're a vendor hoping to be involved with providing services via our program, please fill out this form.