Data is the language of tomorrow
The EJCP at CUNY helped me expand the horizon of my abilities from conceptualising a tiny digital data journalism product to an evolved business plan, and I couldn’t be more thankful
One of the aphorisms used most indiscriminately in recent times likens data (mostly 0s and 1s) to oil (that thick black fluid that got us till here). “Data is the new oil,” The Economist said in 2017, something that scores of writers followed later. But I think this one is past its due date now. Data, now, is much more than oil has ever been. Data does not just belong, or pertain, to us now. It is almost everything we are, up to the core of our being human. Data is the language of tomorrow, and tomorrow is here.
This was something that inspired me back in the day to try my luck at data-driven journalism, or data-informed journalism. This year, it inspired me to shun the routine of regular stories (which I loved, by the way) and think about journalism products that communicate data in newer ways.
Lucky enough to be in the company of encouraging editors at the Business Standard, and privileged to be a member of the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at the Newmark J-School of City University of New York (CUNY), I conceptualised, pitched, designed, planned, prototyped, tested, and launched Number Wise, a weekly data journalism newsletter that sends a story made of beautiful charts to the subscribers’ inbox!
I frankly admit that much of the reason I did this was due to my love of public data, and the urge to extract something meaningful out of it. Take, for instance, the GIF animation that I prepared for our third issue, which demonstrates the extent to which consumption has suffered in India, into the pandemic.
There is no doubt that legacy, as well as new digital publications, are full of data stories today. Number Wise also talks about topics that are common but diverse, such as affordability of retail prices of automobiles and cooking fuel, the state of health infrastructure in states, action taken by market regulators against investors who try to game the system, and so on.
But the idea of a data journalism newsletter was something more than that. Number Wise talks to the reader and raises more questions than it provides answers to. Doesn’t this match with the way you and I think, especially with regards to public affairs?
It uses email as a platform for the conversation, with two things in mind. First, the project considers that readers want to read something meaningful on non-social media platforms, and email fits here perfectly. Second, it thinks that an average person’s relationship with email as a platform is evolving rapidly. Sending a fact-based quick read through email made sense to me; I think it makes sense to readers, too, as the open rate for the newsletter has risen from 14 to 18% in a month.
Now, this is just the beginning. I plan to improve the product with each issue. Introducing newer ways to communicate data, taking audience surveys, creating new subscription buckets, bringing audiences on to discussion fora, and implementing membership programs are some of the next steps I have planned for the rest of 2021.
The Crux: From a product to a business plan
On the very first day of the EJCP program, I asked Jeremy Caplan, our lead faculty, how to make the most of the program, especially while working full-time at a legacy publication. I was curious, rather nervous, about whether I would be able to add and extract value while I attended the course. Jeremy asked me to just hold this question until the next session.
I was pleasantly surprised when Anita Zielina talked at length about this in our first guest session. From what both of them shared with us, I visualised two ends of a spectrum of how to make the most of EJCP, and arrived at a golden mean.
For one, I could implement all that I learn in the program along with the pace of the program. At the other end, I could learn, digest, reflect over time, and then implement when one is ready to take the jump. I chose to do both.
When I pitched the idea to develop a data journalism newsletter to my editors, it gave me an immediate, tangible, feasible task at hand, and an impulse to begin, which I converted into a working weekly product even before the program ended. I set a wheel in motion while I was learning how to make it run.
On the other hand, I did not lose sight of the larger goal: to be a creator, to think like a creator, and plan my own venture.
And here comes the beauty of the program.
I did not just cling to my original goal, but the program made it evolve over the course duration. From a standalone digital news product, I began thinking about modifying a product for it to be a market-fit. I began thinking about unexplored subjects of where finding partners would be simpler. I started thinking about revenue as strongly as I thought about the product itself. As I wrapped up the program, I was not just thinking about a product. I was preparing for a business plan!
I look at my experience at EJCP as the beginning of my product journey. The program showed me where the journalism world is headed, and raised the bar for me. But two lines won’t do justice to what I learnt. Here is a snapshot of how it went for me.
The Gurus: Guest teachers who left us in awe
Here are a few powerful quotes by some of the creators, mentors, and professors who met us in our 100-day journey, which made an impact not just on me, but every one of us.
“Form follows service” — Jeff Jarvis
“Be a creator by keeping the end-goal in sight” — Jarrett Carter Sr.
“Think also about ‘what should I stop doing’” — Anita Zielina
“Understand how the market thinks” — Anita Li
“Social media is not the best place to find an audience for your podcast “ — Amanda McLoughlin
“Fine if you do not have daily deadlines, but stick to a schedule” — Matt Kiser
“Membership is a social contract, not a mere subscription” — Ariel Zirulnick
“No business plan survives the first contact with the customer “ — Jeff Mignon and Nancy Wang
“Create a digital doppelganger of yourself” — Richard Gutjahr
“Build your own story. Tell it in a way no one has told “ — Jan Schaffer
Beginning with the inspiration to go solo, moving to the first key phase of opportunity exploration, treading carefully on to product development, membership and growth, and culminating in personal leadership, the EJCP instructors created a full circle of responsibility and accountability for us.
We dabbled with Eisenhower matrices, lean canvases, value propositions, memberful routines, profit and loss exercises, and rapid project pitches in breakout rooms, and these individual blocks of the program came together to make up the whole, which was much more than the sum.
Fam-Jam: A team whose members complemented (and often complimented!) each other
While we met great creators in the program whom we could relate to, the best part of the program was meeting colleagues from across the world. The program had thoughtfully inducted journalist-creators who belonged to different stages of a creator’s journey.
A third of us were established and experienced creators, very much into their solo journey already. Another third had a clear idea of what they were going to do, with some of them in the early stage of launching their product. The last third (not at all in the order of diminishing importance) consisted of journalists like me, who came in with unique ideas with the potential to make a difference.
Having all stages of a creator’s journey packed together may have been a small idea, but it made a huge impact. People like me learned from the experienced colleagues among us, while the more seasoned ones learned about their own projects better from our innocent questions!
What one of my colleagues pointed out, and what resonated with me fully, is that the cohort felt like a safe space. Never before had I realised the importance of a safe space, let alone giving importance to it. Against the toxicity present on social media platforms (and organisations), cancel culture in organisations (and on the platforms), being a part of a digital safe space was mentally relieving. We say that universities are safe spaces. I experienced it after many, many, years.
The Arsenal: Use of new digital tools for better engagement
It was somewhere in the middle of 2020, I was stuck at an AirBnB in Columbia, Missouri, with my fellowship suspended due to the pandemic raging in the US at that point in time. I found Jeremy on Twitter and subscribed to his Wonder Tools newsletter to get out of the boredom of being alone.
When I applied for the program that Jeremy was teaching, I knew, then, I would experience learning in a way I have never experienced before, with the use of new digital tools that enhance engagement. And that’s exactly how it went.
The entire program is mapped onto a simple linear path on a web tool called Pathwright. We could access all course materials, including videos, in the learning paths on the website-based tool, and could also begin a discussion among us. We benefited hugely from this. We used Padlet for making a storyboard of our thoughts, and even of our value propositions, which greatly helped us refine our own pitches, and learn from colleagues. We had one session on Run The World, where we pitched our projects to experienced creators in less than three minutes, six times in a row: like a rapid-fire round robin.
If that was not all, we began each and every session with a poll on the Slido platform, with questions such as “how are we feeling today in one word” which would set the mood!
The tools brought in novelty, and using them challenged us in a very friendly way. It ensured that, while we were learning, we would have fun too.
The Key Mantra: Cross subsidise
The one big question in everyone’s mind, when we began the program, was this: “Will I be able to finance my own life with a standard that I want, after going solo?” If we got an affirmative on this, the question was, “how?”.
Almost all the creators and mentors who spoke to us before the core program began pointed towards the importance of revenue channels, in addition to the journalism one aspired to develop. Jeff Jarvis asked us to think about subsidising our work with events and consulting. Jarrett Carter came in as a lovely example of this. His work on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU Digest) makes an impact, and event planning and merchandising make sure he earns enough to make a good living.
I learned that delivering a good product passionately and earning to an extent that you can live a life as you wish to go hand in hand.
Hola! There is an audience out there
Over the last few years, the media landscape in India has undergone vast changes. Governments are turning more hostile towards media orgs, which in turn are facing financial stress like never before. In this situation, what I strongly observed was that the proportion of India’s population willing to pay for quality journalism is very small.
The following argument was just stuck in my mind: When only 4% of Indians are registered tax filers, and only 1% actually pay income tax, how can the total addressable market in India be large enough to support individual creators, especially when new digital media outlets are struggling to cope?
But then I met Tanmoy, who is running a newsletter on mental health, met Irene who is writing about the first 1000 days of a baby in the world, and met Patrick who is talking about language. Krystal’s marvellous plan to create journalism on the public transit system of New Jersey, Yoshie’s plan to open up a new world to Japanese women, and my sailor friend Cara’s passion to build a community of seafarers in the Pacific Northwest, and all others, just teamed up to inspire confidence in me!
I realised that the macro situation — that of fear and crisis — masks the existence of the silent audience, and it helped me turn towards hope. Attending EJCP broke my long-standing prejudice against the possibility of a successful one-person journalism venture, and made me rethink my preconceived notions about the Indian audience in particular.
Onward: Future plans
From here on, my plans fork into two non-intersecting pathways: one of a short-term nature, and another looking at the longer term.
In the short term, I plan to expand the portfolio of digital products at Business Standard, where I currently work. I will spend most of my time in the coming months on improving engagement with the data journalism newsletter, and introducing new podcasts. Meanwhile, I will keep working on my business plan, identifying the needs of the market, and testing the workability of revenue channels.
In the medium term, I will make my business plan work. I plan to teach public communication of data to college students, even those studying non-journalism courses, as I strongly think every fresh graduate needs to be data-ready in the job market.
Whichever way I go, EJCP has ensured that I will keep working at the expanding horizon of journalism, unchained from what is, and searching for what will be.
A few words of thankfulness, to sum it up
The mentor-student pairing, which is an important part of the program, turned out to be a big relief for me. Rather than giving me tasks and asking me for accountability, my mentor and an alumnus of the program, H R Venkatesh, reinforced in me a feeling of gratitude towards myself. He urged me not to measure my gains by merely what I have been able to achieve during the program, but how the seeds of innovation that have been sown, bear fruit over time.
I also generously thank Substack for providing me the financial assistance without which, I would not have been able to attend the program.
