EJCP Spring 2022 or how to change a mindset in 100 days

With a pause in between, a reflection about the 100 days of the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism came to me like an emotional roller coaster.

I would like to resume some thoughts about a life-changing program in order to encourage journalists and colleagues to apply for the next EJCP cohort.

Starting point: a project and a an audience

From the start of the program in March, I learned a lot from amazing professionals and also experienced changes on a personal, family, and work level. I am still learning from the program, even after its end in June.

I could say everything started with the application and the surprising scholarship from Meta that made this possible. But I know it all started before, when I was blogging stories about food.

I applied to Newmark Journalism School with a personal project, my own gastronomy blog, Córdoba en sabores, the one that almost nobody takes seriously but me. I like to write about food experiences and ask all that I can about food products. This has been the base for multiple experiments over the years.

With the inspiring intro from Anita Zielina on day one, and the smart and systematic questions from Ariel Zirulnik, I discovered the community I want to serve: people who are looking for food, restaurants, and products here in Córdoba and (in the future) in Argentina. First from a foodie perspective, but also from a health approach, thinking about what we eat on a daily basis.

Make questions that question your project

I felt in heaven when I discovered Jeff Jarvis was going to be one of our teachers. I took many screenshots from the day and also pinned in my mind many disruptive concepts (as always when you hear him).

The thing is: every week in this course you evaluate and ask questions about the project and the way you believed it could work. Most of the time, lectures, case studies and event talks in the breakout rooms made you question your ideas and change them, giving rise to another way of approaching a project from scratch.

Having lessons twice a week with an international cohort is an amazing experience in itself. But the key question following us during the #100days trip was: What could be the source of income if we want to do niche journalism?

Before the course, I thought branded content was okay but I didn’t want to have it as main source. Along several Tuesdays and Thursdays with experts, we discovered alternatives based on respecting and taking care of the audience’s needs. I summarize it in these four points:

• Knowing which real audience will be my audience
• In terms of Product: starting small
• Building a community around the audience needs
• With this as a guide, deep dive into what only you can do and why you are the best for do it

The resources to gather information about the audience are site-use statistics, interviews with the model we learned, and also surveys with the clarity that the exercises Ariel gave us.

Classes and examples opened a variety of ideas around building newsletters. Meeting the Creators-in-Residence at Newmark J-School did the rest. I started studying more about the topic and the tools.

Why a newsletter? In my case, it is because a newsletter works with the experiment of a new business model and also takes advantage of the path traveled in the blog. I drew a plan to share news with a hook that really generates interest. As an example: Why it is better to eat at the service station to save on fuel and not on the other way round?

If I talk about stories, I also confirmed that the human side connects us with the community. As an example, I shared with my cohort an experience from a trip to India, when my mother and I went to cook in the house of a local family. The language barrier was broken and the connection through food made us feel at home.

My mentor, Ana Ormaechea, recommended that I use the business model canvas template to outline the value proposition, possible alliances, and opportunities.

In the last weeks of our 100 days of the Entrepreneurial Creator Journalism Program, the Round Robin sessions with incredible people from the CUNY community gave me useful ideas for approaching reader revenue, like donations or partnerships.

When you start thinking about doing what you never did

Besides the amount of knowledge I gained from the course, the challenge of doing it in a second language was also big. As a Spanish speaker, talking and collaborating in English put me in a different and challenging mindset.

The course is always showing the path and live models of everything you can accomplish even if you didn’t imagine it before: for example, running a solo venture is something we can do and Amanda McLaughlin gave us the right tools and first hand experience to do it.

In terms of the next steps, I take this with me:

• A calendar that reflects priorities is essential. Set time for working on your project because nobody will do it for you.
• Audience awareness and focus can be the difference between success and failure
• Talking about our project, sharing, and asking for help opens paths.

I am sure that I couldn’t have done this amazing learning trip without my dearest colleagues from the cohort and the smart and warm support of Jeremy Caplan and Danielle Bonnici. Today, I know a little bit more about the culture of different countries thanks to the group, and of the way the professors conducted the course and interaction spaces they created.

When we started this course we were encouraged to take advantage of it as a space for reflection, recharging energy, and strength. I think that each one of us has experienced it as much as we can. The aiming message to create our ventures and to be confident about its value was strong and continues to resonate. I experienced the pride of being part of “the J-School of the curious and the brave.” I will work to always be on that path.

Thanks! :)