Getting Serious with Assigned Media
When I first started Assigned Media in October 2022, I had a passion to use my journalism to serve my transgender community, and not much else.
Although I’d written about LGBTQ+ issues in Slate and other outlets for years, I’d never started a small business or even imagined that might be something I could do. What I knew was that mainstream coverage of trans issues was missing major stories, and no one was hiring reporters to cover it full time. There was a niche for high quality journalism to fact check all the nonsense about trans issues gunking up the right wing. Someone needed to step up, and it might as well be me.
Assigned started strong, with monthly supporters signing up from the first day, and followers of my work on social platforms like Mastodon willing to help me spread the word about a new daily website for trans news. I enjoyed the rhythm of daily writing and found meaning in feeling like I was doing all I could to combat misinformation and hate.
Often, people who followed me would tell me how important they found my work. Sometimes it even felt like I might be making a difference and changing people’s minds.
But… I STILL DIDN’T KNOW THING ONE ABOUT BUSINESS STUFF!!!
I didn’t know how to create a prospective budget or a business plan. I couldn’t conceptualize how I might grow from being one guy writing a website to running an organization with paid freelancers, much less employees. I knew some journalistic outlets had seen success with a nonprofit model; I had a vague idea that grants were a thing; and, I felt like maybe I might want to move in that direction. But how to get started or what steps to take were a complete mystery to me.
That’s where EJCP came in, and I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to learn with Jeremy, Ambreen, Kyle, my mentor Jan Schaffer, and all the amazing guest speakers and alums. In the past 100 days, I’ve brought on a freelancer to help with one post per week, identified a strategy for growth, decided to pursue fiscal sponsorship on the path to becoming a 501(c)3, and gained confidence that I can break down tasks that seemed almost too big to imagine for a little guy like me into concrete steps that I can tackle one by one.
Assigned has thrived during the course period, growing from 100 to 150 paying members. I even look like I’m on track to crest the $1000/monthly subscriber revenue mark (my starting goal for the first year) a few months early!
During the course, I identified a donor who was interested in funding a side project. What we’re calling Assigned Media’s “Trans Data Library,” a catalogue of factual, well-sourced information on the individuals and organizations involved in anti-trans activism, is getting closer to launching in the upcoming months.
Running a niche journalism project really feels like the adventure of a lifetime. It’s a chance to do the kind of writing I love and fill a need for my community that no one else is. Whatever the next 100 days holds, I’m grateful to have gotten this far, and grateful to EJCP for helping me feel like I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.
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