5 Takeaways from the Web3 Journalism Creator Summit
In June, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY hosted another Journalism Creator Summit, this one focused on Web3 and what it means for the news media. Below are five takeaways from the event.
1. Web3 may be new, but there is already a community of people who are invested.
TIME has 50,000 participants in its TIMEPiece community. In his Keynote: How the blockchain impacts the future of publishing, TIME President Keith Grossman said news organizations should focus on building a “value-based community” of those interested in Web3 for reasons other than just making money. Listen to — and hire from — your community, and focus on attracting people invested in Web3 rather than educating people who don’t care.
- Keith Grossman, President of TIME
- Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter for The Washington Post
2. Web3 is about ownership — the ability to control how much personal information you put out there.
By taking power away from the big tech giants, people can have more control over their information and data. So far, most of Web3 has been about experiments, but we’re moving closer to useful applications, such as new business models and crowdfunding opportunities. For the news media, the first step of Web3 will be finding meaningful ways of tracking value that a user has accrued across many platforms.
Watch The potential and pitfalls of web3 with:
- Patrick Workman, VP of Business Development and Partnerships at Unlock
- Camila Russo, Founder of The Defiant and author of The Infinite Machine
- Yvonne Leow, CEO of Bewilder
3. NFTs and blockchain can be used to verify the legitimacy of news stories.
The AP is using blockchain to gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine now. Blockchain and NFTs will not be useful for everything, but they can develop further relationships between content creators and their audiences. Once crypto wallets become simpler, more people will be able to access NFTs.
Watch How news orgs and creators use NFTs with:
- Dwayne Desaulniers, Director of Web3 Blockchain & Data at the Associated Press
- Zack Guzman, crypto reporter
- Dan Keeler, Editor-in-chief of Blockworks
4. DAOs are a way for communities to make collective decisions and build together.
DAOs create incentives for people to do work outside of traditional hierarchies. For most people, it’s too complicated to join a DAO right now. Things move so fast that it’s important for someone starting an organization to not promise big and disappear. With questions still unanswered about liability and legal structures, it’s important for creators to build strong, clear frameworks that people can work within.
Watch Designing a DAO for your brand with:
- Cherie Hu, Founder and publisher of Water & Music, a newsletter and research DAO focused on analyzing music/tech trends
- Alanna Roazzi-Laforet, Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer of the popular crypto news site Decrypt
- Daisy Alioto, co-founder of Dirt Media
5. The metaverse hasn’t been defined — but it’s way more than just Meta.
The metaverse can mean both a persistent virtual reality and a variety of other ways to interact with a bigger digital universe. It’s not yet clear how it will be regulated or moderated, or how people will use it — it may even be possible to code safety and privacy into the world. One benefit of the metaverse for distributing information may be that avatars will be tied directly to individual users, meaning people will not be able to create endless new identities with the goal of spreading disinformation.
Watch Exploring the Metaverse: a dystopian or utopian future with:
- Nina Jane Patel, Entrepreneur, psychotherapist, and co-founder of Kabuni Ventures
- Laura Hertzfeld, Emmy-winning writer, editor, and producer
- Alexander Lee, Gaming and esports reporter, Digiday
- Hillary Frey, Editor in Chief, Slate
Previous online events for journalism entrepreneurs hosted by J+ at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism include: Revenue Day: Making Money in the Journalism Creator Ecosystem and Journalism Creator Conversations on Building Your Brand and Managing Your Operations.
Love our events and ready to take the next step as a Journalism Creator? Check out our Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program. This 100-day online certificate program will lead an international cohort of solopreneurs on a journey through product development, community engagement, marketing, revenue expansion, and sustainability.
