Storyful Founder On Future of Media, Entrepreneurial Journalism, Pitching Tips
On the fifth episode of The Rough Cut’s fifth season, Storyhunter co-founder Alex Ragir is joined by Mark Little, founder of social news agency Storyful and current CEO and co-founder of Kinzen, an Ireland-based technology company that helps monitor disinformation and find quality online content. Alex and Mark, both former international journalists, talk about the future of media, entrepreneurship in the news industry, tips on how to pitch a creative idea to a client, and what the world needs to do to combat fake news and disinformation.
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The Only Constant in Media is Change
“The one thing I’ve learned in my long career in media is that the only thing you can rely on in this industry is change. That’s the only constant. Every time you think it’s all over and someone’s going to finish the internet and solve our problems, or someone is going to find the silver bullet that ends up being the best way to create media, something else happens. So for me, one of the most energizing things about the media is that there’s always something new to discover.”
Embrace Your Failures and Learn From Them
“It helps if you look at life, not in a pessimistic way, but if you always assume you’ll get a kick in the head every day. As an entrepreneur, you never learn from your successes. You always learn from your failures. I’ve found that the greatest source of resilience, when times are hard, is to look back on the times when I screwed up, when it was difficult, when I knew I went through a difficult time in my business or life, and I see I got over it. I’ve been here before.”
Platforms And Media Companies Are Taking After Each Other
“What we’re seeing now is a convergence where all these big platforms are starting to act a lot more like traditional media companies and publishers because they’re having to make editorial decisions on their platforms. So we’re seeing a lot of content moderation. On the other hand publishers are realizing they have to be a lot more like technology companies. They’re got to master new skills. The traditional media companies that will do well despite the destruction of the old business model are the ones who use technology to have deeper engagement. The platforms that’ll survive are the ones that understand they have to empower the content creator, and the quality of content on their platform.”
Storytelling Isn’t Just A Skill For Journalists
“We’re all storytellers. As an entrepreneur you have to be able to tell others the story of your company. You have to make people believe that you can see around the corner. Storytelling is the core of entrepreneurship, and that’s why I think so many journalists can become entrepreneurs. They know how to communicate in a way that makes people excited.”
Young Generations Can Spot Disingenuousness A Mile Away
“My daughter is 15 and my son is 13. When it comes to stuff on the internet, their bullshit detectors are so much better than mine even. I spend a lot of time trying to verify content on the internet, but kids can spot something that isn’t genuine or authentic way easier than some people I know who have been on the internet forever. The kids are alright when it comes to spotting some of this.”
Click here for all previous episodes of The Rough Cut.
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By Alex Ragir (Co-Founder) and Jake Watkins (Head of Stories)
