Learning how to conquer fear as a journalism creator
Sometimes we lag behind not because we can not, but because we are afraid of the unknown.
Although I have been publishing content since 2020, making Community Talk News sustainable has been difficult partly because I feared the unknown.
Establishing a community-centered newsletter, ‘The Weekly Round-Up’ was under threat because of fear, anxiety coupled with associating with people who did not see success in my dream. However, through self-retrospection, I am managing to overcome my fears.
As highlighted in my previous blog, my online newsletter will be distributed via mail to make a profit and also to address the challenge of access to information, especially in marginalized communities in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province.
While Mail may probably be not accessible to marginalized communities, I believe it is essential in bringing issues affecting these people to mainstream platforms. Such issues can be disseminated to the marginalized communities through widely used applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
People in my circles, however, discouraged me arguing that credible information is only shared through more established platforms as compared to my intended plan.
This got me self-contradicting, questioning research that concluded that the future of journalism is thriving online or the society’s arguments were valid considering that I am looking forward to flighting advertisements as a way of generating revenue from my product. This was, however, not until I got to directly talk to some of the thriving online media giants in Zimbabwe and abroad through seminars organized by the Zimbabwe Center for Media and Information Literacy under the Entrepreneurial Journalism Training Program (EJP) which I am honored to be a part of its first cohort.
An EJP session with a renowned journalist who is CITE Director, Zenzele Ndebele, was reflective in showing me that we all travel different roads to reach our goals, and what matters is determination and giving value to one’s self.
Another insightful session was with a Twitter guru, Munyaradzi Dodo, popularly known in media circles as Munya Bloggo, where I got insights on how to create a niche audience that supports your content every day and not only that but also an audience that helps your initiative grow.
Lillian Agosto, Founder and Editor of Mundos Paralelos and an alum of the prestigious Entrepreneurial Journalism Program at the City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism also inspired me. She shared major tactics for building a media venture such as planning which I really overlooked in many instances. These sessions played a key role in boosting my confidence.
Now that I have conquered my fears, I feel rejuvenated and ready to take my venture to the next level. Recently, I designed my first Mailchimp newsletter, ‘Weekly Round-Up’ via the application’s free template. I am excited to announce that my online newsletter has gained 1 119 subscribers after sharing it on my different social media platforms which include, but are not limited to, WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
My goal going forward, as I leverage on the EJP program is to refine my venture. I wish to research and explore how Mailchimp has been used by established organizations to distribute news. I also want to learn how I can monetize newsletters.
