Training Local News Entrepreneurs to Build Sustainable Outlets
Our program provides robust training and hands-on support to help local news entrepreneurs build sustainable digital newsrooms focused on serving their communities.
When we launched Zimbabwe’s first entrepreneurial journalism training program for journalists in 2022, our aim was to cultivate resilient homegrown storytellers addressing the information needs of underserved communities. The overwhelming interest from emerging journalism creators reinforced our belief that with proper support, local media entrepreneurs could fill reporting gaps and strengthen democracy in Zimbabwe.
Our initial program empowered participants with the knowledge and skills needed to develop sound audience and revenue strategies for their ventures, exploring how to blend analytical thinking with compelling storytelling. The response validated our vision of cultivating entrepreneurial problem-solvers. In fact, one participant — Calvin Manika — capitalized on the program by launching The Besana Mail, a new media outlet serving the Hwange community in Matabeleland North.
His community-focused news venture addresses information gaps, highlighting how hyperlocal journalism can drive meaningful civic conversations.
Meanwhile, conversations with peers across borders revealed shared barriers amid disruption. Sustainability challenges abound as audiences fragment and advertising models falter. It became clear that collaborating regionally could strengthen resilient operations facing interconnected issues.
That’s why we’re thrilled to unveil Innovate360’s expanded model launching in 2024.
It also became evident that rather than operate in silos, our professionals would greatly benefit from collaborative skills-sharing in a continent facing interconnected issues. With ongoing funding from the United States of America Embassy in Zimbabwe, who supported our 2022 pilot, we’re excited to unveil Innovate360 — reimagining our initiative on an expanded scale.
Beginning 2024, Innovate360 will welcome talented entrepreneurial journalists from Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Namibia for an immersive six-month training program. These professionals work for or with selected independent digital-first newsrooms with the potential to drive meaningful change in local journalism. Through interactive virtual workshops, participants will gain practical tools in audience insights, diversified business models, digital product development and adaptive leadership. Virtual regional and global newsroom visits will offer valuable peer learning between pioneering outlets.
Most significantly, each journalist will undertake a substantive capstone project aiming to address a real organizational need concerning editorial products, audience engagement, or revenue generation. Through these hands-on projects, participants will directly apply their new skills and insights to develop practical solutions for challenges facing their own media outlets. This experience fosters entrepreneurial, solutions-driven thinking and ensures the training has a tangible impact on strengthening participating newsrooms.
By cultivating an interactive community where journalists from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia can freely exchange perspectives and collaborate on challenges, Innovate360 aims to transform established norms that have historically inhibited the development of robust independent reporting ecosystems across the region. Through multinational skills-sharing and peer networking supported by the program, we believe innovative new solutions can emerge to address structural barriers facing media entrepreneurs.
We envision strengthened coordination and shared resources will help fortify the financial sustainability and editorial impact of participating newsrooms long after the training has concluded. As regional media professionals gain exposure to diverse methods and best practices, we are optimistic cultural mindsets may also evolve to embrace entrepreneurial approaches. Ultimately, Innovate360 strives to catalyze positive disruption that empowers digital-native journalists as drivers of transparent, fact-based civic conversations wherever independent discourse remains vulnerable.
We’re excited to see the unique perspectives and resilience that each member of our inaugural cross-border cohort of Zimbabwean, Zambian and Namibian journalists will bring, and how their combined efforts can elevate this program’s transformative potential.
We can’t do this important work alone. If you’re an organization committed to media development in Zimbabwe and across Africa, I strongly encourage exploring collaborative opportunities with Innovate360 that will undoubtedly catalyze impact. Please reach out via email at innovate360@zcmil.org.zw.
