Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2012. It reports news from that month, including layoffs at Prisa, Vocento and La Razón and a Kickstarter campaign then standing at $37,300 and rising. It does not cover whether Tomorrow magazine was actually published.
Journalism is not going through its best moment. We see it every day, both in the precarious pay and in the staff cuts at big media groups such as Prisa, Vocento and, most recently, the newspaper La Razón. Once they send you home, you can vent your outrage on social media and complain that they fired you, after you gave everything for the paper, while they kept other people who, in your view, are far less professional or efficient.
You can complain, yes, but complaining doesn’t make money unless you draw up a plan. Some time ago I published an article called Out-of-work journalist? Reinvent journalism. And that’s exactly what six journalists in the United States did when they were laid off from their respective newspapers.
Six young journalists have decided to reinvent journalism, promising to publish news from a completely impartial point of view, with no holding back. They will publish all the articles that would get you fired at a traditional newspaper. The main problem, which is usually the initial funding, is already solved: in just five hours they raised 15,000 dollars. They now have 37,300 dollars, and the figure is still going up.
They uploaded a video presenting their idea and asking for private backing, in which anyone can take part with anything from 5 dollars to 500 or more. Those who make small contributions are listed in the magazine’s donors section; those who give more than 15 dollars are also sent a copy of the magazine. The grand prize goes to those who contribute more than 500 dollars: on top of the previous rewards, they receive a message from a “porn star” (optional, in case it could cause problems).
The publication will be called Tomorrow, the newspaper of the future, and it promises to be a breath of fresh air for journalism, full of originality and innovation. Perhaps it is the daring of these six young people that has caught the attention of the general public, and of certain major media outlets in particular.
The message: if a newspaper fires you, create your own newspaper. If you didn’t feel valued as a professional, show them what you’re worth. And yes, you can complain, but as long as nobody is paying you for it, try to do it in your spare time.
Featured image: Rick Harris, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
