Separation of church and state: Why journalism’s sacred cow is nearly milked dry
Alt hed: Why you should still read this newsletter despite my bad bovine puns.
Hey y’all! Anita here. Welcome back to The Other Wave after a brief holiday hiatus. I’m back at it again after experiencing the minor Christmas miracle of avoiding email for three whole days. Congrats on making it to 2021! We’re less than two weeks into this new year, and peace and calm have returned to the world already 🙃
My insider’s approach
Jokes aside, I’m genuinely excited for 2021, in no small part because of all the rad, mission-driven projects I get to work on this year. Top of mind for me right now is my Journalism Innovation course at Ryerson University for which I developed a new curriculum. When creating the course outline, I mulled over everything a young journalist today needs to survive and thrive, gaps in existing Canadian j-school education, and my own less-beaten but fruitful career path.
The outline is divided into three main sections that correspond with three types of innovation in journalism: editorial, business and tech. Here’s what I plan to cover:
Editorial innovations
Current state of diversity, equity and inclusion in Canadian journalism, and why it matters, including challenges and solutions
Definition of underrepresented communities, which encompass identity-based, geographic and other underserved groups
Community-driven vs. traditional approaches to news-gathering
Objectivity vs. transparency as ethical frameworks for journalism
Solutions journalism
Collaborative journalism
Community engagement best practices
Business innovations
Why outlets are prioritizing audience engagement and how that benefits consumer revenue
Business models in media, including advertising, subscriptions, donations, events, merchandise, sponsorship and e-commerce
Why the journalism industry is embracing membership
How to pursue entrepreneurship and create news products
Tech innovations
Live and interactive platforms emerging in journalism
Virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality in journalism
Meme-based journalism
Of all these innovations, I’m most looking forward to teaching new trends on the biz side of journalism. Many of my former students gravitated towards entrepreneurship, and already had side hustles they were developing, such as YouTube channels, Instagram accounts and podcasts. I was delighted by their enthusiasm, not only because entrepreneurship encourages creativity and innovation, but also because it sharpens business acumen.
When I attended j-school a decade ago, my classmates and I didn’t receive a single lesson about how media outlets were funded, which now feels like a misguided attempt to reinforce journalism’s separation of church and state — that is, editorial and business. It’s a boundary promoted by well-meaning profs, and industry leaders more broadly, to ensure advertisers won’t influence and therefore compromise the integrity of news stories. But this sacred cow has become less sacred over time since fewer outlets are relying exclusively on ads for funding and more are working to diversify their revenue streams, including those that actually benefit from integration between editorial and business teams, like membership.
One major consequence of this lack of focus on business in journalism education is that far too many journalists don’t understand much about how their employer generates revenue or where their compensation really comes from or the financial state of our industry. Case in point: A top Vice editor once told me that the publication is among the most progressive outlets in Canada, which is almost laughable given that Fox Corporation founder Rupert Murdoch owned a 5 percent stake in Vice Media from 2013 to 2019 (and Murdoch’s son James currently owns a small stake in the company).
It’s essential that all journos understand the biz side of media because funding models influence everything from the pace of production to the kinds of topics covered and even the quality of the journalism itself.
My outsider’s approach
In November, I met with my design team and core group of advisors for a brand discovery workshop, which is a fancy way of saying we completed exercises to develop a “brand story” that succinctly communicates and supports the values of my yet-to-be announced media outlet. Specifically, we discussed the publication’s external context (e.g. competitive landscape), target audiences, content, and tone and personality.
My biggest fear is that my outlet won’t provide any value, which is what happens when journalists don’t listen to their audiences. Media startups become vanity projects when founders make decisions — either consciously or unconsciously — that serve their ego more than their community. The result? It often leads to failure (I’ve seen this happen too many times throughout my career).
That’s why I consulted a wide cross-section of people from the community that my publication plans to serve, and will continue to do so in the future. Twenty of my friends and colleagues filled in a “discovery questionnaire” that asked questions about their personal connection to this community, which helped me validate my assumptions about my target audiences and refine my editorial strategy. Next step is to finalize the outlet’s name, so stay tuned for more on that...
In my community
The 2020 Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education, which supports collaborations between local news outlets and universities, recently announced its impressive list of winners; as vice-chair of the Online News Association’s Community and Education Committee, I was among the judges who reviewed submissions
Tiny News Collective, an exciting new initiative from LION Publishers and News Catalyst, provides tools, resources and knowledge to help people build sustainable news organizations that reflect and serve their communities
Brandon Gonez, a popular local broadcaster who recently left CP24 in Toronto, has joined the growing ranks of journalists who’ve exited establishment Canadian media and are striking out on their own; he’s launching The Brandon Gonez Show, a weekly news and entertainment series on YouTube, on Jan. 17
After Wednesday’s pro-Trump mob attack at the U.S. Capitol, Sara Lomax-Reese, my fellow Facebook Sustainability Accelerator coach and CEO of WURD — one of America’s only remaining Black-owned talk radio stations — wrote a powerful op-ed about anemic coverage of the attack and the necessity of BIPOC-led media
Cool stuff I like
Mary H.K. Choi’s Permanent Record, a personal fave from one of my book clubs, immediately transported me back to New York City where I lived from 2015 to 2017; I recommend checking out the colourful YA novel if you’re into modern youth culture, Brooklyn bodegas and fusion food
When it was safe during the first wave of COVID-19 last summer, I hosted small, socially distant film screenings in my backyard; one of the showings was Miracle Mile, a criminally overlooked 1988 American apocalyptic thriller with a refreshingly atypical ending, suggested by my friend/documentarian Morgan
Apparently, I really liked listening to Aminé, Harry Styles, Lizzo, The Strokes, Megan Thee Stallion, The Weeknd and high-intensity workout tracks last year — at least that’s according to 2020 Wrapped, Spotify’s personalized year-end review of users’ favourite artists and songs
I plan to check out A Tale of Two Weeklies, a 2019 podcast series about the decades-long rivalry between two alt weeklies in Edmonton; it was recommended to me by Fateema Sayani, a former journalist and longtime Polaris Music Prize juror
Shout-outs
Thanks to Asmaa Malik, a Ryerson University journalism prof, for becoming one of The Other Wave’s newest monthly paying supporters 🙏
How you can support The Other Wave
My professional mission has always been to support the global movement towards more thoughtful, impactful news coverage, and all the ways that manifests. If The Other Wave gets you to think even a little differently about journalism, especially in Canada, then I will have accomplished what I set out to do. And if TOW gets you to take action and support Canadian media outlets — especially ones that strive to be innovative and inclusive — I will have exceeded my expectations.
If my values and goals resonate with you, please consider supporting fiercely independent media analysis that fills in gaps in coverage of the Canadian journalism landscape. How? Feel free to provide feedback, pass along resources, donate money or simply share this newsletter with your friends.