This is for a Speaker in the category for a Beginner audience.
What’s actually behind the rush/crush of news start-ups? This panel offers a diversity of viewpoints: from an expert studying the landscape of news start-ups who will guide the conversation (Usher), to a reporter who has been covering every major movement (Kaufman), to a VC (Lin), to an entrepreneur (Cohn). We haven’t really had a clear discussion about the many questions that need to be raised about news start-ups all in one place. First, we would learn about what the trend actually looks like — who are the players, and what kinds of themes do we see throughout. Second, we’d actually get behind some of the questions about the funding – why now (Lin was anti-startups last ONA, despite running a session), and third, we’d get at what makes news start-ups different from an editorial and tech perspective — if anything. This session could hopefully add some insight into the larger conversation about the future of journalism in this new area of funding, business models, and form.
How does your submission contribute to the diversity of the conference?
Diversity diversity: From the perspective of presenters, the session offers two well-versed women to speak to the issues of tech start-ups and news - and generally, these voices don't necessarily get heard enough. This would be an opportunity to highlight some new speakers rather than the din of mostly male bloggers and writers talking about this subject. There are also ways to think about the ethnic diversity on the panel. Diversity of subject: Many panels at ONA talk about tech and journalism in a really applied way, or in a really theoretical way. But this brings together the theoretical and applied in one session. It would be a compliment to past activities held by ONA, such as the efforts last year to help people incubate their ideas and to highlight start-ups through the exhibitor booths.
What will your audience have gained by the time your session is over?
Suggested Speakers
Nikki Usher | @nikkiusher
Leslie Kaufman | @leslieNYT
Harry Lin | @SuluPrime
David Cohn | @Digidave