By Marina Savchenko
How to Start a Media Project? What are global media trends? How to establish the global platform enabling media outlets and companies to find, hire and manage media professionals around the world? Justin Varilek have all the answers.
HackPack from Marina Marina on Vimeo.
Here are interesting tips and tricks for young media startup founders by Justin Varilek:
- To inspire others you should be yourself inspired by your project.
- Practicing, practicing and practicing. You should rehearse your presentation at least five times to be 100% sure.
- Ways to earn money: Branded content, Local expertise, Translation, Access to community, Events, Paywall.
- Journalism has never been feasible economically. People earn money producing side content and then add journalism into it.
- Questions for an elevator pitch: What is it? Who is it for? What’s it do?
- Prioritize! It’s all about figuring out what’s the most important information
Justin, how would you define journalism in the digital age?
Journalism is all about analyzing and understanding what is happening in relation to other events throughout time and clearly portraying them for the public to make educated decisions. And I don’t mean just political journalism, but this can apply to sports, arts and entertainment, gossip articles, investigative reports, video documentaries and more. In so much, journalism itself has suffered in the digital age as less and less publications are paying for analysis and understanding. In fact, they’ve largely fired the majority of journalists who possessed the experience necessary to provide that fuller picture. Instead they have focused on cheap and high quality content. Thankfully more and more publications are realizing that quality content sells no matter what and are shifting back. So I personally don’t think the definition of journalism has changed with the digital age, simply publishers have gotten lost in how to fund journalism and what type of content truly sells.
What kind of challenges young media makers and journalists face today?
How do you see the HackPack.press in 10 years?
About: Justin Varilek is the CEO and founder of HackPack.press, the global platform enabling media outlets and companies to find, hire and manage media professionals around the world. Currently the community covers 140 countries with over 8000 journalists, photographers and videographers. He previously worked as a journalist at The Moscow Times and helped found the communications department for Skoltech, a global university established in collaboration with MIT in Moscow. He has also rebuilt the US press office for Acronis, a global software company.
@JustinVarilek
