Sasa Vucinic, CEO and co-founder of IndieVoices – an independent media crowdfunding platform, recently posted a reflection on the platform’s first 100 days.
Sasa states that their biggest achievement to date is the fact they are still in business.
IndieVoices was launched with the hope that backers would recognize the importances of independent media – and would be willing to fund journalistic crowdfunding campaigns.
Sasa commented that prior to launching the platform;
The most common comment I heard while preparing to launch IndieVoices was that media projects are simply not “crowdfundable”. Why would the crowd suddenly – after more than a decade of being convinced that information is free – decide to voluntarily fund independent media, and in some other country, not one in which they reside
This was a serious and scary question.
The team at IndieVoices remains convinced that while there are many projects with great merit. Projects that are “beautiful, unique and creative ideas into a full-fledged, well-explained and convincing media project and crowdfunding campaigns”. They now know that we will have to work much harder to create projects that can meet this description.
At IndieVoices they believe there is a bright future for media companies. But this future is guaranteed only to those media entities who know how and are willing to engage with their audiences in a meaningful and serious way. But according to Sasa many journalists struggle to engage their audience – at least those who have the capacity to help support their projects.
“The same guys who, with their articles, took on arms dealers and mega-corruption cases, and survived writing about them, are frozen, like a deer in the headlights, after realizing that they actually have to ask their audience to fund their work.”
Sasa goes on to discuss the “engagement divide”. Where journalists in the the “West” have a greater skill at engaging audiences.
He continues stating;
“…we will have to somewhat widen our mission. It appears that, for IndieVoices to be really successful and create impact we were hoping for, it will not be enough to simply provide a crowdfunding platform to independent media in the developing world and expect that they will be able to take full advantage of it.”