On Tuesday, Kickstarter announced more than $10 million has been pledged towards journalism projects on its funding portal. The crowdfunding platform revealed in a blog post:
“Since Kickstarter launched eight years ago, writers, photographers, and podcasters have used it to forge their own paths in journalism. And a community of readers and listeners has followed: as of this month, over $10 million has been pledged to Journalism projects on Kickstarter.”
The Kickstarter team sat down with creators behind three funded journalism projects. Carroll Bogert, President of The Marshall Project, shared her opinion about who benefits from independent journalism:
“All citizens can benefit from good, reliable information. The Marshall Project in particular serves a large community of people who care about the criminal justice system. Our stories have gotten cameras installed in prisons, helped sensitize first responders to sexual assault, launched federal probes into private industries, and given a voice to incarcerated people and others trapped inside the criminal justice system. Our goal is to make more Americans care about criminal justice.”
Paul Salopek, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist behind Out of Eden, also revealed his advice for aspiring journalists:
“In today’s saturated marketplace, it’s more important than ever for young colleagues to make their unique voices stand out. You can specialize in a single topic and own it. Or you can be an early adopter of new technology. Or — as in my case — you can go to parts of the world where crucial events are unfolding under the global radar. Go to Africa, which now has more than a billion people and is undergoing both a green and a digital revolution simultaneously. You won’t bump into too many other competitors there.”
In regards to where she sees independent journalism in the next five years, Julia Calagiovanni, Managing editor of Off Assignment, added:
“Larger media outlets will always have an important place in the landscape, but small-but-mighty indies will remain important. I hope that independent print, audio, and video journalism — and maybe some other formats we haven’t even thought of yet — will complement, challenge, and strengthen what’s already out there.”