New Media Women Entrepreneurs Winners Announced

Last week, J-Lab ( The Institute for Interactive Journalism) announced the three winners of The McCormick Foundation New Media Women Entrepreneurs initiative. Each winner received a $10,000 start-up grant to launch a new media project. This initiative, a collaborative effort between J-Lab and the McCormick Foundation, seeks to spotlight the creative assets of women and help address issues of opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism.

Officials selected the winners from a pool of 435 applicants. The three winners of the 2009 McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs were:

ChickRx - Harvard MBA student Stacey Borden and partner Meghan Muntean will lead a team of women in launching an “edgy, approachable, engaging” online health resource uniquely targeted to women, ages 18 to 27. It will have content and Q&As, updated daily, from medical, family and nutrition experts. Borden is the former campus relations director of 85 Broads, a national professional women’s group

Women’s Community News Franchise - Former MytopiaCafe.com editor Michelle Ferrier will develop a complete infrastructure, to be franchised, for those who want to launch hyperlocal news sites. A demo site will launch later this year in West Volusia County, Fla., piloting services that will include a Web platform, software development, market analysis, some content, and legal and marketing assistance.

The Good Food Fight - Three media-savvy Seattle women will connect consumers interested in food with larger public policy issues that affect food choices, security, safety, health and sustainability. Partners Kristin Hyde, Jen Lamson and Amy Pennington will use their deep experience in policy, marketing, journalism and digital campaigns “to leverage the growing concern and interest in food with a call to arms."

-compiled by Jenn Bollenbacher, citizenship intern

Read the full story

May 1 Deadline for Applications to Leadership Institute for Women Journalists

Apply now to attend the International Women’s Media Foundation’s U.S. Leadership Institute for Women Journalists. The three-day, MF-sponsored training program, to be held in Chicago July 20-22, is designed to provide mid- to upper-level female journalists working in print, broadcast or internet media with critical career-building skills and the opportunity to network with colleagues. In addition to the onsite training, participants will receive one-on-one coaching on implementing personalized action plans for the three months following the institute.

For more information on the program, click here: http://www.iwmf.org/categorydetail.aspx?c=institutes

Read the full story

NWME: Looking for Women Media Innovators

The MF-funded J-LAB initiative New Media Women Entrepreneurs has once again put out the call for creative new Web sites, mobile news services or other ‘entrepreneurial initiatives that offer interactive opportunities to engage, inspire and improve news and information in a geographic community of a community of interest.’

What do the three winning women-led projects get? They each receive one-time funding of $10,000 to help them launch their new venture. Last year’s contest attracted nearly 200 innovative proposals. The three winners were:

Echo, a system of public storytelling installations in Atlanta. Led by Lila King and Karyn Lu, movers behind CNN’s user-generated site iReport.com.

Latina Voices, a news site for and by Latinas. Led by Teresa Puente, a journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago and member of the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board.

Northwest Navy News, a networking site for Puget Sound’s military community. Led by Elaine Helm Norton, new media editor at The Daily Herald in Everett, Wash., and a former military beat reporter.

The deadline is March 31, 2009. For more information on guidelines, FAQs, etc:
http://www.newmediawomen.org/index.php/site/proposal_guidelines

Read the full story

A Few Great Ideas

When J-Lab put out the call for innovative digital news and information projects from women entrepreneurs, they didn't know the onslaught of quality projects they'd receive. Nearly 200 women submitted ideas for microgrants to launch or expand new digital projects as part of the inaugural McCormick-funded New Media Women Entrepreneurs initiative. A few months later, J-Lab has selected three proposals to receive $10,000 grants to launch their projects:

• Echo, a system of public storytelling installations in Atlanta. Led by Lila King and Karyn Lu, movers behind CNN’s user-generated site iReport.com.
• Latina Voices, a news site for and by Latinas. Led by Teresa Puente, a journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago and member of the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board.
• Northwest Navy News, a networking site for Puget Sound’s military community. Led by Elaine Helm Norton, new media editor at The Daily Herald in Everett, Wash., and a former military beat reporter.

The NMWE project is addressing opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism by spotlighting their ingenuity and entrepreneurial abilities. Pilot projects will show what can be done. Research will tell what more to do. A summit in 2009 will showcase women’s creative ideas.

Learn more at www.newmediawomen.org.

Read the full story