As struggling newspapers file for bankruptcy left and right, the quest is on to find the new business models for news consumption in a new digital age. Recently the New York Times announced that it has begun investigating and testing a system for placing some of their content behind pay walls based on a daily allowance of free articles, but this may just be a new spin on an old trick. Entrepreneurs are needed to help the news industry as it shifts online, and that’s precisely who the Knight Digital Media Center (KDMC) is targeting for an expenses paid seminar this May.
The KDMC is a partnership funded by the Knight Foundation between the USC Annenberg and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Hoping to discover the next Adrian Holovaty, founder of local news aggregator EveryBlock; or David Cohn, creator of crowd-funded reporting site Spot.Us; the KDMC will be hosting the 2010 News Entrepreneur Boot Camp.
“This intense one-week boot camp is designed for 20 competitively selected digital entrepreneurs with great ideas for community news and information initiatives in the public interest,” a description on the KDMC homepage says.
Accepted applicants will be provided with food and lodging for the week-long seminar as well as a stipend to assist with travel costs. The KDMC will be bringing in expert professionals and professors to speak at the seminar and provide “coaching and virtual-learning during a six-month follow-up period.”
For media entrepreneurs with an idea for changing the way media is consumed and monetized, this forum could be a valuable opportunity to receive feedback and network with other like-minded individuals. As new platforms like the iPad add to the mix of new media opportunities, perhaps all that is needed are some entrepreneurial minds to stir the pot. The KDMC is taking applications now, and the deadline to apply is February, 19.
Photo by Flickr user katerha.
