What does a former customer support manager, former ad sales rep and someone who worked rescue missions at Yosemite National Park have in common? They are all on staff at INN member news organizations.
Over the past year, INN has interviewed 12 individuals for In Other News: Conversations about careers in nonprofit journalism, INN’s monthly LinkedIn newsletter. Each newsletter dives into a Q&A focused on the individual’s career – and how they landed in nonprofit journalism.
Some folks have been in the news industry for years, others transitioned from non-journalism organizations; some are in leadership roles, others are working in the development, audience or product space.
The goal is to get more people thinking about what roles – and people – exist in nonprofit journalism.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
Ruby Franzen, development manager at The Hechinger Report, said that starting a nonprofit at 17 years old helped her with adaptability in a newsroom environment.
“Starting a nonprofit at such a young age I got very used to having to pivot and that mentality has helped me at The Hechinger Report. However, fundraising for journalism is different because the reason for support is more abstract.”
Nikki Villafane, engagement producer of The Jersey Bee, talked to INN about how her role is essential to The Jersey Bee’s mission.
“I am actually surprised that there isn’t more community engagement in other newsrooms. If you don’t have a person or a department or something that is doing community engagement, how are you finding out about what’s happening and what people care about?”
Kimberly Griffin, the publisher and chief revenue officer of Mississippi Free Press, shared how she had to flip her mindset to go from selling ads at the Jackson Free Press to fundraising for Mississippi Free Press.
“I no longer look at [donors] as giving me something, as doing me a favor. I’m actually doing them a favor. I’m inviting them to be a part of keeping us on the right hand side of history and protecting democracy.”
Ibby Ahmed, social media strategist of Mirror Indy, was most recently in the business-to-business tech space, but that didn’t stop her from applying to a nonprofit newsroom.
“Don’t be scared of applying because you don’t have a newsroom background. I don’t have a newsroom background, but the newsroom functions very similarly to a corporate office – or a startup office. If you’re used to startup marketing, you will be very comfortable with the urgency of newsrooms. Skills are transferable; as a marketer, you’re probably a really good writer.”
