Veteran and rookie journalists got tips on how to build successful business models. Panelists encouraged people to think their content — and who will pay for it.

By Rafael Carranza
Latino Reporter

Nearly two dozen journalists learned from successful entrepreneurs how to build and present a new media business model at a panel Friday morning.

At the workshop, organized for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Convention in San Juan, veteran and rookie journalists alike received tips on how to build innovative ventures to provide information amidst a morphing media landscape.

In order to develop a business model you have to consider three important questions, according to Eduardo Housner,  founder and CEO of his own Web site that streamlines news articles from several media sources to the site.

“What are you good at? Who cares about it? And who’s going to pay for your work?” he said.

Housner emphasized the last part, saying, “Either advertisers pay for your work, users pay for your work or foundations pay for work.”

One funding group is the Knight Foundation, which pays for numerous journalism ventures every year. Jose Zamora, a journalism associate at the foundation, said it’s important for any journalists as aspiring entrepreneur to think about his or her idea thoroughly.

“We see many people who have only a concept or idea. Once we further the talks, they don’t have anything,” he said.

Other key highlights from the workshop included:

•    Calvin Sims, program officer for the Ford Foundation, said his organization is “interested in projects that fill a void in reporting.” He said the ideas they fund should be original and be able to be “aggregated in larger spaces.”

•    Patricio Espinoza spoke about niche journalism on the Internet, the practice of starting news Web sites that cater to specific neighborhoods, citing his site, which covers the San Antonio downtown area, as an example. He also talked about using bartering as an alternative to advertising — exchanging products such as Internet cards or meals in exchange for publicity on his Web site.

Nearly all panelists agreed that profit is a major component of the business model.

“If you don’t have a profit, there isn’t a mission,” Housner said.

But Espinoza said content is also important.

“If you don’t have content — engaging content — you’re just not going to make any money,” he said.

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