Three $20,000 grants for digital media startups by female entrepreneurs

By Ashley Crockett

The 2011 grant winners with IWMF board members.
(Left to right - Maria Balinska, Liza Gross, Gene Robinson, Julia
Reischel, Lissa Harris and Jeanne Pinder) Photo by Anthony Tilghman

Are you a woman? Do you have a great idea that would be a great contribution to digital news media? 

If you answered yes to both questions, then consider this: the International Women's Media Foundation is offering three grants, each worth $20,000, to female journalists looking to advance their digital media startups.

This is the second year for the Women Entrepreneurs in the Digital News Frontier grant program, which aims to "(diversify) the digital news media landscape by expanding the voice and role of women entrepreneurs."

The Five Hardest Things About Journalism: No. 1

By Andrew Gibson

This is the fifth post in a series about what I think are the five most difficult parts of journalism. My opinions are based on one year at Mizzou in Columbia, Mo., and a summer internship at KCNC-TV in Denver.

Journalism decided to throw me in the fire last semester.

I had to write a story about teen pregnancy in my News (Journalism 2100) class. It’s a challenging and sensitive topic, especially for a 19-year-old male who had never reported before January.

Which takes me to challenge No. 1: sources.

Finding teen mothers who would talk took weeks and weeks of persistence. I called and emailed places all over Columbia — My Life, Planned Parenthood, Lutheran Family Services, Columbia Housing Authority, Rock Bridge High School and Douglass High School, to name a few — looking for someone who wasn’t intimidated by a notebook and voice recorder.