There aren't many entrepreneurs in public media, but Jake Shapiro is one to watch.
His Cambrigdge-based non-profit, PRX, announced its Public Media Accelerator this week, a project which will provide funding and expertise to teams with innovative ideas for increasing the impact of public service media. The program is supported by a $2.5 million grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Modeled on startup incubators from TechStars to Y Combi to RockHealth, the idea is to stimulate innovation and disruption in a space known for a remarkable lack of it. The project will invest in both nonprofit and for-profit ventures building apps, services and media products.
Winning technologists and journalists will come to Camrbidge for a 12 week development program, culminating in a demo day and the chance to win additional funding. The program will officially launch at the upcoming SXSW Interactive festival in the spring, applications will also be accepted.
“Through funding more than 200 community information experiments, we’ve found that the models with the best success are nurtured through outside advice and expertise,” said Michael Maness, Knight Foundation’s vice president for journalism and media innovation. “We hope the Public Media Accelerator will bring public media’s quality journalism into more people’s lives, by using technology to expand its reach.”
Writing in PBS's Media Shift Blog recently, Shapiro talked about the problems legacy media continue to have with adapting digital technology.
"These days the competition for talent in media technology is fierce, from new ventures to mature enterprises. Public media should be the go-to place for aspiring and experienced technologists who believe in a public service mission, want to collaborate to build products, services and content for millions of people, and seek an alternative from the rapidly commercializing web. There should be natural alliances with open-source software communities, with leading nonprofit web giants Mozilla and Wikipedia, the growing number of web-based local news organizations, and the open/civic data movement."
Congratulations PRX. We'd love to get involved and help.
