Benoit Wirz, director of venture investments at the Knight Foundation, said flexibility is key for journalists looking for work as content generators at startups.
Wirz spoke on the uncertain future of journalism Monday at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Eric Newton, the Cronkite Innovation Chief and consultant for the Knight Foundation, introduced Wirz at this installment of Cronkite’s Must See Monday speaker series.
“If you care about shaping the future of news and innovation in the digital age, Benoit is worth paying attention to,” Newton said.
At the Knight Foundation, Wirz works with small startup companies that are working to advance journalism.
One of the first things Wirz says he looks for in a potential investment is a company cutting the cost of distribution while increasing overall distribution and user engagement.
Though developers and engineers are the main source of employment at these startups, Wirz said these companies need content generators. This is where he said journalists come in.
Wirz said editorial writers are being hired at these companies; however, they must have the skills to be flexible in the types of media they create.
Wirz used Upworthy, a website that shares viral content, as an example that the Knight Foundation has invested in. At Upworthy, writers are being hired to not only curate original content but also create content for brands.
Wirz also said being flexible in what you create is not enough. A journalist should also be flexible in continuing to acquire new skills and tools.
Ashley Altmann, a freshman at the Cronkite School, told Wirz she is “incredibly” worried about the future of journalism but that she is excited to learn for the future.
Wirz advised Altmann that gaining some understanding in video and coding could help her and other journalism students.
“You don’t have to be experts, but try and get a sense of them,” Wirz said. “This industry is going to continue to evolve really, really quickly.”
For future journalists, Wirz is still hopeful.
“I think the future is very bright actually … because you have a much bigger universe of companies to sell to,” he said.
Wirz and the Knight Foundation have done their fair share of adding to this list, investing in 45 journalism-tool companies.
“The good news is every company, to some extent, is a media company,” Wirz said.
Social media, virtual reality, video and podcasts are some of the many ways that developers, engineers and content writers are collaborating in the evolving industry of journalism.
Wirz said getting audiences’ attention is now the difficult part. Wirz believes the outlook for print journalism is going to continue to decline while social media takes its place as the biggest driver of news. However, Wirz still sees roles for journalists.
“People still want to know what’s happening,” Wirz said.
Contact the reporter at Cecilya.Moreno@asu.edu.
