How To Make It

As a Journalist
Confidential Investor Presentation
April 2016

How To Make It
As a Journalist
is an expanding online
resource for reporters and
their fans to learn more
about the craft of journalism,
and how to excel in an
increasingly competitive
market with tips, tricks, and
hacks from experts in the

How To Make It
As a Journalist
The website will host a
biweekly podcast, video
interviews, courses, and daily
articles all geared toward
helping every type of media
professional be the best they
can be at what they do.

How To Make It
As a Journalist
The website could be described
conceptually as
The Tim Ferriss Show meets
Harvards Nieman Journalism Lab.

What weve observed:

Students enrolling
in
Journalism School
(J-School) is in
vogue and growing
fast.

What weve observed:

As a result, there
are more and more
aspiring
journalists
pitching stories
and resumes to
publishers around

Problem
Unfortunately, on the
job front, traditional
news outlets have
continued shedding 10s
of thousands of
employees since the
early 2000s with no sign

Problem
As a result, J-School
graduates are exiting
university into a scarce
job market.

Problem
And even when they are
able to get a job, wages
are so low that theyd
be lucky to be able to
pay their bills in any
major American city.

According to the Pew Research Center,

despite the medias expansion away
from traditional news outlets, such as
newspapers and magazines, and into
digital ventures, its still not clear that
there is a business model to sustain
online outlets.

As a result, job cuts continue...

From 2003 to 2012, the American

Society of News Editors documented a
loss of 16,200 full-time newspaper
newsroom jobs while Ad Age recorded
a decline of 38,000 magazine jobs,
which includes all jobs for the entire
consumer magazine sector. Such job
cuts continued in 2013 and early
2014 (Pew)

Digital-first
ventures, such
as Vice, Buzzfeed
and others, do
offer hope.
However, the
jobs theyve
created in
comparison to
the thousands
lost is minuscule,
and represents a
very real
disconnect

And its not only recent graduates and

J-School students that are looking for
a leg-up in the media world.
Its well-established journalists as
well.

Slates Dave Weigel perfectly

represented the state of the
disconnect between job seekers and
available jobs after Time Inc. laid off
500 people in 2014 when he tweeted,
500 more applications for Vox.

Meanwhile,
among the lucky
few that do find
jobs, wages are
low. The median
salary for a news
reporter,
according to The
Pew Research
Center, is just
over $30,000
annually while a
news anchor is

Solution
Clearly, there is a need
for a resource for
journalists and other
media professionals to
overcome these stark
statistics.

Thats why were

building

How To Make It
As a Journalist
to help journalists and other
media professionals overcome
the competition, excel at their
craft, and hear some
incredible stories along the

Heres a taste of what to expect

on
How To
ItStand
As a Out
Journalist
Advice
onMake
How To
by Taking
Risks
With Ali Hashem (Al Monitor, Al Jazeera,
BBC)
Click speaker to play

Entertaining Tales on Evading the FBI

and Getting the Story from Russian
Spies
With Pete Earley (The Washington Post,
NYTimes Bestseller
Click speaker to play

How To Make It As a Journalist

s a one stop shop for:
J-School graduates to find out how to break into a
seemingly impenetrable business.
Mid-career journalists and people looking to change
careers to figure out how to make more money, become
profitable, and think creatively.
Reporters and their fans to learn more about the craft of
journalism and storytelling, along with the stories that
went into creating the best reportage in the world.

Media professionals to gettips and tricks for

productivity, hacks for writing copy and assessing
data,and advice on how to gain traction, get online
attention, and become more prolific.

Our Unfair Advantage

Our Unfair Advantage

How To Make It As a Journalist
has already begun to gain
traction pre-launch through Skill
Share, Fedora, and Udemy where
Sean Nevins (the founder)
teaches journalism classes.
Communications and J-School
professors in the U.S. and Europe
have agreed to promote How To
Make It As a Journalist.

Our Unfair Advantage

Sean Nevins has travelled the globe, having
lived in and reported from Europe, Asia, and
the Middle East. He has cemented
relationships with some of the most
interesting reporters in the world, and will be
able to offer premium subscribers to the
website and people that enroll in courses
what no other online course can One-onone consultation with world-class
journalists.
How To Make It As a Journalist will offer
successful students that stand out the
opportunity to get published at international

Our Unfair Advantage

Promotion of How To Make It As a
Journalist will piggyback off of the
promotion and publication of:
Sean Nevins forthcoming book All
The Dreams Weve Dreamed.
Sean Nevins forthcoming articles
in a variety of outlets, including
The Washington Post, Truthout, and
The Next System Project.

Our Unfair Advantage

How To Make It As a Journalist has
worked out a distribution deal for
the launching of the website with
Catapult.co, a literary platform for
emerging and well-established
writers. The first 10 podcasts will be
published on Catapult.co and
promoted.
Future guests to the podcast series
will include: Nicholas

Revenue Model
Free, open platform
Advertising for podcasts, print and audio
Advertising as content
Subscription access with bonus content,
including:
o Additional podcast materials and video
footage
o Exclusive articles written by top-tier
media professionals
o An ebook with additional tips and tricks
for journalists.
Online courses covering various topics
(e.g. The creative process, Investigative

Opportunity
There are over 500
journalism and mass
communication schools in the
U.S. alone. Students have a
purchasing power estimated
in the billions.

Opportunity
Meanwhile, tens of
thousands of full-time
journalists and would-be
reporters are looking for
ways to get a leg up in the
game.

Opportunity
Both have money to spend on
products and services that
will be advertised onHow To
Make It As a Journalist, as
well as the courses that will
be offered.

Opportunity
How To Make It As a Journalists
mission is to become a household
name at J-School campuses across the
United States, and to attract the
patronage of young urban creatives.

The Founder
Sean Nevins is a New
York City based
journalist and author.
He is the creator of
How To Make It As a
Journalist, and the
founder and editor of
Inzuna, an emerging
human rights
magazine. He has
lived in and reported
from Europe, Asia,
and the Middle East,

Sean Nevins
New York, NY 10037
nevins.sean@gmail.com
202.604.4968

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Confidential Investor Presentation
April 2016