The media accelerator Velocidad launched in 2019 to help news startups grow and thrive. We look at its impact in a region where press freedom is under constant threat
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In 2019, a media accelerator was launched to fast-track the growth of news startups in Latin America. This programme, Velocidad, gave 10 grantees the funds and expert consultancy to ramp up their business models in a part of the world where media capture is rife, which means that news outlets are bought up by private firms who then largely dictate their editorial focus.
The idea behind Velocidad was that greater financial independence would contribute to greater editorial independence in Latin American news industries.
In this week's podcast, we talk about the key ingredients to grow and sustain a media startup.
Our guest Jazmín Acuña, the co-founder and editor of a Paraguayan news organisation El Surtidor, was one of the grantees. She worked hard to help her newsroom find new revenue streams which make full use of its stand-out visual illustrations and quality reporting.
We also hear from Janine Warner, a Knight Fellow at the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and the co-founder of Sembra Media, the two organisations which launched Velocidad with support of the Luminate Group, to get a better understanding of media startups, the challenges they face, and what they must do to survive and thrive.
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