Outlet: A podcast by Kaitlin McCulley

"We love data and helping people at the same time, so it's a win-win," Janine Miles, MySocialPulse Co-FounderMy guests this week are Divya Prashanth and Janine Miles, or – as I was introduced to them initially – "super-smart data scientists in the UK who are building a social listening tool that could have huge implications for stopping the spread of misinformation."Divya and Janine are co-founders of MySocialPulse, a digital dashboard that makes it easy to search for and track public sentiment on social media. They're testing its application in media and advertising, finance and reputation management, but what they're really excited about is its potential to help journalists and help identify how misinformation is spreading around the world.

"Something that I learned during the pandemic: I remembered why I started in this journalism career to begin with, and it was to serve and to listen." – Maritza Félix, Founder of Conecta ArizonaServing and listening started with a WhatsApp group for Maritza Félix, an independent journalist in Arizona. The group kept growing until it reached the size limit.“I knew that there was a need for information. But I also knew that the traditional media outlets weren't providing all of the information that the community needed because they are obviously understaffed and underpaid," Félix said. "They were working remotely without an understanding of how to work like that.”She saw the need for stories and information during the pandemic in Spanish, so she launched Conecta Arizona as a journalism experiment, bringing on experts and answering questions. Félix thought it would last for only a few weeks, but word spread quickly. Her experiment has turned into a committed team of journalists and other community members.The journalism world is taking note. She is a JSK Stanford, IWMF, and Listening Post Collective Fellow and part of Take The Lead's 50 Women Who Can Change the World of Journalism 2020 cohort.

“I'm a big believer that the internet can be a force for good and that there's a lot of power in the connections that can be formed online.” -- Vidhya RamalingamWe've talked before about how the internet and social media can spread disinformation and hate-related posts but how can it also be used for good? My guest this week is Vidhya Ramalingam, CEO and Founder of Moonshot, a company that uses technology to identify people at risk of violent extremism. Moonshot repurposes target advertising methods to intervene by connecting those people with humans who can help."If it's human connections that are gonna get people out of these movements, then actually facilitating those connections (...) that's something that we can replicate and we can scale," Ramalingam said.Her journey to founding Moonshot is pretty unique. She started by attending white nationalist rallies in Sweden and having personal conversations with people involved in the movements. She was surprised by what she learned.

"It's like a war except everyone who's dying are innocent civilians." – Deval Sanghavi, Partner & Co-Founder at Dasra"Our team members are sick, unable to get a hospital bed, get oxygen. They're scrambling." – Sneha Sheth, CEO & Co-Founder at Dost EducationIn the US, more than 44 percent of people are at least partially vaccinated against Covid-19, but in India, it's a much different story. Only nine percent have had at least one shot. Meanwhile, the health care system is overwhelmed as the country experiences the world's worst outbreak, with new cases staying well above 300,000 every day.My guests this week are Deval Sanghavi and Sneha Sheth. They both run non-profits on the frontlines of the Covid-19 crisis in India.Right now they're hosting a fundraiser to support emergency work through Dasra and local organizations. Donations here will be matched:https://www.facebook.com/donate/297607202008983/

How does the trend toward content monetization on social media relate to the kinds of videos and posts we see? And do creators really have control over their own content?My guest this week is Dr. Susanne Kopf, a discourse analyst in Vienna, Austria. Her current research focuses on the digital platform economy, social media and Wikipedia studies. She is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for English Business Communication at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. 

“It is a very difficult thing to address this and hope that it will fall on people who will believe you. At the very least, you hope you're not gonna get in trouble or get sued or have people tell you you're a liar." -- Lori Lizarraga, TV news reporterMy guest this week is Lori Lizarraga. She wrote a bombshell article for a Denver paper, detailing allegations of discrimination she says she and other Latina reporters faced while working for 9NEWS. All three women were let go by the station within the last year. Since speaking out, Lori has caught the attention of Colorado politicians as well as upper level news company leadership, who just announced a policy change related to language used in immigration coverage.*9NEWS declined an interview with the Denver Post regarding Lori's story but sent a statement saying the newsroom will have listening sessions with journalists of color, training on inclusive journalism practices and an upcoming diversity audit by a third-party researcher.*

We've been hearing a lot about the U.S. immigration "crisis at the border." In March 2021, U.S. border authorities took in 18,890 children traveling alone from Central America, the highest monthly number on record.But the conversation around how to set up a sustainable immigration system that treats people with respect is nothing new.My guest this week is Cindy Andrade Johnson, a deaconess in the Methodist church and volunteer at La Posada Providencia in San Benito, Texas. She works with immigrants adjusting to life in the U.S. Her Facebook page has become a line of communication between the immigrant community along the border and people in the U.S. who want help.

My guests this week are Nat Gyenes and Megan Marrelli with Meedan, a non-profit building digital tools for journalists, helping them fact check information quickly and turn it around for the public.When the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year, Nat – with her training in public health – and Megan – with her training in journalism – put together a digital tool called Health Desk. The goal: to make it easier for journalists to understand complex health-related topics and share information accurately.

"Maybe sometimes people don't understand the value of storytellers. But when you look at history, history has only been preserved by people who captured and documented the stories.” – Georgia Fort, BLCK Press Founder and Video JournalistGeorgia Fort defines her mission as "...changing the narrative by amplifying truth, citing diverse sources and contextualizing social justice issues." She's an independent video journalist based in Minneapolis, and now she's covering the murder trial of Derek Chauvin. (Chauvin is the former Minneapolis police officer facing second and third-degree murder charges over the death of George Floyd.) Georgia also founded BLCK Press, a website that publishes stories from other independent media makers sharing diverse perspectives.

“I wasn't afraid of being broke; I was afraid of being broken (…) if you don't seize the life you want to live, who's gonna do it for you?” — Neki Mohan, journalist & entrepreneurOur guest this week, Neki Mohan, left her job as a TV news anchor in Miami in August 2020. When her former co-anchor of 10 years, Todd Tongen, took his own life in 2019, she knew she had to make a change. In our conversation, Neki shares wisdom earned through wide-ranging experiences – from growing up in Trinidad and Tobago to working her way through the television news industry as a woman and mother. She says she's always thought of herself as ‘CEO of Neki Mohan, Inc.' no matter what job she worked, but now she's the actual CEO of her own media and consulting company. Neki is also a passionate mentor; she has been mentoring for the Women of Tomorrow program for 20 years.  She has also been an adjunct professor at Barry University and was recently invited to join the board of the Pace Center for Girls, Broward.

"Don't be afraid to sail away from the shore and to accept change and to adapt. Because at the end of the day when you manage to do it, when everything works out, it's just so worth it.” -- Arianne Alcorta, International multimedia correspondentHow do you jump into another country where you don't know any of the languages, you don't know anyone other than your new husband, and try to find work as a journalist – when your main job is talking to other people? Short answer: You figure it out.Our guest this week is Arianne Alcorta, an international multimedia correspondent. She holds a masters degree from Columbia University and she worked as a reporter at Telemundo in Boston before uprooting her life and moving to Switzerland with her husband. Now, she's a freelance correspondent, a media trainer and professor. She shares her unique perspective on work-life balance, international news coverage and taking a giant leap of faith.

“In the world today, everyone's walking around with a tracking device that can take pictures and upload them to the internet - your mobile phone. There's a natural impulse to record your experience (…) When you have enough of it, you can recreate incredibly complex events (…) in much more granular detail than if you, say, simply talk to witnesses.” — Nick Waters, former British Army officer and Bellingcat senior investigatorHow can we leverage technology to do a better job reporting the news? My guest today is Nick Waters, with the investigative reporting group, Bellingcat. The organization started on crowdsourced funding in 2014, and it has grown now to a staff of 20 professionals who comb through digital data and use it to break big news stories. Bellingcat's reporting linked the 2014 crash of the Malaysian airliner in Ukraine to a Russian missile. More recently, the group investigated the storming of the U.S. Capitol, helping to preserve user-generated photos and videos.

"Right now in the media all you're hearing about are these variants and how people aren't protected from variants in terms of antibodies, when antibodies don't represent the entire immune system. And that statement is actually wrong." -- Cedric "Jamie" Rutland, M.D, Pulmonary & Critical Care PhysicianDr. "J" Rutland is triple-board certified in pulmonary disease, internal medicine and critical care medicine. He runs his own clinic in Southern California and is a national spokesperson for the American Lung Association. He uses new media platforms to  "...inspire, motivate and teach," and right now, he's taking issue with how cable news networks are talking about the Covid-19 variants and vaccine efficacy. So what are they missing? He breaks it down. 

"(Rather than) going to seek out the news, people actually kind of avoid it. You have to take the news to them.” -- Tabitha Lipkin, NBCLX hostWith attention spans shorter than ever, how can we communicate in authentic ways to younger audiences? And are we selling young people short by assuming they don't want longer form news content as well? Tabitha Lipkin is a host for NBCLX, which bills itself as a news brand trying to reach Gen Z and Millenials. She shares her experiences creating news-related video content for various platforms, making use of entertainment and humor along the way. (Oh, and don't try to put her in a box; she's also a jetpack pilot, dive master and former "Miss Scuba International.") 

I left my TV news reporting job in Boston in October, launched this podcast in December and I have learned *a lot* in these last 10 weeks. I set out to find a better way to share stories that matter. No BS. I think I've found a way to do that, and I'm really excited about sharing it with you. So this is where I've landed: I'm building a video storytelling platform that harnesses the power of citizen journalists and digital creators and pays them for their work. I'm removing advertisers from the equation so that the viewers and readers are the real customers – not the products being bought and sold for the benefit of big companies. I'm looking for 50 creators to kick things off, and I'll be sharing more soon. Outlet Podcast will continue weekly.

"I think TikTok is more driven by stories and vulnerability and personality. And I think that because of what I do, it fits perfectly because that's what I do. I tell stories." --Bianca Graulau, video storyteller based in Puerto RicoWhen the pandemic hit, Bianca Graulau was visiting family in Puerto Rico. She decided to stay. She left her TV news job (sound familiar?) in Miami to explore new ways to share the stories that matter to her. She has 174,000 followers on TikTok and more than 5 million likes; she uses the platform to create shorter versions of the pieces she shares on YouTube and to promote other content she creates.

"Don't let anybody try to talk you out of your dream." - Paige Hubbard, multimedia journalistWhat is it like to be starting out in an industry that is struggling and uncertain? Paige Hubbard is about a year into her first on-air TV job in Beaumont, Texas. She shoots, writes and edits her stories and also reports live as an MMJ (multimedia journalist). She's unapologetically herself on social media, sharing behind-the-scenes videos as she gathers her stories each day. She has big goals and won't let the naysayers win.

"Media language is one of the most influential languages that we have in terms of taking a little event or a thing that happens in a place or time and then broadcasting it out to everybody so then that interpretation of the event is made the popular interpretation of the event.” -- Dr. Suzanne Wertheim, anti-bias consultant & researcherDr. Wertheim left her job as a professor of linguistics and anthropology at UCLA in 2011 and started her own research and consulting company. As part of her work, she advises media companies on how to take bias out of their language. Recently, she wrote about how some media companies she advised didn't do a great job taking her advice. So how do you know if you're listening to language in the media that is either softened or inflated? And how does it affect your perception of events? To learn more about her work: http://www.worthwhileconsulting.com/

“It's actually horrific. What passes for journalism is absolutely appalling in this country.” -- Michael Rosenblum, author of "Don't watch this: How the media are destroying your life."You could call Michael Rosenblum Critic-In-Chief of the television news industry. He's an advocate of "citizen journalism," the idea that everyone can be their own journalist, especially at a time when there are more than 3 billion smartphones in circulation worldwide. Opponents of this idea argue that the world needs well-trained and experienced journalists to sort through online information overload, debunk conspiracy theories and hold government officials accountable. But as you'll hear in this episode, Rosenblum couldn't disagree more. He says those days are over and that citizens should take control of the media by creating their own stories. (To learn more about his video journalism program: Contact@TheVJ.com)

Do people really value local news? Will they pay for high quality local news if offered? Ken Doctor is betting on “yes.” He went from news business analyst and consultant to start-up CEO in his hometown, Santa Cruz, Calif. He launched Lookout Local, a digital news operation designated as a for-profit, public benefit company. His mission: to prove that a profitable enterprise that supports a high-quality newsroom can work. Can it?

"When I first started at The Mercury, there were nine reporters in the newsroom (...) I am now all of those people.” -- Evan Brandt, the last local news reporter living in Pottstown, PA.A hedge fund took over the newspaper company Evan has worked for since the '90s and laid off journalists and sold the building. Evan now works from his attic. He gets paid for only a portion of the time he puts in daily.  A journalist to his core, he had a question for the hedge fund president, so he went to the man's home on Long Island to ask it. 

"We get a lot of criticism and some of it is fair," -- Dave Lopez, 48-year television news veteranOur guest is Dave Lopez, known for being a hard-charging, tough but fair reporter in Southern California, where he worked for 48 years. As the industry evolved (or devolved, depending on who you ask), he adapted to new technology, new deadlines and a shifting public sentiment toward journalists. Is it possible for journalists to earn back trust that has been lost over time?  We break it all down.

Americans tend to believe crime is up, even when the data shows it is down overall since the early '90s. (That's according to the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.) This is thanks in no small part to news coverage of crime. You've heard the phrase, "If it bleeds, it leads." What happens to a society that watches crime repetitively in the media? How does that affect our perception of the world around us, and does it contribute to a culture of fear and the political divide? Our guest is John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for Alabama Media Group. He's in Cambridge, MA for the year to examine these questions through the Harvard Nieman Fellowship.

Veteran television journalist and entrepreneur Christine Dobbyn tells Kaitlin McCulley she views journalism as a calling. She shares her experiences traveling the world sharing stories, juggling the day-to-day demands of the news business and ultimately, choosing to go back to school mid-career to try something new.

Start before you're ready. Is there a time in your life when you've started something new before you felt 100 percent confident in how it would turn out? Join Kaitlin McCulley as she launches a media production company, Outlet, in an effort to share stories that matter. No BS. Outlet Podcast is the story of how she gets there.