Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.

—Charlotte Whitton

About this initiative

The McCormick Foundation New Media Women Entrepreneurs project seeks to spotlight the creative assets of women and help address issues of opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism. In addition to providing seed funding for new women-led news ideas, it will:

Honor a New Media Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in an awards program.
Research issues women's consumption and creation of news.
Produce a day-long Women Entrepreneurs Summit

It is an initiative of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism. J-Lab helps news organizations and citizens use new media technologies to create fresh ways for people to participate in public life. It also administers the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, the Knight Citizen News Network and the New Voices community media grant program. Its projects are supported with grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the McCormick Foundation. The McCormick Foundation supports free, vigorous and diverse news media that provide citizens the vital information they need to make reasoned decisions in a democracy. The Journalism Program is committed to non-profits that support leadership in news organizations, develop future journalists and strengthen the quality of journalism.

Thanks for applying!

The deadline for the 2012 New Media Women Entrepreneur awards has passed. Thanks to everyone for applying! Winners will be announced in mid-to-late March. Those interested in next year can check out our Proposal Guidelines.

Our Focus

NMWE is a unique initiative addressing opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism by spotlighting their ingenuity and entrepreneurial abilities. Pilot projects will show what can be done. Research will tell us what more to do. And an awards program and summit will showcase women’s creative ideas. NMWE is supported by the McCormick Foundation.

Check It Out

Have Questions?

View the live chat with Director Jan Schaffer to get your application questions answered.

Success in Philly

Philadelphia Enterprise Reporting Awards produces funds, journalism and more!

Research

J-Lab’s New Media Women Entrepreneurs Initiative undertook this study to understand how women are interacting with news, participating in the news, creating the news and consuming the news.
Read more.

NMWE

Resources

Our learning modules, housed on KCNN.org, provide tips, tricks, and guides for citizen journalists and online news sites.