PRESS FORWARD GRANT | SHARED MEDIA SERVICES & ACCELERATOR
Shared Media Services & Media Accelerator
An initiative of Start.coop, in partnership with Defector Media and the University of Colorado Boulder MEDLab; building an economy that shares prosperity among the many, not just the few.
WITH SUPPORT FROM:
SHARED MEDIA SERVICES | THE PROBLEM
A wave of journalists are walking away from legacy newsrooms to start independent, worker-owned publications — and it's working.
But almost every one of them hits the same wall: the operational side of running a business (legal, HR, bookkeeping, admin work) eats up time and money that should be going toward the journalism itself.
SHARED MEDIA SERVICES | THE SOLUTION
Shared Media Services
is our answer.
We're building a cooperative back-office model that lets independent, worker-friendly newsrooms pool their purchasing power and access vetted, affordable operational support — without hiring full-time staff or sinking hours into vendor research they don't have time for.
SHARED MEDIA SERVICES | OUR APPROACH
We want to offer support to worker-owned media orgs at every stage.
Shared Media Services is purpose-built for that maturing stage — for newsrooms ready to professionalize their operations without sacrificing their independence or their ownership structure.
Ideating
You're considering starting a new publication. We’ll offer self-serve resources: case studies, how-to guides, templates, and food for thought.
Emerging
You're publishing, but still finding your audience and revenue model. Our 12-week Accelerator helps you validate a business model and an ownership model.
Maturing
You've found product/market fit and are ready to invest in operations. This is where Shared Services comes in: ongoing, fractional access to the back-office support that lets you scale without adding headcount.
Want to learn more about our Shared Media Services?
We're building operations-as-a-service for the next generation of worker cooperative media — designed to complement existing offerings, not compete with them.
Our Accelerator for Worker Friendly Media
Designed for emerging worker-owned media co-ops, Start.coop's 12-week Accelerator offers cohort-based learning, individualized coaching, mentorship from experienced business leaders, and connections to co-op-friendly funders.