J-Source and ProjetJ move to new financial structure in January
While all of the financing is not yet in place to cover the CJP’s three-year transition to a not-for-profit entity, we are close enough to our goal to be confident that we can launch the new structure for J-Source/ProjetJ successfully in January, writes publisher Christopher Waddell.
By Christopher Waddell, Publisher
I am pleased to announce that J-Source/ProjetJ and the Canadian Journalism Project (CJP) will continue in January under a new editorial and financial structure led by journalism schools and programs across Canada.
Since the decision in early 2013 by the Canadian Journalism Foundation, the founding funder of CJP and J-Source/ProjetJ, to reduce its financial commitment to the venture, a transition team has been working to develop a new business model and find new contributors to ensure the future of J-Source/ProjetJ.
While all of the financing is not yet in place to cover the CJP’s three-year transition to a not-for-profit entity, we are close enough to our goal to be confident that we can launch the new structure for J-Source/ProjetJ successfully in January.
We have also been encouraged by the support our readers continue to show the publications. Readership and interest continue to grow. J-Source now has about 30,000 unique visitors a month, with 5,000 people receiving the weekly e-mail newsletter and 9,500 following J-Source on Twitter. ProjetJ has almost 6,500 unique visitors monthly and more than 5,500 following its Twitter feed.
Starting Jan. 1, operations and management of the CJP will be led by the journalism programs at Ryerson University, Carleton University and Université Laval. Editorial operations for J-Source will be based at Ryerson, in Toronto, as will technical support for both sites. Laval, in Quebec City, will be the editorial centre for ProjetJ, and a business manager for the whole project will be hired and based at Carleton, in Ottawa.
Related content on J-Source:
- J-Source launches new Work and Labour section
- J-Source nominated for a Canadian Online Publishing Award
- Contribute to the future of J-Source
We have exciting plans for J-Source and ProjetJ over the next three years. To begin, the transition team will be replaced by a new management structure. Our editorial teams, led by J-Source editor-in-chief Bruce Gillespie and associate editor Tamara Baluja, and Hélène Roulot-Ganzmann, rédactrice en chef de ProjetJ, will continue to provide the range of news, features, debate and discussion about journalism and the media in Canada you have to come to expect from us. A redesign of the site is also in our plans, which will allow us to develop new features and projects for the sites.
This would not have been possible without the financial and in-kind support of media organizations, unions representing media workers, university and college journalism programs and others interested in the future of journalism and the media in Canada. A list of our supporters is at the bottom of this note. We will acknowledge them more formally after we begin our transition in the new year.
As I mentioned, we are close but not yet there in terms of marshalling the financial support we need for the next three years. We will also need additional funds for the site redesign. We continue to approach potential donors but our readers are also invited to help with contributions. Donating takes only a couple of minutes at the Carleton J-Source/ProjetJ Futurefunder site.
Giving to J-Source/ProjectJ in this way helps ensure there will continue to be a Canadian home for debate and discussion about the achievement of, and challenges to, excellence in journalism across the country.
You will help ensure that J-Source and ProjetJ continue to be convenient and trustworthy sources of information and commentary about issues important to Canadian journalists, news organizations, journalism students and all those with an interest in the Canadian media.
Thank you to all those who have helped ensure the future for J-Source/ProjetJ.
Financial contributors to date
Canadian Journalism Foundation
Canadian Media Guild and CWA Canada
Carleton University Futurefunder
CBC News
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
RadioCanada Information
RBC Foundation
Ryerson University
Torstar
Unifor and Southern Ontario Newspaper Guild
[node:ad]
Universities and Colleges
Ryerson University
Carleton University
Université Laval
Concordia University
Mount Royal University
Université de Québec å Montréal
University of King’s College
University of Ottawa
University of Regina
University of Toronto Mississauga
Western University
Wilfrid Laurier University
Humber College
Durham College
Loyalist College
Sheridan College
Others
Better Farming magazine
Canadian Association of Journalists
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence & Trauma
CBC
Thomas Kierans
Special thanks to John Honderich for his contribution to this project
Related content on J-Source:
- 20 years out of j-school: Comparing journalism past and present
- A growing number of colleges and universities now offer data journalism courses
- Do students need a journalism degree? An examination of journalism education as an industry transforms
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.