The Paley Center for Media and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation present The Next Big Thing in Digital News Innovation, a series of forums in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles showcasing news and information startups for an audience of high-level media executives and investors.
The final event in this Knight-funded series will be held in Los Angeles on October 16 at the The Paley Center in Los Angeles.
PRESENTERS:
CrisisConnection
The CrisisConnection Project, a joint venture between the Homeland Security Advisory Council and the Annenberg Innovation Lab, provides a fast and easy way for citizens and emergency responders to exchange crucial information during a disaster.
Internet Archive's TV News Search & Borrow
Search News Captions. Research Issues. Borrow Broadcasts.
NewsCred
Connecting publishers and brands with the world's best journalism.
PublishThis
Powering Content Curation.
#waywire
A video social network dedicated to giving young people a voice about the issues that matter to you most.
Bio
Max Benator
Max Benator is currently executive producer and head of programming for #waywire. Benator also serves as executive producer of Sonia's Travels, an online travel show hosted by Webby Award winning Sonia Gil (Best Web Personality/Host, 2012, People's Voice). Prior to joining #waywire, Benator served as head of production and development for Collective Digital Studio. While at CDS, Benator executive produced the genre-focused scripted series BlackBoxTV, in partnership with Tony Valenzuela and the creator of CSI, Anthony Zuiker. Previously, Benator served as senior vice president, multi-platform entertainment at RDF USA (now Zodiak USA) and then vice president of digital media at Hudsun Media. During that time, Benator executive produced the Mattel sponsored series, Genuine Ken, hosted by The Hills' Whitney Port; consistently ranked as one of the most watched reality shows on Hulu. Additionally, he cocreated and executive produced Lionsgate's first online effort, Trailer Trash. While at RDF, Benator's group negotiated some of the earliest content and revenue sharing deals with YouTube and Hulu, including securing a cost-free, guaranteed billion impressions for Banzai, an RDF produced sketch show from the UK. Benator also created and executive produced Quincy Taylor for MySpace, a scripted comedy featuring Coolio, as well as Fender Bender Strassen for ComedyCentral.com, which eventually aired on Comedy Central proper.
Gabriel Kahn
Gabriel Kahn has worked as a newspaper correspondent and editor for two decades, including ten years at The Wall Street Journal, where he served as Los Angeles bureau chief, deputy Hong Kong bureau chief and deputy southern Europe bureau chief, based in Rome. He has reported from more than a dozen countries on three continents. In 1998, Kahn launched Italy Daily, a joint venture of the International Herald Tribune and Corriere della Sera, based in Milan, Italy. He has covered the US Congress for the Washington, DC-based Roll Call, and served as an editor and writer at The Forward, in New York City. His work has appeared in the American Prospect, The National Law Journal, Salon, The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, and other publications. He has been a guest on the BBC World Service, CNN, CNBC, C-Span, as well as on numerous international news programs. He joined USC Annenberg in the fall of 2010, where he jointly runs the Media, Economics and Entrepreneurship program. The goal of M{2e} is to bolster students' understanding of economics and encourage innovation and experimentation with new ideas in communication and journalism. He also leads the Future of Journalism project at the Annenberg Innovation Lab. Kahn has worked to enhance Annenberg's curriculum to include more opportunities for entrepreneurship among journalists. He also launched the economics and business reporting track in USC Annenberg's Masters in Specialized Journalism program. In addition to his teaching and reporting work, Kahn studies the economic models of the news industry.
Matthew Kumin
Matthew Kumin has worked in the software and Internet industry for over 18 years and has extensive experience building data, content, and digital publishing businesses. Prior to founding PublishThis, Kumin served on the executive management team at Edmunds.com, where as EVP, Media, he was responsible for helping grow the Internet's leading automotive site from 2001-2008. While at Edmunds, he oversaw the company's flagship Website, Edmunds.com and led product development for the company's successful Web expansion, including its syndication platform that powered the automotive channels for AOL, the New York Times, iVillage, and About.com, as well as launching, InsideLine.com, the leading destination for car enthusiasts. Before Edmunds, Kumin was the cofounder of Creative Planet, an entertainment B2B service that provided industry-leading software, publishing, and data services to top media clients such as Disney, 20th Century Fox, Sony, HBO, ABC, and NBC. Before that, he helped develop and grow The Studio System, the entertainment industry's premier film and television database. Kumin started his career at Andersen Consulting and received a bachelor of arts from the University of Texas in Austin.
Scott Lehr
Scott Lehr is the chief operating officer at NewsCred, a role in which he manages strategic operating processes and decisions across NewsCred's three offices in New York, London, and Dhaka. Lehr brings extensive experience managing and growing businesses, developing domestic and international business agreements, and negotiating complex strategic partnerships with global media and entertainment brands. Previously, Lehr cofounded Breakpoint Digital, a consultancy focused on helping startups with product and go-to-market strategies, and spent 11 years at Muse Inc., the leading provider of media information and digital services. As Muse's vice president of corporate development, he created critical strategic partnerships with Fox Interactive Media, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter.
Roger Macdonald
Roger Macdonald joined the Internet Archive to help create an open digital public library of TV news, providing a means to thoughtfully reflect upon the most pervasive and persuasive medium of our time. It's certainly no coincidence that he had spent the previous eleven years helping to manage the nation's largest independent noncommercial TV network, Link TV. Prior to cofounding the network devoted to global news and culture in 1999, Macdonald helped create and manage several other organizations engaged in addressing international challenges, often through media, including the Gorbachev Foundation.
