It's been my privilege to read hundreds of applications for the Next Challenge for Media & Journalism over the past seven days. It was a marathon of mission statements, business models, and technology-driven plans to reach new and more diverse audiences across the United States. I came away from the experience more inspired than ever about the future of media in this country.

In this webinar, Pivot Fund Founder and Glen Nelson Center advisor Tracie Powell spoke to The Plug's Sherrell Dorsey about life as media startup founder and why she's competing in the Next Challenge.

Glen Nelson Center executive director, Jeff Freeland Nelson, was also on hand to answer questions and share more about the application process.

London-based Supernode Global and Chicago-based TechNexus Venture Collaborative have joined the Next Challenge for Media & Journalism as venture capital partners. Both firms will assist with judging the competition, engage with applicants as industry mentors, and provide free training opportunities to finalists in the four Next Challenge divisions.

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication are partnering with Glen Nelson Center to launch the Student Ventures Division of the Next Challenge for Media & Journalism.

Any successful CEO will tell you: underinvest in innovation at your own peril. Dedicating less than 0.6% of the total revenue of the media industry to the startup ecosystem will lead to stagnant growth, limited innovation, and scarcity where a few unicorns (Clubhouse, anyone?) suck up what capital is available while hundreds of promising media startups fight for table scraps.

Today, Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group (APMG) launched the Next Challenge for Media and Journalism, a national competition seeking groundbreaking startups and student-led ventures that will reinvent media over the coming decade.