The Plug joins the URL Media network

URL Media is excited to welcome The Plug as its sixteenth media partner.

Launched in 2016, The Plug is a venture-backed journalism and insights company that provides actionable news, insights and business intelligence about the substantive ways Black people are affected by and engaged with the innovation economy.

The Plug began as the first daily newsletter focusing on Black startups and ecosystems, and has grown into a trusted source of information for communities leading the future of work and inclusive business in tech. In its news coverage, The Plug strives to go beyond incomplete or rose-colored narratives about Black people in tech; rather, it aims to report accurate, verifiable and data-driven stories that are under-reported and under-examined.

With its digital weekly newsletters and research content published multiple times a week, The Plug reaches more than 12,000 newsletter subscribers and averages upwards of 20,000 monthly page views. The startup company also has an ongoing partnership with URL Media partner WURD Radio on a two-year Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation grant to adequately cover Philadelphia's BIPOC technology and innovation sector. The grant will also help to create a best practices guide for newsrooms, journalists, and ecosystem leaders reporting and supporting BIPOC business creation across the country.

The URL Media network and its audiences will benefit from The Plug's deep reporting on issues facing Black Americans in tech, academia and entrepreneurship, as demonstrated by the site’s consistent reporting of the unique challenges and opportunities of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).
"We're excited to be part of the URL Media network and join other important media players that are doing the great and responsible work of providing distinctive journalism and coverage of underserved communities,” said Sherell Dorsey, CEO and founder of The Plug. “Sustainability is critical as the journalism industry faces a tough climate. Being in partnership with URL Media is one step closer to carving new and important relationships with advertisers being exposed to our work for the very first time."

“We are thrilled to welcome The Plug as URL’s 16th network member,” said URL co-founder and president, Sara M. Lomax. “Their entry doubles our network size since our launch in January 2021 with eight inaugural members, and we think they are an outstanding addition to this dynamic and diverse network of high performing BIPOC media organizations.”

The Plug joins URL Media partners Black Voice News, Documented, Epicenter-NYC, Native News, Prism, Our Body Politic, Outlier Media, Palabra, Sahan Journal, PushBlack, Scalawag, ScrollStack, TBN24, The Haitian Times, and WURD Radio.

URL Media hires Ariam Alula as Audience Manager

Ariam Alula (how to say it) brings a range of skills and interests to URL Media, including newsletter curation, audience strategy and research, and measuring and tracking impact. Most recently, she has consulted with several organizations in the journalism support space, including the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Public Square Team at Democracy Fund, Online News Association and Women Do News. She has also written for the American Press Institute’s Need to Know newsletter. Alula is also a proud graduate of the engagement journalism program at the Craig Newmark Journalism School at the City University of New York.

On my first mentor, Henry Fuhrmann

Senior Recruiter Sonali Kohli here. I want to talk to you this week about the joy of having and being a mentor, and the grief of losing a mentor. I want to talk to you in particular about Henry Fuhrmann, who was my first journalism mentor. Henry died earlier this month at the age of 65, a few years after entering semi-retirement. He had so much left. Henry and I met when I was an extremely eager (perhaps too eager) student at the University of California - Los Angeles [UCLA]. As an undergraduate, I went to the Los Angeles Times building downtown every chance I could — for everything from tours to events and panels. At one such panel, I met Henry, who was an assistant managing editor overseeing the copy desk. At our college newspaper, the Daily Bruin, we were grappling with a decision (remember that this was circa 2011): my editor and I wanted to honor a source's request to use they/them pronouns in a story, which we'd never done. Neither had the Los Angeles Times, yet. But Henry believed in respecting a person's identity and using language as a tool to do that. He told me that journalists must strive for accuracy, and it is reasonable to deduce that the name or pronouns a person uses for themselves are the most accurate. He supported our decision to respect the source's identity and then used the Bruin as an example when the LA Times had that conversation about pronouns not long after.

Meet Andaiye Taylor. She joins URL Media as our first-ever Editorial Director.

Andaiye brings a unique cross-section of professional experiences to the role. She joins URL Media from her own company, Angle Content, which helps companies and publications exceed their audience and customer acquisition goals through strategic content planning, production and distribution. Before that, Andaiye spent more than a decade working at high-performing ad tech startups in roles spanning account management, product management, and content strategy. And from 2013 to 2019 Andaiye ran her own hyperlocal publication, Brick City Live, which covered her beloved hometown of Newark, NJ.

The URL Media team is growing

We are thrilled to announce an addition to the URL Media team: Ellah Nze is our new Director of Operations. URL Media is a network of high-performing Black and Brown media outlets that share content and revenues; the company, launched in January 2021, also operates a growing recruitment, coaching and executive placement arm that centers diverse talent and excellence.

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