It’s becoming harder and harder to read the news. We’ve gone around the bend from carefully balanced op-ed pieces from clearly identified special interest parties to a president whose grasp on the truth is tenuous, at best. Media accelerator Matter has thrown down the gauntlet and is challenging startups to load up their slingshots of truth and go to town.
“Just 32 percent of Americans say they trust the media . It’s an all-time low,” Ben Werdmuller, Matter Venture’s newly minted Director of Investments for San Francisco says, outlining the chaotic publishing and media landscape in which both established outlets and sprightly new startups must operate.
It is against this backdrop that the organization is looking to deploy a new round of investments to try to carve out what the future of the media — and particularly the future of news — might look like.
“In particular, we are trying to figure out what the rapidly changing world means for communities and the media that supports them. For example, we would love to help startups that are trying to amplify marginalized voices,” Werdmuller tells me. “We’re also eager to support companies who have a roadmap for how to solve the fake news problem.”
The seventh batch of Matter accelerator participants have some impressive boots to fill. The accelerator dropped some heavy hints about what it’s looking for in the next batch of applicants — if you think you’re up for the challenge, applications for the NYC and SF-based accelerator are open until April 3.