VNN receives $5k for new app development

(NATIONAL) Oklahoma-based Verified News Network (VNN) is a big step closer to funding local news through collaboration, thanks to a $5,000 stipend from the Oklahoma Media Center’s (OMC) “Innovation Fund”.

The program, funded by the Inasmuch Foundation and managed by the Local Media Foundation, helps OMC members test new business models and find new ways to engage and reach diverse audiences. 

“We are inspired by the creativity exhibited in the inaugural year for this fund to take innovation to the next level,” OMC project manager Rob Collins said in the announcement. 

All of the Innovation Fund money VNN received will go toward developing its new social news media platform, the VNN app. 

VNN’s new progressive web app (PWA) is the culmination of three years of field research into social media designed exclusively for verified news, run through the company’s beta platform, the PlugIn app.  

While many core features of the beta platform are being built into the PWA, such as news feed customization and user profile personalization, the new app will also be host to improved social experiences, creative media projects and next level collaboration opportunities. 

Funding local news is important, and VNN wants to be a vehicle all independent media professionals can benefit from. That’s why the social news media network is working to partner with more Journalists and Affiliates, and making it easy for them to get paid for the content they contribute. VNN Affiliates include independent news organizations, graphic artists and college news outlets.  

Click here to learn more about VNN Affiliates and VNN Collaboration.  

The project’s overall price tag comes in at just under $40,000. Once it’s fully paid for, VNN Journalists and Affiliates will start earning 90 percent of the display ad revenue received from stories they contribute.  

Do you want to help increase revenue share for local journalists and affiliates? Click here to contribute to the project.  

The new VNN app launches publicly on May 25.