Shortly after news dropped that Al Jazeera America was shutting down, journalists on its digital team started a side project. “The Best of Al Jazeera America Digital” showcases the work of journalists there who will soon be unemployed.
The site, which is hosted independently, is at least the third high-profile example of journalists helping each other find work after their shops shut down. Journalists at Digital First Media’s Project Thunderdome created a site and hosted events to help employees find their next jobs. Last April, I wrote about how most Thunderdome journalists had moved on a year later. When Circa closed, Anthony De Rosa also stumped for the journalists there.
See also: Do the stuff that scares you and other lessons from Thunderdome
Multimedia reporter and developer Joanna Kao built the site with help from reporter Azure Gilman, but everyone chipped in, copy editing, searching archives and building out the details. You can search through more than 50 short bios, but the site also offers search by coverage areas, including culture, race, gender and politics.
Al Jazeera America is set to close in April, although there’s an expectation that some people will be cut before then.
See also: Advice for journalists who’ve lost their jobs from journalists who’ve lost their jobs
