Episode #14: Shamus Toomey (Block Club Chicago on Civil)

Around The Block Podcast

Shamus Toomey is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Block Club Chicago, a media outlet dedicated to giving reliable, hyperlocal coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. It was one of the first news companies that signed on the Civil Blockchain Network, which is now raising its ICO. In this interview, Shamus and Elaine talk about how he came to create Block Club Chicago, the company's partnership with Civil, and how blockchain can be applied at the grassroots level to promote local journalism. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Shamus Toomey 01:28 - DNAinfo 05:17 - Learning about blockchain and discovering Civil 08:27 - Civil’s offerings 11:39 - Do journalists using Civil need to know about blockchain? 14:30 - Realizing blockchain can help revive journalism 17:31 - Block Club Chicago 19:05 - How does Civil support Block Club Chicago? 24:29 - “Better” journalism and local journalism 28:47 - Risks, challenges, and obstacles with integrating blockchain into the newsroom 30:54 - Civil’s token, CVL 32:10 - Blockchain’s long-term impact on journalism 34:03 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Shamus Toomey & Block Club Chicago! Shamus: https://twitter.com/stoomey Block Club Chicago: https://twitter.com/BlockClubCHI