Side Project Ideas for Journalists

Innovative ideas to boost your career in journalism

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Why Journalists Should Consider Side Projects in 2025

The media landscape is rapidly evolving, making it crucial for journalists to adapt and innovate. In 2025, journalists can no longer rely solely on traditional media outlets for income and influence. Side projects offer a way to stand out, build a personal brand, and secure additional revenue streams.

Journalists possess skills in writing, investigation, and storytelling that can easily translate into various side projects. By leveraging these abilities, journalists can find new ways to engage with audiences and explore untapped niches.

Types of Side Projects

Journalists can pursue numerous side project ideas, including blogging, podcasting, consultancy, or launching a YouTube channel. Blogging allows journalists to explore topics they are passionate about while creating a personal brand. Podcasts offer an engaging medium to dive deep into subjects of interest. Consultancy provides an opportunity to share expertise with businesses or individuals looking to improve their communication strategies.

The Role of AI in Side Projects

Artificial intelligence offers numerous tools that can elevate a journalist's side project. From automating routine tasks to providing insights for articles, AI can enhance productivity. For those interested in building AI-driven applications, platforms like Appaca can help create innovative products without extensive coding knowledge. This opens up opportunities for creating personalized content delivery systems or analytical tools to cater to specific audience needs.

Start your side project with Appaca - no coding required

Features

Build and ship your AI idea

Easily create AI products by yourself without needing developers.
Your vision, your product, enabled by Appaca.

Library of UI component

Build your app's interface without code

Easily use our library of UI components to design and build your end-user's interface. Fully customisable.

Custom workflows and logic

Create custom workflows and logic

Power your applications with automated workflows. Integrate with your favorite third-party tools thanks to our webhook and API call features.

Native AI infrastructure

AI-native infrastructure

Directly use LLMs such as GPT, Claude, Gemini, Flux, Dall-E, etc. Feed your custom data and instructions to your custom AI model.

Comes with an out-of-the-box AI credit system which streamlines AI usage across your projects.

Built-in Authentication and User Management System

Every app built on Appaca comes with a native Authentication system. Once your app is live, your users can sign up securely through a built-in page you can customize.

Manage users with ease on our User Management System. Create new users manually with a single click.

Authentication and user management system
Built-in database for AI App

Customizable databases

Easily store your users' data directly on Appaca's built-in database, or send it to your third-party tools with API calls.

Create new bases and fields depending on your needs.

Take full control over your apps' data. Manage and monitor all data in one place.

Monetize your AI app

Appaca offers native monetization via our Stripe integration.

Create custom subscription plans for your app, and charge your users based on their AI usage thanks to our AI credit system.

One click set up. No hassle. Just earn.

Monetise your AI App

Steps to Launching a Successful Side Project

  1. Identify Your Unique Value Proposition: Determine what sets you apart and how your skills can solve problems or fulfill gaps in the market.
  2. Explore AI Integration: Consider how artificial intelligence can enhance your side project, whether through content personalization or task automation.
  3. Create an Account on Appaca: Sign up on Appaca or similar platforms to start creating AI-powered applications tailored to your idea.
  4. Gather Knowledge Resources: Accumulate necessary knowledge resources such as articles, research papers, or online courses that you can use as inputs and learning resources.
  5. Design the User Interface: Create an intuitive and appealing interface that aligns with your audience's needs and preferences.
  6. Customize Your AI Model: Adjust the AI model to suit your specific project requirements, ensuring it delivers accurate and relevant output.
  7. Add Extra Features: Enhance your project with features like user analytics, social sharing options, or integration with other platforms.
  8. Market Your Project: Develop a marketing strategy to reach your target audience through social media, influencers, and traditional PR channels.

"I've built with various AI tools and have found Appaca to be the most efficient and user-friendly solution. In a world where only 51% of women currently integrate AI into their professional lives, Appaca has empowered me to create innovative tools in record time that are transforming the workplace experience for women across Australia."

Cheyanne Carter
Founder, Edubuddy

"At ai.boop.solutions, I was searching for a tool that would help me build an AI-based support platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, but I didn’t have the resources to develop the entire architecture myself. Appaca.ai was designed precisely for this purpose. It offers a user-friendly interface packed with features and versatile components that you can combine in countless ways. The team is incredibly supportive, and I confidently recommend it to anyone with a great idea but without a full IT department to back them up."

Katalin Dörnyei
Founder, Boop Solutions

FAQs

What are some side project ideas for journalists?

Some side project ideas include starting a blog, creating a podcast, offering consultancy services, launching a YouTube channel, or developing digital storytelling platforms.

How can AI benefit a journalist's side project?

AI can assist in automating tasks, analyzing data, enhancing content personalization, and providing insights for creating newsworthy stories or interactive experiences.

How do I start a side project as a journalist?

Begin by identifying your unique skills and interests. Research potential markets and audience needs. Develop a plan and start small with test projects, ensuring continuous learning and adaptation.

What is Appaca and how can it help?

Appaca is an AI platform that enables creating AI-driven applications easily. It can help journalists develop innovative content delivery systems or analytical tools without extensive coding.

What is Appaca?

Appaca is a no-code platform for building AI apps. You can use Appaca to build complete AI products for your startups, businesses, or customers without requiring developer help. The platform supports various AI models including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Flux Image model.

What is an AI Credit?

AI credits are the system to bill AI usage. Appaca uses that AI credit system to streamline the usage of different AI models in one go. You can use any AI model across your application. For the cost of AI credit for different AI models, please see our pricing page.

Can I make money with the app I built on Appaca?

Yes, you can monetise your AI app easily. All you need to do is to enable monetisation in your app with one click. You will be prompted to set up Stripe account easily. Once you have enabled your monetisation, you can create subscription plans for your app.

For the usage of AI, our AI credit system allows you to bill your customers. You can simply set how much credit you want to charge for your customers. It all comes out of the box.

Can I get more credits?

Absolutely. You can top up AI credits as much as you want if your credits are low.

Can I connect my custom domain to my app?

Yes, you can use your own custom domain name as long as you are on any paid plan.

Are there integrations?

Yes. You can integrate with other third-party tools via API or Webhook in your action workflows builder. We are frequently shipping native integration as well.

Start building today

Create AI products and solutions today for your business. Build, Ship, and Earn.