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Chris Seper and his colleague, Mary Vanac, took buyouts from The Plain Dealer in Cleveland to launch MedCity News, a news service focused "on business, innovation and influence in health care."

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		Audio Interview with Chris Seper (11 min, 6 sec.) MedCity News.com

Seper says not everybody thought this was the best idea he ever had (including his father-in-law). And in the accompanying audio interview, he acknowledges some unease when he looks at his son each morning and weighs the cost of his cello lessons. Still, he argues for bold moves: "It's a time in our lives when you should put all the cards on the table and examine all possibilities. If you look for a life preserver you're settling."

Instead of their Plain Dealer paychecks, Seper and Vanac will be relying on a new economic model at MedCity that includes a syndicated news service, online advertising and custom content for hospitals and other medical institutions. Seper discusses how they assembled startup cash in the audio interview; NewsPay will check back in a few months to see how it's all working out.

(If you're making a transition to a new model for sustaining journalism -- or know of someone who is -- please let me know.)

Next Paycheck Interview with Chris Seper



Name: Chris Seper

Current Job: Co-founder, MedCity News (launched February 2009)

Career Track: I had my first real journalism job when I was 15 -- covering high school sports for a hometown local weekly. Later I spent a memorable high school summer running a sports section of another weekly when the editor quit (it cemented my love of journalism). I went overseas for two years after realizing most of the peers I admired during a two-year fellowship at The Philadelphia Inquirer had spent time overseas.

"Spending time as a tech reporter put me in contact with a lot of entrepreneurs and the innovations that were changing our industry. It changed me."I had always wanted to be an editor at a big paper. But somewhere along the lines that [aspiration] changed to be a leader in whatever our industry became. I started pitching different products to my bosses: a weekly free-drop newspaper for high school students; a database of speed traps we could use on our site & resell to GPS and mapping companies. Spending time as a tech reporter put me in contact with a lot of entrepreneurs and the innovations that were changing our industry. It changed me.

Birth date: 10/21/1973

Hometown: South Euclid, Ohio

Education: Bachelor's in journalism and political science; master's degree in political science. Eastern Illinois University.

Family: Wife, Leah. Sons Colin, 5, and Connor, 4.

Homepages: chrisseper.com/medcitynews.com

Mobile phone: Verizon Wirless LG Voyager

RSS Reader: Google reader.

Recent Tweet: RT @greglinch: RT @jayrosen_nyu: @davidwestphal reports on how local online news start-ups are faring: http://is.gd/l6kt

People you consulted about making this transition. Wife, a core of friends outside of the newspaper industry, a couple of journalists, my brother.

Best advice you got during the process? A reminder this will be a roller coaster -- a 6-month, 12-month, 18-month roller coaster that will have ups and downs. And that it will be a wild ride. Another good piece of advice -- although I don't think anyone takes it -- is to get enough sleep.

Chris Seper Chris Seper's desk at MedCity News

Wake up feeling different now than when you were at your previous job? The feeling of ownership -- of control over my own destiny. Sometimes that weighs as heavy as the frustration I had going into a workplace facing cutbacks, etc. Other days it energizes me. Sometimes the work is overwhelming.

End your days now feeling different than before? The day does not end. I work 8 to 6, come home, get the kids to bed and do some chores and work a few more hours. There is no end. Probably won't be for months.

What's surprised you so far about this transition? The emotional swings are deeper, more frequent and wilder. As a reporter/editor you got a rush or were frustrated by mistakes, getting that key document or phone call, etc. But the stakes for you in this situation are now so much higher, every move seems critical. There have been days when something happened and I thought I was ruined or severely set back and by day's end we were better than we ever thought. Still learning perspective, poise and to manage the emotional ups and downs.

What advice for others considering a buyout or facing a possible layoff? Give some thought about what you would do if you could do anything/had to start over -- and THEN what would you need/what you can do considering your current restraints. Then find 10 friends -- not connected to your workplace and many should not be connected with journalism -- take them to lunch and ask them: What could you see me doing if I wasn't doing this job? Leave it that open ended. If you have your own ideas, raise those AFTER you hear from them. It's a time in our lives when we should put all the cards on the table and examine all possibilities. If you look for a life preserver, you're settling. If you try something risky you may fail -- but that will likely leave you in the same position you were in post-layoff but with better experience.

Previous Jobs:
Online medical editor, The Plain Dealer (November 2007 to December 2008)
Assistant metro editor, The Plain Dealer (January 2007 - November 2007)
General assignment reporter, The Plain Dealer (March 2005 - Februrary 2007)
Tech reporter, The Plain Dealer (February 2001 - February 2005)
Foreign editor, copy editor, The Cambodia Daily (December 1997 - December 1999). Also wrote for The Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor over that period.