Project 1115 @project1115-blog - Tumblr Blog

A model for the future I believe a business based on local journalism can work, because I believe it can provide something of value for the consumer. But it will look different tomorrow than it did yesterday.

Here's my playbook for making local journalism viable:

It will be digital-only. Being free of legacy costs, and legacy thinking, is critical.

It will acquire or partner with the best local blogs, to act as a one-stop shop for news and commentary about a specific area.

It will have a sustainable labor model -- let's call this the Huffington Post Rule -- that will feature trained professional editors and reporters paid full-time wages, as well as paid stringers and bloggers and possibly even unpaid contributors. It will feature robust coverage from many writers (who will have multiple backgrounds and skill sets), with a full-time editorial team playing both coach and quarterback.

It will have digital subscription elements, in either a metered paywall form (e.g., consumers can read up to X many articles per month for free, and must pay for access beyond X) or pure subscription form (e.g., an add-on, business-to-business-like local business spotlight, along the lines of Washington Business Journal or the Post's Capital Business). I'm on Team Paywall, but No. 4 on my list is highly dependent upon getting No. 3 right, because you can't charge for something that lacks breadth and depth. It's simply too easy to imitate and give away for free, even if those competitors are getting only paltry RPMs. But assuming the newsroom and its collection of motley contributors is aligned to provide robust local coverage, a subscription model can work. (Here's support for my view from Gawker's Hamilton Nolan.)

It will have an adaptive business model that is constantly testing and learning. The paywall or digital subscription isn't a panacea. Viable journalism-based businesses will need a mixture of advertising and subscription revenues, and will need to constantly experiment with new revenue opportunities. For example: events and conferences, one-off sales of things like e-books (compiling existing coverage of, say, local elections or popular sports seasons), or brand licensing to local merchants (think Good Housekeeping).

#The Motley Fool

‘In “Billions Over Baghdad,” we knew that simply reporting the costs of the Iraq War in mind-numbing billions wasn’t good enough.’

#james steele #By Donald Barlett #Bartlett and Steele

They spent hundreds of millions to get their candidates elected. But what did that money get them? In some cases, shockingly little. Here’s a look at the best and least performing PACs this election. Read the Full Story.

#data journalism #daily beast

Nationwide, the number of government PR workers more than doubled from 2003 to 2011 while the number of reporters and correspondents fell by a quarter, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There used to be one government PR specialist for every four reporters in America; now the relationship is almost 1-to-1.

#public relations #San Diego Union-Tribune

#nieman journalism lab #steve buttry

#ProPublica #online engagement #nonprofit news #Investigative Journalism #nieman journalism lab

#nieman journalism lab #ProPublica #crowdsouring #elections

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Project 1115