This deck summarizes thoughts about applying social media-enabled services in local markets in a way that can provide the revenue base to sustain journalism. Not a panacea, but embodies the unique attributes of the medium, which in my view drives its potential.
Ideas more than welcome.
The Huffington Post has announced the formation of a $1.75 million fund to finance investigative reporting that will be conducted by its staff and freelancers. The site described it:
“The Huffington Post said Sunday that it will bankroll a group of investigative journalists, directing them at first to look at stories about the nation’s economy.
“The popular Web site is collaborating with The Atlantic Philanthropies and other donors to launch the Huffington Post Investigative Fund with an initial budget of $1.75 million. That should be enough for 10 staff journalists who will primarily coordinate stories with freelancers, said Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.
“Work that the journalists produce will be available for any publication or Web site to use at the same time it is posted on The Huffington Post, she said.
Jeff Jarvis, blogger at buzzmachine.com, a seeker of innovation to sustain journalism and a contributor to HuffPost had this observation:
“This, I’ve long held, is where foundation and public support will enter into the new ecosystem of journalism: not by taking over newspapers but by funding investigations and other slices of a new journalistic pie.
“… Now to touch the third rail in the debate over the future of news: This is how paid content will work … by setting up systems to take advantage of the 1 percent rule online that decrees you need only a limited number of contributors (of money or effort) to support great things in a gift economy. See: Wikipedia and NPR.”
This may well be a decent bridge financing structure for sustaining the news. It will prove more difficult in local markets. It is a commitment of decent enough size and duration to evaluate and perhaps expand on, but the sustainability of the 1 percent solution is very questionable.
My questions on any of these alternative structures is how they will sustain or strengthen the protections that have been assured primarily by the existence and legal departments of the institutions producing the news. What is the liability between Huffington, the funders of this venture and the reporters who will produce the news product? Who asserts 1st amendment protection when one of these stories is challenged. I rarely see any discussion of this topic, but it is central to securing the profession.
Peter Krasilovsky in his Local Onliner notes a fundamental shift in local focus within the Gannett newspaper chain, reported by Wired magazine:
“The original prototype, CincyMOMs, from The Cincinatti Enquirer, brought in $386,000 in its first six months and gets 40,000 page views a day. Half of the CincyMOMS advertisers are new to the paper….Wired also notes that Gannett’s 110 papers are being reorganized by interest group. Instead of being seen as single, top-down metro paper, The Enquirer is now envisioned as 270 niche publications, including its suburban papers, neighborhoods WebSites and regional magazines.
“Reorganized by interest group…270 niches”? I can only say: Bingo. Good for Gannett. Now lets see if the corresponding blended revenue streams can fund a robust news operation.
I often find myself wondering if I really read what I just read in commentary on what’s to happen to the news industry, the media industry, the advertising industry. So I delight when finding something I agree with, even if it is six months since posting. In his review of Google’s flirtations with newspapers and the offline movement of digital advertising, Richard Waters of the Financial Times’ ft.com summed up the central task:
“…Assembling a large body of like-minded consumers will involve tapping into a variety of small-scale markets.”
This is particularly true in local markets. We all hop from our positions in one small-scale market to another at our own whim, entwined with a corresponding variety of like-minded folks. I don’t think it is any more difficult than that, is it?
For the full context, check out Waters’ ft.com story:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4e057d1e-eac2-11da-9566-0000779e2340.html
Filed under: Advertising, News Industry
