Today’s news: An argument for nonprofit journalism?
By Adam Klawonn · December 4, 2008 · Print This Article
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The recent layoffs at the East Valley Tribune and yesterday’s cuts at The Arizona Republic show that there are real flaws in the for-profit business model of journalism. The same scenario is playing out at newspapers all over the country.
Here’s the overly general formula behind the mess:
- Less ad sales = Less journalism
And some would argue that this creates a downward spiral. If there is less staff doing less “real” journalism, then there are (theoretically) less readers interested in reading that publication. If readership is dropping, then why buy an ad?
You can see the conundrum. And now you see why everyone is buzzing about nonprofit journalism.
Loyal readers who love the “why” part of the story are kvetching about the lack of depth. Reporters with a love for the craft are kvetching about not being able to give it to them. So why not ditch this volatile sell-ads-or-die model altogether for the sheltered life of community-funded journalism?
A few of these publications have popped up as highly qualified and still-hungry-to-do-good-journalism types head for the door. Consider ProPublica (Minnesota journalists), the Center for Public Integrity (D.C. and NYC journalists) or even NewWest (led by a former L.A. Times editor), which attracted rich Western preservationists as “angel” investors to start a for-profit Web paper. In that sense, NewWest is almost a hybrid.
These are just a few of the examples out there.And I know for a fact that some folks at the Trib (the ones who will be on the street in a month) are considering one of these routes.
But the problem, some say, is that with more able-and-eager journalists on the streets, there simply aren’t enough foundations to support all of these nonprofit journalism ventures across the U.S.
But one question is this: Can a board of directors with a enough Arizona journalism “star power” come together quickly? And on another level, what foundations in Arizona would support this new nonprofit - one that could arguably become one of the most influential ones in Arizona? And no matter who those funding sources are, can they afford to support this kind of organization year-after-year given that all kinds of other nonprofits are created each year. [There are currently more than 30,000 active nonprofits in Arizona, according to the state Corporation Commission. That's a lot of mouths to feed, no?]
I’ve actually thought about this myself. Originally, I tried to make The Zonie Report a nonprofit (and many thanks to everyone who put up with my pitch). But then I went in the other direction when I couldn’t round up a board of directors. The reason? As newspaper staffs shrunk, everyone was too busy cranking out stories under new beats. However, I kept all of my research, and I have a few strong leads to get this started.
I’m interested, and I’d like to hear from you. Until then, here are some interesting reads to consider:
- The Washington Post’s Len Downie
- Advice on journalism and “business values”
- An inside look at “the nonprofit road” from CJR
[...] RELATED POST: Today’s news: An argument for nonprofit journalism? [...]
Hey, Adam — your piece caught my eye, and I wrote it up over at Placeblogger. You can see it here: http://placeblogger.com
Today, anyone with bandwidth can be a publisher; and anyone with a word processor can pen an “article” and get it published. In this example, http://www.sedona.biz/89a-lights-nepa0108.htm, the writer intentionally misinformed the public to further a special interest agenda.
My article with the other side of the story is filed and awaiting publication.
One problem our industry faces is that people don’t seem to recognize the hours, thought and effort we put in to our work so that they don’t have to attend all those stimulating government meetings, read all those riveting technical documents, and put the hard questions to the talking heads.
Yes, it’s the public’s right to know. But, professional journalists deserve reasonable and timely compensation for bringing it to them.
So who’s going to pay for it?
For a long time now, advertisers have subsidized news. People complain that advertisers have too much control over content, but seem to overlook that advertisers and publishers often respond to what is popularly read.
Are nonprofit business models the answer? I don’t know. Initial support and sustainable funding seem to be the main obstacles.
Spot.us has an interesting nonprofit model. I pitch a story idea and the public decides whether it gets reported. Or, the public posts a tip, and a journalist turns it into a pitch. No one can fund more than 20 percent of a given project, which is supposed to ensure objectivity, although I have some doubts.
Most important, I think, is that our industry must re-establish trust with our audience. And our audience must find value in our work and be willing to buy it, however that looks.
Professional journalists across the country are talking about this. I say it’s time the general public weighs in and tells us what they will support and how.
Non-profit journalism? Isn’t that what most journalists are anyway? I stayed out of journalism after corporate cutbacks forced a bunch of us out because there’s no money in it. There’s papers in California that pay barely over the state minimum wage, yet they demand solid journalism. Or, for many, they hire someone fresh from college who will take minimum wage thinking they’ll advance at some point, and then when turnover gets high, publishers see it as a means to raise their profit margins above 40%.
Cyndy has a great point. Readers don’t trust print media for much the same reason, and when they complain, they’re basically called “stupid” for complaining. Much of the distrust stems from perceived and real biases by reporters and newsrooms. Reader’s aren’t stupid, but they’re treated as such by editors and reports. Hence, readers have elected to speak with their pocketbooks and stop buying newspapers altogether. This fact hasn’t been missed by advertisers, who see the value of pitching their goods and services in these shrinking markets as worthless. The fact that you can get most state, national and international news online has hurt papers a bit. However, many local communities looking for local news are left in the cold because most newspapers have bought into the notion that filling white space with short, quick stories they can get from the wire services is what people want.
I’d argue that a good newspaper that focuses on local news and skips the AP stuff tends to do pretty well with its local community.
If the public and publishers choose to support free content in the name of community journalism, everyone deserves what they get.
For example, the Sedona Red Rock News recently canceled a city column because they found out the city was simultaneously submitting the column to my local publisher.
http://www.redrocknews.com/opinion/why-we-are-canceling-city-talk.html
The RRN dressed up its rational in a disagreement with the mayor over editing policies, but the back story was that the paper wanted exclusive rights to the free content.
A city staffer told me the city was going to relent and only send their content to the RRN. I suggested it might not send a good message for the city to play favorites with the media when the objective is supposed to be maximizing public outreach.
I mean, who are we supposed to be serving here?
In another example, The Sedona Verde Valley Times posted an article yesterday that crucified a man for being gay, perhaps to intimidate him from appearing in a court case in which he is the victim of a threat by the guy who wrote the article I mentioned in my last comment.
http://sedonaverdevalleytimes.com/ochserturner-case-goes-to-trial%20/
The editor who wrote the piece is an avid supporter of the defendant, and the groups he is involved with. He and I have different ideas of journalistic ethics.
By the way, the special interest group I spoke of was supposed to make a presentation today at a mayors’ committee meeting that might have influenced the type of lighting ADOT will install in Sedona. They canceled it, according to city staff, based on the faulty information in that article; written by their ally.
Apparently, they didn’t read my follow-up piece before canceling. http://www.sedona.biz/89a-lights-nepa0208.htm
The SVVT read it. And still won’t admit they were wrong.
Ya get what you pay for, folks.
It’s a real conundrum. People still need to make money and wise non-profits run themselves like real businesses. I think the purist model would be a true foundation newspaper that combined conservative and liberal journalists and had no real agenda. Kind of like a newspaper NPR.
We have been beta testing a new community bulletin board site at http://www.isedona.com where anyone in the community can post their own blogs, articles, video, audio, forums, classifieds, and calendar events. We have separated it from our flagship site at Sedona.biz to maintain editorial integrity; but iSedona.com is an important new voice in the community and I think may become a source of tips and citizen journalism.