Journalism without an audience is just creative writing
In the 20 years I’ve worked in the journalism industry, much time and ink has been spent on finding a new model to pay for local journalism.
I’m here to tell you we’ve been fighting the wrong battle, or at least we have for the past 15 years. It’s time we reframe our thinking and efforts to focus on the two more important battles at hand.
Roughly 20 years ago, Joel and Laurie Kramer in Minnesota, Andy and Dee Hall in Wisconsin, John Thornton and Evan Smith in Texas, and Neil Morgan, Buzz Woolley and Lorie Hearn in San Diego all established nonprofit local news organizations. (MinnPost, Wisconsin Watch, Texas Tribune, Voice of San Diego and iNewsource, respectively.) Those organizations built on the funding model of public media, without the costs of broadcast towers and the publishing style of newspapers, without the printing presses or delivery drivers. Some five years later, they came together in New York to create the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) to share their lessons and stories and help them refine the business model.
Related Knowledge Center: Local media
The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.