Mike Fancher identifies five strategic areas in new white paper

"Re-Imagining Journalism: Local News for a Networked World," The Knight Commission, June 23, 2011.

Re-Imagining Journalism: Local News for a Networked World, a new policy paper by Michael R. Fancher, identifies five strategic areas and specific ideas for promoting experimentation, collaboration and public engagement that are critical for reforming local journalism. The paper calls upon a variety of stakeholders in business, the nonprofit sector, government and community institutions, and citizens themselves to each play a role in nurturing a revitalized and re-imagined local media ecosystem.

The five key strategies for re-inventing local journalism include:

• For-profit media organizations must re-invent themselves to extend the role and values of journalism in interactive ways.
• Not-for-profit and non-traditional media must be important sources of local journalism.
• Higher education, community and non-profit institutions can be hubs of journalistic activity and other information-sharing for local communities.
• Greater urgency must be placed on relevance, research and revenues to support local journalism.
• Government at all levels should support policies that create an environment for sustainable, quality local journalism.

Read more