Potter resumes newspaper listening tour this month in Virginia

Walter B. “Walt” Potter Jr., a retired newspaper publisher who works with the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, will tour community newspapers again this spring. A year ago, Potter visited Missouri weeklies and small dailies during what became known as the Potter Listening Tour. He wrote a series of … Continued

Online news startups explore revenue sources beyond advertising

Revenue was very much on the agenda when more than 100 local news entrepreneurs gathered at the LION Summit in Chicago Oct. 1-3. There were encouraging, if fledgling, signs that some sites are looking beyond banner display advertising. Supplemental sources include crowd-funding, membership programs, sponsored content, and events. For now, however, banner display advertising is … Continued

Videos from Dodging the Memory Hole: Saving Born-digital News Content

In today’s digital newsrooms, a software/hardware crash can wipe out decades of text, photos, videos and applications in a fraction of a second. Digital archives can easily become obsolete due to evolving formats and digital systems used by modern media, not to mention media failure, bit-rot and link-rot. One recent survey found that most American … Continued

MobileVideoDIY capstone team

Many prominent news organizations, including CNN, the BBC and the Guardian, rely heavily on user-generated content to drive audience engagement and cover important stories. A convergence journalism capstone team mentored by Beth Pike, Mike Wheeler and Greg Harper was tasked with researching what types of user-generated content stories are most important, then to produce tutorials … Continued

Newspaper Archive Summit white paper suggests next steps for stakeholders

A mandate to preserve — a white paper (PDF) — was produced for the Newspaper Archive Summit Network by Victoria McCargar, veteran journalist, archivist and digital curation consultant. This white paper provides an assessment of the first Newspaper Archive Summit and offers suggestions for next steps. On April 10-12, 2011, the Reynolds Journalism Institute, MU … Continued

Newspaper Archive Summit recorded sessions

If a newspaper goes out of business, what happens to its archives? If a newspaper becomes available only online, what happens to yesterday’s (or last year’s) news? Why should we care? As the erosion of the traditional media economy and its concomitant decline in readership and revenues transforms one of the pillars of democratic life, … Continued

Panel: Law and ethics in a changing media ecosystem

This panel looks at the challenges, both legal and journalistic, facing journalism ventures that seek to build and maintain online communities, from article comments to community forums and blogs. Including the role of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, dealing with and protecting anonymous commenters, and concerns regarding defamation and privacy. Patrick Carome – … Continued

Consortium idea leads RJI iPad/E-reader symposium discussion on final day

U.S., Korean and Japanese news-industry strategists wrapup up today three days in Missouri to assess the impact of the soon-to-be-launched Apple iPad on the news business — and on the fast-changing “E-reader” marketplace. On Monday, they considered the possibility of forming a news-industry consortium, and that idea is on the agenda today. It’s been the spring meeting … Continued