Revenue strategies
Journalists, business leaders consider roles in creating a more equitable, resilient local economy
As RJI continues to explore the links between rebuilding local economies and futureproofing local media, we want to better understand how to incentivize local conversations and experiments that help newsrooms build deep, reciprocal relationships that generate community-led solutions, revenue streams and business models to ensure their survival. The first of those experiments gets underway today … Continued
Can obituaries help save local news?
Years ago when asked what will save local news, Steven Waldman had two answers: national service and obituaries. You might know Waldman as the co-founder of Report for America, a Peace Corps-like model that pairs emerging journalists with local newsrooms to cover critical issues to those communities. After years of talking with journalists about what … Continued
Getting started as an independent journalist
Hannah Yoon, independent visual journalist, Mason Trinca, documentary and editorial photojournalist, Sarah Fritsche, independent food writer and editor, and Maddie McGarvey, independent photographer, joined our discussion on how to succeed as an independent journalist. We talked about healthcare, building your client base, making time for personal projects, invoicing & contracts, how to prepare for slow months … Continued
Social enterprise leader urges local media to embrace the role of educator, anchor institution
Maurice Jones says running the Virginian-Pilot was one of the most fun jobs he’s ever had. That was years before the newspaper was sold to TRONC which was sold to Tribune Publishing which barely thwarted a takeover by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, known for buying and pillaging local newspapers. Jones left the Pilot … Continued
RJI Fellow helps newsrooms rethink obituaries to memorialize those lost during COVID-19
The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute awarded seven fellowships for the 2020–21 academic year for projects that address the increasing challenges in covering climate change, unpublishing, harassment of marginalized journalists and more.
Local communities and local news need a new economic narrative: Why not create it together?
If local news is so critical to the health, economic and civic success of a community, why are local news organizations an afterthought in economic development conversations? And what would it take to change that?
Create a newsletter worth reading: Tips from the experts
Tatyana Monnay is the RJI Student Innovation Fellow at the Associated Press. This summer our student fellows will be sharing dispatches from their fellowships in newsrooms across the country for Innovation in Focus. Newsletters can be a powerful product to add to your newsroom to inform your community and engage them in topics they care … Continued
Can pay-by-text micropayments become a viable revenue source for newspapers?
COVID-19 accelerated what we’ve known for some time: Newsrooms cannot rely on advertising. Now more than ever newsrooms need to grow reader revenue — soliciting direct support from their readers. We have subscriptions. A new study from the International News Media Association (INMA) found that 39% of digital news publishers across 33 countries charged for … Continued
Voice delivered news: Innovation skill
Integrating content with voice assistants is easier than ever
Five takeaways from a new study of local digital news publishers
For-profit news startups are more likely to succeed than other small businesses, but many owners aren’t getting rich. I’ve been tracking these local, independent, digital news outlets for more than a decade and started Michele’s List in 2010. Now, with an assist from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, I updated my database and surveyed … Continued