2012: What we know now on building public trust, raising money and a free press

Was 2012 prosperous for publishers? The four-part series continues, with this third installment offering key lessons from three well-respected practitioners known for thinking outside the box. Mike Fancher, veteran news business strategist and 2008–2009 Reynolds Fellow; Lila LaHood, director of operations and development at San Francisco Public Press; and Keith Hammonds, director of Ashoka’s Knowledge … Continued

Another voice explains why newspapers must move beyond the news

We’ve written about the need for newspapers to stop thinking about they physical product  and start acting like “information valets” for their users in an age where attention is at a premium — helping users to manage their “personas.”   We’ve co-authored a piece about efforts at the New London, Conn. Day newspaper. Now another voice is now … Continued

Pivot Point: Next steps

Last month, the Reynolds Journalism Institute convened 34 engineers, publishers, editors, researchers and academics in Chicago for a gathering entitled: “Pivot Point: Reinventing Community, Reinventing News in a Connected World.” In this post, we’ll report on why we gathered, what we did, and what should happen next. We’d like your suggestions. Please email densmorew@rjionline.org, or … Continued

Spot.us and Public Insight Network — nuancing support for civic journalism; exploring “persona”

The combination of crowd-source journalism payment pioneer Spot.us with the non-profit Public Insight Network (PIN) — which is testing the waters of what could become a news-focused sharing service — is intriguing for the possibilities. Look to St. Paul, Minn.-based American Public Media — which owns PIN — to start innovating and testing. There are … Continued

Joplin paper editor finds tornado affirms mission of journalism

BRANSON, Mo. — Sandwiched between standing ovations before and after her 27-minute address, the daily editor from tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri, offered a stirring endorsement of why newspapers matter. “If people are saying newspapers are dead they don’t really know what stuff we are made of,” Carol Stark told members of the Newspaper Association Managers gathered … Continued

A CALL TO ACTION: Time to make the marketplace for privacy, trust, identity and information commerce

“A non-profit collaboration to share technology, users and content could help news organizations find new revenues and become better at serving the public, according to a report from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri.”— excerpt from Aug. 4 announcement. This week I’m relieved and grateful to report the publication of … Continued