Revenue strategies
Discussion finds pros and cons to new ownership forms
Putting journalism under non-profit ownership is no panacea for financing it, a six-person panel found during an 80-minute discussion at the New England Newspaper & Press Association annual meeting in Boston moderated by 2008-2009 Reynolds Fellow Bill Densmore. There are challenges to obtaining foundation funding. Local-news operations in New Haven, Conn., and Brattleboro, Vt., are … Continued
Michael Skoler: Mid-year report
With so many meetings, conferences, reports and workshops about the future of news, it’s a wonder anyone has time to think creatively about the future. I have read reports, attended a few of those meetings, and followed tweets and notes about others. My impression is that most of today’s discussion on the future is not … Continued
Stephanie Padgett: Mid-year report
In search of opportunities for small to mid-sized newspapers to increase revenue from online content, I have arrived at three critical factors that I believe will lead to success: Identify natural segments within a newspaper site that will have strong appeal to local and/or regional advertisers and create a plan to develop strategies for serving … Continued
Michele McLellan: Mid-year report
I’ve learned a lot about online civic engagement in fields other than journalism (social causes, politics, even marketing) through conferences, interviews and looking at Web sites. I’ve also connected with numerous community news startups and learned that many of them put civic engagement and community building at the top of their agenda. I think established … Continued
Behavioral targeting
Advertising leaders visited RJI on Oct. 14 to talk to professors and students about the importance of ethical advertising. Wally Snyder moderated the discussion with Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL part of the panel. The panel discussed proposed ethical principles to enhance ethics in the advertising industry. Reynolds Fellow Stephanie Padgett discusses the … Continued
L3C: Explaining the new corporate form for journalism
Bill Densmore interviews Jennifer Towery and Robert Lang AUDIO: Explaining the L3C — a new lease for newspapers? Jennifer Towery and Robert Lang are an unlikely alliance. Towery: A young editor from DeKalb, Ill., and union president at a chain-owned daily in Peoria. Lang: a retired costmetics manfacturer from Westchester County, N.Y. But each shares … Continued
The value of privacy
Citizens need privacy as a shield against the state as well as corporate power. Legally, privacy is thought of a protection from other things. Contested commodities Research shows that people may be willing to part with what is known as contested commodities. People may be willing to trade private information for goods and services. In … Continued
Who’s who?
Jeff Vander Clute, President Jeff is founder of Semesphere, Inc., a Palo Alto, CA-based consulting firm that developed several social media and networking applications. Jeff has known and worked with Bill for 15 years, and provided the technical lead on “The Information Valet Project.” He was the principal developer of the Internet’s first mass-market social … Continued
In new news orgs, a glimpse at journalism founded on value, not mass
A few weeks back, John Thornton invited me to Austin, Tex., to take a look at his news organization in-the-making, a team of powerhouse journalists from all over the state who are assembling the ambitious effort that will be the Texas Tribune. Before coming to RJI, I worked in for-profit newsrooms, where the constant primary … Continued
Bill Densmore: The information valet project research proposal
Are people willing to pay for information online? Do they truly value privacy? What kind of information are consumers looking for online? To sustain an information valet economy — and along with it both participatory democracy and journalism — the next generation Internet needs a user-focused system for sharing identity, exchanging and settling value (including … Continued