Info District dispatch: Missing markets

Many local news deserts are “missing markets.” They have the resources to support local news and information production but lack the information, trust, and coordination to do so.

Putting Mayer’s research to work

Around 2012, Jodi Gersh was travelling to various large Gannett newsrooms and running engagement workshops. She had recently pioneered the first social media position inside Gannett, and now she was helping the company figure out how it could meet its readers on these powerful platforms they were using. She used Joy Mayer’s Community Engagement: A … Continued

RJI: 10 years of innovating and more to come

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute is celebrating 10 years of innovating and helping ensure that journalism has a long and bright future in the service of democracy. The institute’s doors opened in 2008.

Building trust one idea at a time

“One of the things I appreciated most about the Trusting News project is that Joy takes this big hairy topic of “trust in the media” and breaks it down into actionable steps,” says Sarah Binder, the former community engagement manager at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Binder led the newsroom’s partnership with Trusting News in early 2018. The … Continued

Small-town print goes big-time digital

In the early 2010s, Mark Nienhueser was the sales director for Service Noodle, an online platform that made it easy for small, local service businesses to develop a website and gain a digital footprint. When he moved to the Missouri Press Association, in 2013, he realized there were a lot of untapped digital opportunities for … Continued

Putting Mayer’s research to work

Around 2012, Jodi Gersh was traveling to various large Gannett newsrooms and running engagement workshops. She had recently pioneered the first social media position inside Gannett, and now she was helping the company figure out how it could meet its readers on these powerful platforms they were using. She used Joy Mayer’s Community Engagement: A Practical Conversation for Newsrooms as a kind … Continued

Discovering a new news ecosystem

When Michele McLellan dug deep into how local, online journalists were making a living, the result was a three-year series of annual conferences that spawned a national nonprofit organization.

Brian Gorman on MediaExecsTech.com

iPublish Media Solutions is an example of a technology company that makes running a news operation less expensive. They offer a “do-it-yourself” advertising platform that lets individuals or companies build a print, digital or social ad.

Why it works

By 2017, it was clear to Janine York that she had to act. “Our newspaper is our core product, but we knew we needed to expand,” says York, the advertising director at the Missourian, a twice-weekly newspaper in the small town of Washington, Missouri. By 2017, it was clear to Janine York that she had … Continued

A LION is born

Dylan Smith was skeptical when, in 2010, he received an invitation to the first Block by Block conference. Leaving his one-person newsroom for a weekend to fly across the country for a conference aimed at local, independent, online news operators seemed like a waste of time. Smith ran a nonprofit site in a major metro, … Continued