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News, information and much more for independent online news publishers. 
Independent local news sites and the quest for financial sustainability

The Knight Foundation released a major report this week on the progress that local nonprofit news organizations are making toward financial sustainability.

It found that most are still heavily reliant on foundation funding and grants to survive.

One of the few exceptions was the Texas Tribune, whose publisher reported on Twitter yesterday a 2015 budget assumption in which 25 percent of revenue would come from digital sponsorships, 23 percent from events, 18 percent from major gifts, 18 percent from foundations and grants and 16 percent from "consumer revenue."

The question looming over for-profit independent online local news sites has been whether advertising alone, or at least heavy reliance upon it, is a sustainable model. Maybe there's a warning to be heeded in The Economist's assumption that advertising revenue will basically "go away."

Hank Green, a YouTube video maker, thinks its exciting to be moving beyond an advertising model and has some interesting things to say in an essay called "The $1,000 CPM."

For nonprofit and for-profit local news publishers alike, there are several opportunities in the months ahead to learn more about and discuss sustainable revenue models.

* The Tow Knight Center at CUNY's journalism graduate school in Manhattan is offering a FREE course for 15 successful applicants on how to "turn a beat into a business."

* LION will be holding an "Independents' Meeting" in Philadelphia June 6-7 and its annual summit in Chicago Oct. 1-3, both with numerous panel discussions and presentations on revenue.

* LION is offering free webinars for members on advertising that moves beyond display on April 23, and advice on obtaining foundation funding and corporate underwriting on May 7.


LION member spotlight: Potomac Local

If Uriah Kiser did it over, he would have paced himself more on news coverage and spent more time developing the business side of Potomac Local when he first launched the independent local news site in Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

He has drawn on his deep connections to the community to build the site, and stresses the importance of getting to know what potential advertisers need and are struggling with.

Check out our full Q&A with him, part of a weekly series of profiles of LION members.


The Lens wins IRE award for innovation in watchdog journalism

LION member The Lens has won the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)'s Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism for "Losing Ground," a collaboration between Al Shaw and Brian Jacobs of Pro Publica and Bob Marshall of The Lens.

"Losing Ground told a story we have seen before, but in a completely novel way with a custom, user-tested interface for browsing maps," judges said. "The judges were impressed by the effort, care and innovative thinking the team put into image collection and matching for the maps. In addition to using high-resolution satellite imagery from typical commercial and government sources, the reporters worked with experts to create their own low-cost solution for adding spectral depth to their images — a crucial layer of data needed to fully tell the story. Not only did 'Losing Ground' apply innovative techniques coupled with extensive shoe leather reporting, it furthered The Lens’s ability to be a watchdog for its community. This is a masterful piece of reporting and one of the best examples we've seen of how journalism and technology can work hand-in-hand to tell stories.

Check out "Losing Ground" at http://projects.propublica.org/louisiana/.


Gannett abandons local digital-only experiment in San Francisco

Gannett is shutting down "Bold Italic," an online-only local news experiment in San Francisco.

Independent San Francisco local news sites such as Mission Local and the Barbary Coast News, now part of Hoodline.com, meanwhile, are not abandoning the city.


Kevin Davis leaves INN in split with board of directors over role of organization

Kevin Davis, the founding CEO and executive director of the Institute for Nonprofit News, formerly the Investigative News Network, has parted ways with the organization.

INN's announcement of his departure cited the organization's recent name change and a desire to provide more educational services to nonprofit news sites.

Nieman Lab followed up with a piece citing a split between Davis and the board over whether to focus more on educational services or helping the organization be financially sustainable and less reliant on foundation funding and grants.

Davis built INN from a single employee to a staff of 10 and a $3 million annual budget.


Charlottesville Tomorrow launches location-based news and events mobile app

LION member Charlottesville Tomorrow has launched a mobile app using Qork that uses geotagging to allow readers to see stories and local events based on location.

“Qork users can also create their own content, upvote or downvote items and determine which local stories go viral,” said Brian Wheeler, executive director of Charlottesville Tomorrow.


Community engagement and measuring the impact of local journalism

Some interesting discussion is happening around how we measure success, especially if one gives up on the idea that relentless pursuit of more page views and unique visitors won't necessarily lead to ad revenue that's sustainable.

"We must start measuring journalism’s value on whether and how it improves the lives of the people it serves," Jeff Jarvis argues, in a piece dissecting the Rolling Stone-University of Virginia rape story fiasco.

Josh Stearns of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation sees newsgathering as "coalition building," with community engagement a priority before, during and after the reporting process.

There were many excellent presentations on this topic at Reynolds Journalism Institute's recent "Dissecting Engagement" conference, and video and slide shows are now available online.

Finally, University of Missouri Journalism School professor Joy Mayer, one of the presenters at "Dissecting Engagement," is offering a webinar April 22 on "How to Measure Impact for Your Crucial Content."


We knew that already

A new report finds that local newspapers have done a "terrible job" building local digital audiences.


Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue

AD BLOCKING: Is ad blocking technology a problem every publisher should be worrying about?  And what happens when you've published a sensitive story where YOU want to block your own ads?

CROWDFUNDING: Josh Stearns on what works for crowdfunding local news coverage.

MICROPAYMENTS: The Winnipeg Free Press is launching a paywall that allows readers to pay by the article. Some say this a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea." The co-founder of the company that is pushing the concept defends micro-payments. Finally, why you might want to read up on that company, Blendle.

CONTENT MARKETING: When content marketing gets ethically murky.


Tools and Tips: Journalism

CURATION: Is curation a key part of the future of local news?

DATA: How even "big data" can start out small. Lessons from the Guardian: Without humanity, data alone is meaningless. And six platforms that can transform social media posts into data analysis.

FOOD: Food journalism can include great storytelling and important investigative work.

MOBILE: A major Pew study on smartphone use finds that a significant number of adults access the Internet only via mobile, and that financial hardships have at times cut users off from that access as they've had to cancel or suspend their phone service due to nonpayment. Meanwhile, here's some tips on reporting via mobile phone from the field, and some similar tips and apps specific to Android devices.

NEWSLETTERS: Inside the New York Times' email newsletter strategy. It publishes 30 of them now, and they're a significant source of referral traffic.

QUIZ TOOL: The Engaging News Project has created an easy tool for creating quizzes that you can embed on your own site.

PHOTOS: According to this, content with images gets 94 percent more views. There are several new tools for finding and using photos on your site if you don't have one at hand. Imgur has introduced an embed option, and Wikipedia has made it easier to create shareable images from your phone. Meanwhile, in the wake of the German plane crash blamed on a pilot with mental health issues, the Guardian asks what kind of images we should use to illustrate mental health problems.

SEARCH: Everything you need to know about Google's new stance toward sites that are "mobile-friendly" and aren't.  And here's how to test whether yours is considered "mobile-friendly" under Google's guidelines.

TWITTER: Twitter is revamping its search function. It also recently improved users ability to add a comment to a retweet. Meanwhile, here's some tips for local news gathering via Twitter.


Industry News

ALGORITHMS: What you don't know about Internet algorithms is hurting you (and you probably don't know very much).

BROADBAND ACCESS: A roadblock to delivering online news and information in some rural markets: Lack of broadband Internet access.

COPYRIGHT: A Fox news lawsuit over the use of others' Facebook content could have major ramifications on copyright law and social media.

DFM AND GANNETT: Ken Doctor reveals Digital First Media's plan to sell off some papers in Pennsylvania, Texas and Mexico to Gannett and says southern California's newspaper battle could intensify.

FACEBOOK: Josh Stearns on the opportunities and threats of publishing content directly to Facebook

FREELANCERS UNITE: A freelance journalist has formed a political action committee to represent the interests of reporters.

GOOGLE: Google joins Amazon in stepping into a once-safe area of local commerce - service businesses such as plumbing.

HEARST: The company is taking a "promiscuous" approach to programmatic advertising.

INDIE FIGHTS CENSORSHIP: The Washington Post writes about an independent local news site that stepped up when high school journalists were censored.

LIVING SOCIAL: Living Social is struggling. It plans a relaunch of its American business after selling off overseas assets.

POLICE SHOOTING: Poynter's Al Tompkins says the New York Times and other media outlets were right to publish a graphic video of a police officer shooting a black motorist in the back.

ROLLING STONE: The full Columbia Journalism School investigation into Rolling Stone's botched University of Virginia gang rape story.

TRIBUNE: Tribune Media's biggest shareholders are partially cashing out.


Is Your LION Publishers Membership Up for Renewal?
 
For many of our LION Publishers members, it's time to renew! Your membership includes participation in the LION Publishers Den on Facebook, networking and support from fellow LION publishers, our new newsletter, discounted rates on media liability and directors and officers insurance and more. 

Plus, being a member gives you access to a members-only rate to the LION Summit – a savings of up to $175 compared to the non-member rate. If your membership is due for renewal, please go to www.lionpublishers.com/members/dues to submit your payment. Those who opt for multi-year membership save, and easy, secure payment options are available via credit card or through Paypal. (Not sure when your membership expires? You can look it up easily on LIONPublishers.com.)

Thanks to our current members who have already renewed!
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