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News, information and much more for independent online news publishers. 
'Accuracy culture' needed as digital journalists work fast, alone

Two representatives of Brooklyn-based LION member Corner Media joined Regret the Error's Craig Silverman, the Tow-Knight Center's Jeff Jarvis, Storyful's David Clinch and other digital journalism leaders last week in speaking at a CUNY Graduate School of Journalism forum on the "accuracy crisis" in digital news.

Mary Bakijian, managing editor of Corner Media, and Ned Berke, senior editor and a LION board member whose site, Sheepshead Bites, was acquired by Corner Media last summer,  offered tips on how small local news sites can emphasize accuracy without the luxury of copy editors and fact checkers.

Among the takeaways:
  • Publishers and top editors must show they value accuracy, not just traffic.
  • Journalists should own their mistakes and be very good at making corrections and drawing attention to them.
  • News sites fail most often when they try to present something as the “whole story,” complete with sexy headline, when they really only have part of it.
  • There are specific tactics for verifying and presenting rumors and emerging breaking news tips that reporters and editors should learn.
The full story is here on the LION website.

Related: Silverman on how fake news goes viral, and why it will happen less. The six questions journalists should ask when evaluating a rumor. And Steve Buttry offers tips on verifying and debunking rumors.

New study shows connection between civic engagement, local news

A Pew Research Center study released this morning shows a clear connection between strong engagement with local journalism and participation in local civic and community life.

It studied three communities of differing sizes - Denver, Sioux City and Macon, Georgia - and asked residents "if they are members of various local groups and organizations, such as community, parent or church groups, (and) if they have taken part in certain activities in the past year, such as attending public hearings or neighborhood meetings."

With only one exception (Denver), "the most civically engaged in each city are more likely to follow local and microlocal news ..."

A guide to legal issues for media startups

The Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at CUNY has produced a pretty comprehensive guide to "Law for Media Startups."

From the intro: "Digital news startups face a range of legal issues as they set up their business operations, gather and report the news, protect their content, and market and support their news ventures. They need to know classic First Amendment law – and much more. This guide offers an introduction to many of those issues, from hiring freelancers and establishing organizational structures, to native advertising and marketing, to maintaining privacy policies and dealing with libel accusations."

It includes chapters on 1) forming the business and structure; 2) labor law; 3) copyright and fair use; 4) native advertising; 5) selling online advertising; 6) spam and email; 7) privacy policies and terms of use; 8) defamation; 9) user-generated content; 10) access to information and places; 11) confidentiality and government surveillance; and 12) finding legal help.

Access the full report here.

Batavian still going strong - and beating local daily - 6 years later

Six years after some people gave upstate New York local news site The Batavian six months to live, it's going strong and dwarfing the audience of the competing daily newspaper.

Howard Owens, a LION board member and a key co-founder of the organization, recently shared The Batavian's progress in a note to readers. It's averaging 120,000 visitors a month in a county with a population of only 57,000. The Batavian also recently surpassed 10,000 followers on Facebook.

"Publications that cover media are full of pundits who pontificate on the failure of local news media and are self-assured that the Internet destroys the audience for local news," Owens wrote. "The numbers for The Batavian demonstrate, I think, how wrong those proclamations are. People do want local news, and if they get it in a style and format they like, they will flock to it."


Related: In Connecticut, "community news and the long game: An indie makes a case for the one-off." In California, "how we're helping under-served audiences serve themselves with digital news."


Two years of cooperative media in New Jersey

Debbie Gallant looks back on two years of an experiment in fostering cooperation among media companies in New Jersey. And very relevant to LION members, a look at the Center for Cooperative Media's efforts to help local news entrepreneurs "Grow and Strengthen."

Key points (can we get an "Amen!?"):
  • The entrepreneur needs a means of financial support during the start-up phase.
  • There's no substitute for being OF the community.
  • Most people need some level of design/tech support.
  • A background in newspapers has its pros and cons.
  • A background in news is not necessary.
  • Everyone needs some basic business orientation.
  • It's important to be out in the community.
  • An elevator pitch is valuable.
  • Interviewing local businesses is a smart strategy.
  • Most local ad buys are emotional, not data-driven.
  • Finding a salesperson is difficult.
Read the whole report here.

Topical news curation at the local level

"Local news reporting is incomplete. Traditional local news follows a well worn formula of crime, accidents, traffic, weather, and sports. The challenge is finding localized news revolving around topics that aren’t well covered by the traditional local news media because they may be too esoteric or narrowcast for the general news consumer." Pat Kitano of BNN Networks makes an interesting case for smart curation by local news sites around topics such as the arts, housing, health care and the environment.

Knight News Challenge tackles elections engagement

The Knight Foundation's Knight News Challenge is seeking applicants around the topic of elections ahead of 2016. "How might we better inform voters and increase civic participation before, during and after elections?" https://www.newschallenge.org/

Wyofile crowdfunds coverage of children's health care

LION member Wyofile is crowdfunding coverage of children's health care on the Wind Rivers reservation. "26,000+ people on the res, high rates of poverty and infant mortality, but Wyoming is not paying attention. We hope to research and report on the disparities of early childhood healthcare on the res to increase awareness of the issue and make sure that Wyoming leaders pay attention. Support us so we can tell this story and spark action from Wyoming leaders."

Unlocking the secrets to foundation funding

The Local News Lab, a project of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and supported by the Knight Foundation, tackles a topic many of us have struggled with: "understanding how to get and keep funding from philanthropic foundations is often a mystery."

Part of the problem, it says, is that foundations need to be more transparent, which the article itself aims to improve upon. It covers "what you should be doing," what you shouldn't and "what you have no control over."

It's worth the read.

Follow all LION members with one Twitter list

Here are 150 Twitter accounts associated with LION member local news sites. Click "follow" and add to Tweetdeck or a similar tool.

Tools and Tips: Advertising

AUDIENCE: Why independent news media has to measure it. And how disruptive innovators have to change the audience game.

FACEBOOK: Facebook gains foothold with small businesses as it passes the 2-million advertiser mark. On the other hand, Facebook is increasingly alienating small businesses with its limitations on organic reach.

METRICS: European firm uses five unique multimedia campaign performance metrics.

MOBILE: How mobile ads are becoming more engaging and accountable. And advice for young journalists about how much mobile needs to influence business models.

PROGRAMMATIC: What programmatic advertising means for local media. And five ways companies are missing the mark with targeted marketing.

ROI: Do marketers rely on instinct instead of data around return on investment?

VERTICALS: The case for sales reps who are focused on a category instead of a geographic territory.

Tools and Tips: Journalism

DATA: Open Pipe Kit wants to simplify real-time data collection.

EFFICIENCY: How journalists are using Slack and hangouts instead of email to stay connected. An online tool for transcribing interviews. And a new site that helps journalists find photos and videos on social media.

 

ENGAGEMENT: PRI's Michael Skoler asks why we can't offer readers something more than "here's this horrible news." Also, the case for the "restorative narrative."

INFOGRAPHICS: Seventeen tools for generating infographics. And at JournalistsResource.org, six web-based tools that can help you communicate visually.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA: How are news publishers determining what original content they'll produce specifically for social media? Also, the New York Times' social media team leader explains how they work.

 

STORY COMMENTS: Before you turn off story comments, try these research-based strategies to make them better. And in case you missed it, the New York Times plans to expand and improve its commenting.

TWITTER:
- You can embed Twitter-hosted video on your website now.
- You can livestream something on Twitter using a new tool called Meerkat.
- Some advice on what to do - and NOT do - when tweeting live coverage of a sensitive breaking news story.
- Some advice on dealing with Twitter trolls.

WRITING: Poynter's Roy Peter Clark offers 50 quick writing tips.

Industry News

AUDIENCE: The man who led Atlantic Media's digital transformation, and is now at Bloomberg, sees major opportunity in the big current shakeup in how consumers get their news.

CROWDFUNDING: Since Kickstarter was launched, more than 900 journalism and media projects have been funded.

FREEDOM AND DUTY: The Charlie Hebdo murders rallied journalists across the world behind "the right to offend." This piece addresses "a duty to mend."

KNIGHT FUNDING: "Walk Raleigh" start-up gets Knight Foundation money for national expansion.

LIVE EVENTS: Could live events be part of your journalism (and revenue model)?

MOBILE: In the web vs. apps debate, apps are on a run. But all of these great new apps might never see a big audience.

 

PAYWALLS: The Financial Times is changing the way it charges for online content.

PLAGIARISM: Columbia Journalism Review (with a new editor and redesigned website) tackles the definition of plagiarism in a digital age. 

PLATFORMS: With the increasing clout of platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat, maybe digital publishing's future looks a lot like cable television.

PODCASTING: A cool experiment delivers podcasting relevant to your location (think walking history tours).

QUALITY VS. TRAFFIC: Why Politico and Gawker are abandoning an above-all-else quest for traffic and focusing on quality.

SEARCH: Google's algorithm places more value on mobile optimization. A new system for ranking websites based on "facts" instead of links could be in the works at Google. And Bing's leader predicts some dramatic changes in how search engines work.

SNAPCHAT: One user-contributed Snapchat video was viewed 25 million times. Its future as a media company.

STATEHOUSE REPORTING: In seven states, online news start-ups have the most reporters covering the statehouse.

 

TWITTER: How Twitter expects to profit from millions of logged-out users. Also, the social network is keeping its promise to crack down on harassment.

YOUTUBE: YouTube's subscription service has struggled to take off.

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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