Key to local news startup success: A big focus on revenue
Some local independent online news sites are launched with great plans for doing solid journalism, but no real or realistic strategy for bringing in the money that will pay for it.
"Google AdWords or other network/programmatic advertising alone wouldn’t generate enough money to support a single full-time employee even if you had 10 times the traffic of the typical “successful” local news site. And local advertisers won’t just come calling; you have to go find them," LION Executive Director Matt DeRienzo writes on Medium. "That means, unless you’re independently wealthy and this is a hobby, you’ll have to be actively involved in generating revenue, through direct local advertising sales, memberships or subscriptions, nonprofit fundraising (depending on your model), or other sources. Your notebook needs to be just as filled with new sponsorship and underwriting prospects as it does with story ideas. You’re a publisher now — the emails and phone numbers of sources of money are just as important as sources of hot news tips."
Related: LION's annual conference Oct. 26-28 in Chicago will feature a boot camp for new local independent online news publishers, idea-stage entrepreneurs, and anyone else trying to figure out a business model or plan. The main conference will include numerous presentations, workshops, panels and specific ideas and advice for growing revenue to support independent local journalism.
Is the nonprofit news model becoming too commercial?
“The potential for nonprofits to offer a radical alternative to commercial media is being lost,” argues a journalism professor out with a new study about nonprofit news models.
He explores the "Catch-22" of the need for nonprofit news organizations to be financially sustainable and also do work that has impact and that is not likely to be pursued by commercial media. In order to be financially sustainable beyond foundation support, he says, a news org has to respond to what the market will support. But being driven by the market leads to the kind of non-impactful commercial media news that the nonprofit structure was supposed to address in the first place.
RELATED: The New York Times is building out a new philanthropic arm in search of nonprofit funding for its journalism. Will it succeed where others have failed?
Big platforms face scrutiny over paid disinformation campaigns
Facebook's disclosure that $100,000 in Facebook ads were purchased by Russian entities to influence the 2016 election are raising lots of questions about disclosure and transparency requirements around online political advertising.
Meanwhile, programmatic advertising, including Google AdSense, continue to play a big role in how major brands are supporting extremist group websites and fake news sites.
Related: Why we should all be concerned about Google's power over our virtual lives. How Google affects and dominates the publishing industry. Why it's so hard to trust Facebook. Why 16% of the code on the average site belongs to Facebook, and what that means.
A free mobile solution for small news organizations
Christopher Guess, currently a fellow at Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, is building a mobile app that he hopes will provide small news organizations with features that only big national news outlets have typically been able to afford.
"Push" is free and easily customizable for individual news organizations.
"Push notifications, and the itch they scratch, are just the start. Mobile apps can offer much more than a traditional mobile-optimized website," Guess said. "They can cache stories offline for reading when on trains or in a house with poor service. You can conduct donation drives directly in the product, using Apple Pay and PayPal. The apps provide granular analytics as well, allowing for the optimization of when, where and how to send notifications."
Guess will be speaking about Push at LION's annual conference in Chicago Oct. 26-28. Register here!
News About Local Independent Online News Sites
CHICAGO: City Bureau is bringing journalists and communities together to encourage civic participation. You can hear more about City Bureau from co-founder Darryl Holliday at LION's annual conference Oct. 26-28 in Chicago!
DDOS: Project Shield Offers Independent News Sites Free Protection From Cyberattacks.
HUFFPOST: HuffPost is taking its reporters on a “listening tour,” seeking stories, new readers, data, and solidarity. And partnering with a number of local independent online news sites along the way.
NATIVE NEWS: Indian Country Today hiatus is a blow to nuanced coverage of indigenous peoples.
NEVADA: Rural papers, Nevada Independent to share news.
PATCH: Tim Armstrong's lesson from Patch’s struggles? Should have been more cookie-cutter with local news.
TEXAS: How nonprofit news sites warned about Hurricane Harvey.
Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue
ADVERTISING: Is $0 Print and $0 Advertising in Our Future? The right kind of transparency in advertising.
CAR DEALERS: Is Your Local Dealership Prepared for a New Era of Car Buying?
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: The Schools of Journalism: Digital Optimists vs. Digital Pessimists. Want to get results? Learn how to fail first — and fail often.
MEMBERSHIP: Talk to me like I matter. Changing how news sites interact with supporters. How a free canvas tote became a bigger status symbol than a $10,000 Hermès bag. How Mother Jones makes serious journalism in the age of cat videos: It asks readers for money.
SPONSORED CONTENT: Branded content is king. Here’s why the data proves it.
VIDEO: What’s driving the publisher pivot to video, in 5 charts (hint: ad $$$). Vox "leans into" video. Vox Media’s criticism of a “pivot to video” also reflects the digital publisher hierarchy. The videos you shoot with your phone make people dizzy. Here's how to fix that.
Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology
ANTIFA: Here’s the best thing the media can do when reporting on ‘antifa.’
AUTOMATION: The Washington Post leverages automated storytelling to cover high school football.
DATA: Giving data soul: Best practices for ethical data journalism.
DISABILITIES: What journalists can do better to cover the disability beat.
ENGAGEMENT: Journalism as problem-solving.
HARASSMENT: How newsrooms can fight online harassment targeting female journalists.
MOBILE: As push notifications pile up, publishers look to get more targeted.
SEO: Why microsites aren’t always ideal for SEO.
SOCIAL MEDIA: 67% of Americans use social media to get some of their news; Twitter and Snapchat for news are getting more popular.
TEXTING: News startup Purple is now a service that lets creators charge people to text with them.
TRAINING: Survey: Journalists’ most urgent training needs are mobile, data and video.
WATCHDOG REPORTING: Becoming a more effective accountability reporter.
WORDPRESS: Seven Highlights from the First-Ever WordCamp for Publishers.
Industry News
ALGORITHMS: Don’t Fear Super-Intelligent Robots. Fear Dumb, Unpredictable Ones.
AP: How a 171-year-old news agency is the hidden mainstay of news on Facebook.
CANADA: Reality starts to bite at the Globe and Mail.
COPYRIGHT: Second photographer sues NPR over copyright infringement.
FACEBOOK: Facebook offers hundreds of millions of dollars for music rights. Facebook willing to spend $1 billion on video creation.
FAKE NEWS: There’s a long list of old-fashioned parallels to today’s fake news. Here’s one that’s actually helpful. Some tricks to identify fake Twitter accounts. From Russia With #HateGroup? Analyzing a bot attack on a news site in the United States.
GANNETT: Gannett makes company-wide cuts in reorganization.
HARVEY: Exploiting suffering or hogging the spotlight? Media slammed for covering Harvey, no matter how they do it. How the media got Hurricane Harvey right. This Houston sportswriter asked for Harvey donations on Venmo. A few hours later, he had $134,000. After being flooded out of their station, KHOU employees are stocking up on supplies. Hurricane Harvey couldn't silence Texas radio stations.
HEARST: Hearst acquires two daily newspapers in Illinois.
LINKEDIN: LinkedIn raises its ad tech game, launches Audience Network across ‘tens of thousands’ of sites and apps.
MEDIUM: Why is the journalism business so dismissive of Medium’s new model? It’s time to evolve past the like button. The clap is a start.
NY DAILY NEWS: Take My Paper, Please! (and a few other headlines about the New York Daily News). How one newspaper deal explains the decline of the newspaper business. Can Tronc restore the New York Daily News to glory? Probably not, if experience tells. Tronc inherits $8 million cash prize in Daily News deal.
OWNERSHIP: The Anti-Gatehouse: With Roots in Their Communities, Local Newspaper Owners Find Ways to Flourish and Prosper.
PODCASTING: Podcasts are becoming the left’s right-wing talk radio. These are the most important developments in the podcast business so far in 2017.
PRESS FREEDOM: Under government pressure, Cambodia daily newspaper shuts down. Press group to NRA: 'It is un-American to threaten journalists.'
STARTUPS: Publishers should observe start-ups to predict future news innovations.
TECH: OpenNews Creates Survey to Understand People Behind the Tech in Journalism.
VERIZON: Verizon Wants to Build an Advertising Juggernaut. It Needs Your Data First.
UPCOMING EVENTS
BUSINESS PLANNING FOR NONPROFIT NEWS: The Institute for Nonprofit News will host a one-day intensive on business planning for nonprofit news organizations Oct. 3 in Philadelphia.
ONA CONFERENCE: The Online News Association's annual conference will be held Oct. 5-7 in Washington, D.C.
ASNE CONFERENCE: The American Society of News Editors and Associated Press Media Editors joint conference will be held Oct. 8-10 in Washington, D.C.
LION SUMMIT - CHICAGO: Register now! LION Publishers' annual conference will be held Oct. 26-28 in Chicago.
LION webinar tackles hiring, managing, paying ad sales reps
Three veteran local independent online news publishers will share advice, ideas and best practices on finding, hiring and keeping advertising sales reps, managing performance and structuring the right pay plan.
Scott Brodbeck, publisher of ARLNow.com in Virginia, Kelly Gilfillan, publisher of Home Page Media in Tennessee, and Jay Allred, publisher of Richland Source in Ohio, will lead a LION webinar for the publishers of small news organizations who've struggled with finding people to sell advertising for their site and structuring a pay plan that makes it worth their while.
This webinar is free for LION members and only $15 for non-members.
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 http://www.lionpublishers.com/members/dues/renew 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.) |