Local news site uses 36-hour livestream for annual fundraising push
The Valley Independent Sentinel, a nonprofit local independent online news site that covers Connecticut's blue collar Naugatuck Valley, is making its once-a-year push for reader donations. And the journalists behind it - Eugene Driscoll and Ethan Fry - are livestreaming themselves from their tiny newsroom ... for 36 hours straight.
It's a fun and unique take on fundraising that also engages readers and some of the community organizations and local officials the site covers. (They are guests on the livestream ... it's not easy filling 36 hours.)
Read more about how they do it and the background of their site in this article we wrote about the effort last year.
A guide to the organizations that are working to save local journalism
"In the past few years, local journalism — especially the traditional models of TV news and newspapers — has struggled to adapt to the challenges of digital advertising and platforms, as national-level organizations have greater scale to soak up subscription dollars and chase heavy-hitting stories. It’s not a new tale, but as the media landscape (and the Facebook landscape, the political landscape, the news group ownership landscape, etc.) continues to shift and everyone remembers the importance of quality local news to democracy, there are a number of rising initiatives focused on (and with funding for) local news."
Nieman Lab has published a guide to the "network of brains and bank accounts" that are working on the problem, which includes LION and a number of organizations that LION is proud to collaborate with on this issue.
How do you reach communities you know you aren't covering well?
“Journalism isn’t typically a matter of life and death, but it’s as much a listening profession as medicine. In telling stories, we care for our communities, just as doctors help ensure the health of our bodies. Can journalists use similar techniques to provide more representative coverage of communities that are unlike them?”
Could you be more empathetic in your reporting? The answer is probably yes, and a new report offers concrete tips for how to do it.
Reveal to partner with local newsrooms on investigative reporting
A new Knight Foundation-supported project aims to bring investigative journalism back to local newsrooms.The Center for Investigative Reporting's Reveal Local Labs will partner with newsrooms in four cities to produce and support investigative work.
"With the collapse of the traditional business model for newspaper journalism, many local newsrooms have shed reporting and editing positions and often do not have the resources and advanced skills to take on significant investigative reporting projects. CIR staff have been working successfully to fill this gap with local newsrooms in small towns and major metro areas around the country. In collaboration with these organizations, they provide data journalism resources, Freedom of Information support, training and coaching around audience engagement, digital media and distribution. The center also helps to distribute the work across its national and international platforms, including Reveal, its online platform."
Related: LION to award micro-grants for local investigative reporting projects.
On social media, local TV news isn't that local
If your only source of news is your local TV news station on Facebook, will your news and information needs around what’s going on in your community be met? The forecast isn’t good. How much of what local TV stations post to Facebook is actually local? For many, right around half.
LION summit planned for IRE conference in Orlando June 15
LION Publishers will hold a day-long summit at the Investigative Reporters & Editors conference in Orlando Friday, June 15, covering issues, opportunities, ideas and advice for local independent online news organizations and entrepreneurs who are considering starting their own local news site.
A theme of this year's LION gathering at IRE will be how investigative, enterprise and accountability journalism can help local publishers build financial support from readers. LION recently launched I-DIG (Impact-Designed Investigative Grants), a micro-grant program supporting local investigative news projects by its members. LION will be working with recipients to tie the results of accountability journalism to appeals to readers for subscriptions, memberships and/or donations.
Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue
AD SALES: Entrepreneurial Journalists: You Must Make Time for Ad Sales.
AD TECH: The internet is designed for corporations, not people. What publishers need to know about complying with GDPR. Google sharply limits DoubleClick ID use, citing GDPR. How Axel Springer is reducing its reliance on Google ad tech. Marketers still shy away from venturing too deeply into ad tech. Advertisers, agencies agree transparency in ad buying is a problem, but not so much on the blame.
FUNDRAISING: How ThinkProgress generated $500,000 in donations after Trump was elected.
MEMBERSHIPS: Three questions to ask before starting that membership program.
NEWSLETTERS: Ten questions to answer before launching a newsletter. How do you monetize personality? Danish newsletter startup Føljeton has a few ideas. Aiming for loyal readers, The Daily Beast launches a standalone email newsletter for politics.
RECOMMENDATION NETWORKS: Content recommendation networks look for a second act.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Local Merchants Highly Dependent on Social Media at Time of Uncertainty for Platforms.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: A farewell to free journalism. How to Optimize Your Website to Drive Subscriptions. Getting smarter about subscriptions beyond the meter — and without a silver bullet. Google rolls out new subscription tool with McClatchy newspaper sites. Could news media’s subscription strategy boil down to audience feelings? From activation to conversion: The news media marketer’s evolving role. Bloomberg is planning to make readers pay up to read its digital content. Vanity Fair launches a $20-a-year digital paywall. Shifting focus from offers to promoting its journalism, The New York Times continues to build its subscriber base. Rethinking the value exchange between media, paying audiences.
VIDEO: Nearly 60% of marketers’ digital advertising budgets are allocated to digital video. Half will increase spending on digital and mobile video, and two-thirds will shift funds from TV budgets to fund their digital video advertising.
Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology
AP STYLE: The Associated Press announced a handful of stylebook changes, additions and some guidance on Friday.
BEAT REPORTING: These 11 journalists will go in search of a “networked” model for beat reporting.
CMS: Building a Text Editor for a Digital-First Newsroom.
DEFAMATION: One legal case could open a can of worms for defamation suits against writers.
ENGAGEMENT: Sharing stories, sharing power in North Carolina. This British local news co-op’s model is evolving as it grows. Newsday wants to move from ‘voice of God’ editorials to convening conversations. Is audience engagement a mushy construct based on anecdata — or something audiences actually want?
FREELANCE: It Took 17 Years: Freelancers Receive $9 Million in Copyright Suit.
GOOGLE DOCS: Tencent Finally Launches Its Answer to Google Docs, Here's How to Use It.
HISTORY: Historians are a great resource. Journalists, be sure to give them credit.
METRICS: The metrics that matter. The five ways we read online (and what publishers can do to encourage the “good” ones). Findings from a new study’s interviews with that increasingly common creature, the “news avoider.” How the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel focused on prioritizing with a “Stop Doing” list.
MOBILE: Maybe to be at our best on mobile, publishers should think back to the web’s early, visually spare days. Wellness apps, but for news: Can Neva Labs build a news reading experience that feels healthy?
POLITICS: Combine an “editorially responsible” algorithm + political news, and you have Current Status.
SECURITY: Journalists, it's unethical to ignore your online security.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Why you think social media is run by interns.
STORY FORMATS: Explainers are tedious. Fact-checks can feel partisan. Is there a third way?
VIDEO: App for journalists: Vlogit, for producing eye-catching social videos.
Industry News
AMAZON: How merchants use Facebook to flood Amazon with fake reviews. Amazon’s ad business is appealing to more buyers. Amazon now has a multibillion-dollar advertising business.
APPLE: Apple News ramps up its video push while publishers wait on revenue.
BILL COSBY: The press is responsible for ignoring Bill Cosby rape allegations.
BOSTON GLOBE: Boston Globe Columnist Suspended During Investigation Of Marathon Bombing Stories That Don't Add Up.
CHICAGO: Chicago Tribune Organizers: 85% Have Signed Union Cards. Chicago Sun-Times leaves front page blank, pleads for subscribers: 'We need you to be there for us.'
DFM: When hedge funds try journalism. The end of investigative journalism? Not yet. Economic Hardship Reporting Project to fund work by laid-off Denver Post staffers. As Denver Post guts Cannabist, former editor Ricardo Baca may buy it.
DIVERSITY: Pale, male and posh: the media is still in a class of its own. Alabama newspaper reckons with its past. Behold, the marticle (a primer on how to avoid only quoting men as sources). How nonprofits can address their own biases to build better diversity. Seven ways to avoid double standards reporting on extremist violence.
EUROPE: The Engaged Journalism Accelerator will focus on sustainability in European independent newsrooms.
FACEBOOK: Facebook advertising revenue soars 50% to $11 billion, as Zuckerberg claims the business had ‘strong start’ to 2018. As Facebook reports quarterly earnings, the huzzahs have stopped. Increased Facebook Ad Prices Drive Revenue Growth. Facebook Is Expanding Its Testing of Pre-Roll Video Ads. Facebook hit with defamation suit over fake ads. Facebook Says There May Be More Cambridge Analytica-Sized Leaks. Facebook’s Ad Chief: ‘What The World Really Wants To See From Us Is Action.’ What's Not Included in Facebook's 'Download Your Data.' Are you really the product? The history of a dangerous idea. Facebook crossed the creepy line and can’t go back. Dealing with the privacy paradox. Weapons of Math Destruction: How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy. Facebook finally explains why it bans some content, in 27 pages. News Media Alliance calls on duopoly to stop filtering quality news.
FAKE NEWS: Say goodbye to the Information Age: It’s all about reputation now. Who is still sharing fake news on social media? Is it satire or fake news? Depends on who you ask. With an interactive game, the BBC is helping young people better understand the disinformation ecosystem. LinkedIn CEO: There's no easy fix for fake news. Fact checks are becoming powerful signals on social media. How should we check them? As election looms, Brazil braces for fake news. How journalists can avoid being manipulated by trolls seeking to spread disinformation. The EU just took its first major action against fake news. Here's what it does — and doesn't — include. Nine ways you can help fact-checkers during a crisis. Facebook shrinks fake news after warnings backfire.
FOIA: New Hampshire House kills proposal for right-to-know appeals process.
GOOGLE: What Google’s New Review Guidelines Mean for SMBs, Agencies, and Vendors. Who Has More of Your Personal Data Than Facebook? Try Google. Google and Facebook Likely to Benefit From Europe’s Privacy Crackdown.
GUARDIAN: Guardian on track to break even as company halves its losses.
GUN LOBBY: In Sarasota, a pro-gun columnist is also a top editor at the paper.
INSTAGRAM: Instagram Users Can Upload Multiple Photos, Videos to Their Stories. Real People Are Turning Their Accounts Into Bots On Instagram — And Cashing In. Instagram might be testing a mute button and a bunch of other new features.
LOS ANGELES TIMES: LA Times editor addresses pay gaps ahead of lawsuit.
McCLATCHY: McClatchy reports more sharp revenue declines and a net loss for the first quarter of 2018. Sacramento Bee makes another round of newsroom layoffs.
MIC: Mic faces an uncertain future in a post-Facebook world. It's traffic has been in a free-fall. After years of chasing Facebook traffic, Mic goes for ‘deliberate distribution.’
PINTEREST: Here’s the most engaging content on Pinterest in 2018 so far.
PRESS FREEDOM: By keeping investigative stories alive, Forbidden Stories offers protection from censorship. Journalist killings in Afghanistan: 'An attack on the global media.' Why is ICE interfering with journalists covering immigration hearings? The president is seeking to destroy journalism. Now let’s debate dinner entertainment! The Justice Department Deleted Language About Press Freedom And Racial Gerrymandering From Its Internal Manual. What if we didn’t... have the First Amendment? America’s role in a ‘climate of hatred’ for journalists. Watchdogs Warn of Worldwide Threats to Press Freedom.
PRINT: 'It Would Be Nice if They Survive, but Are Newspapers Necessary?' Yes, being downtown matters to newspapers. Trump's Revenge: How Tariffs On Canadian Paper Are Killing Journalism.
PUBLIC MEDIA: Public TV stations KCET and KOCE to merge in shifting market.
PUERTO RICO: After Hurricane Maria, AM radio makes a comeback in Puerto Rico.
REDDIT: Reddit to grow its 75-person brand partnerships team by 50 percent to woo advertisers. How to get notified when audiences post your work to Reddit.
SINCLAIR: Sinclair Broadcast, Tribune Media announce plans to sell TV stations to move merger forward.
STUDENT MEDIA: Student-run publications band together for #SaveStudentNewsrooms campaign.
TRONC: Still another Tronc drama, as John Lynch re-enters the business. McCormick Media wants a bigger stake in Tronc.
TRUMP: Why Trump Is Winning and the Press Is Losing. 'Mass firing' at conservative site RedState. Trump's Revenge: How Tariffs On Canadian Paper Are Killing Journalism. In the age of Trump, calls for civility are calls for servility.
TV: Cable TV’s Cord-Cutting Woes Grow, Highlighting Divergence With Netflix. Local TV Station Revenue Seen Growing 5.6%, BIA Says.
TWITTER: Twitter’s comeback fueled by video focus and international growth. Twitter Is Pushing More News Links In The Home Timeline. Twitter Weighs Letting Publishers Sell Ads Before Their Videos.
UK: UK-based The Debrief shuts down as a standalone site.
UNIONS: Newsrooms are Forming Unions to Create Better Pay, Better Benefits and Better Journalism. Southern Illinoisan Newsroom Staff Signals Intent to Form Union.
UNIVISION: Univision CEO Signals More Layoffs, Upheaval to Come.
WEST VIRGINIA: After layoffs, a last sermon from a West Virginia ‘multimedia evangelist.’
WHATSAPP: WhatsApp founder plans to leave after broad clashes with parent Facebook.
YOUTUBE: YouTube Says Computers Are Catching Problem Videos. YouTube deletes 5 million videos for content violation. YouTube’s Plan to Clean Up the Mess That Made It Rich. While Facebook gets roasted, YouTube stays in the shadows. Parents will now be able to limit YouTube to human-reviewed channels and recommendations.
Upcoming Events
COLLABORATIVE JOURNALISM SUMMIT: May 10-11 at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
INN DAYS: The Institute for Nonprofit News will hold its annual INN Days summit June 13-14 at the Investigative Reporters & Editors' annual conference in Orlando.
LION AT IRE: LION will hold a day-long session on revenue, journalism, engagement and audience development issues relating to local independent online news sites June 15 during Investigative Reporters & Editors' annual conference in Orlando.
LION ANNUAL CONFERENCE: LION's annual conference, the country's largest gathering of local independent online news organizations, will be held Oct. 11-13 at Columbia College, Chicago. |