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Foundations put focus on boosting local journalism
The Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund and others have emphasized the importance of local journalism in recent weeks, and are putting money and resources behind that statement.
Poynter will use a Knight grant to offer digital training to local news organizations and, importantly, expand its coverage of changes in local journalism across the country. It cited the emergence of local independent online news publishers and LION's work in making the announcement.
And the new Knight-Lenfest initiative will "give a kick in the pants to America’s metro newspapers," as Ken Doctor put it this week.
Meanwhile, the Democracy Fund has relaunched its "Local News Lab" website, and has published new guides for local newsrooms in how to monetize email newsletters, live events and more.
Related: Facebook is beginning to reach out to local newsrooms. It recently met with Texas reporters during a local journalism roadshow.
And the Knight Foundation has issued an open call for ideas for improving local news and information ecosystems.
ICYMI: LION launches a podcast
We've launched a podcast! Check it out here or subscribe on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher.
Our first episode features an ARLNow.com and RestonNow.com Editor and Publisher Scott Brodbeck interview with pioneering local independent online news publishers Howard B. Owens III from The Batavian.
Our second episode features an interview with Kenny Kratzgau of Broadstreet Ads, whose company serves advertising for many local independent online news publishers.
News About Local Independent Online News Sites
CRIME REPORTING: No mugshot exploitation: The New Haven Independent aims to respect the reputations of those arrested in the community it covers.
FUNDING: For media startups, the ‘resistance will be venture-backed.’ Funders interested in media projects that thwart Trump's attack on the press.
MICHIGAN: An Ann Arbor magazine created a daily newsletter to help fill gaps in the city’s local news coverage.
PRO PUBLICA: Flush from its Trump-bump, ProPublica is staffing up to cover the president.
NONPROFITS: Earlier this month, Dan Kennedy argued that Trump's proposal to remove restrictions on tax-exempt churches' political speech would help nonprofit news organizations. Here's a different take: Why repealing the Johnson Amendment is a bad idea.
STUDENT MEDIA: Mapping New Jersey’s student-journalism ecosystem with CUNY’s Simon Galperin.
Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue
DISTRIBUTED CONTENT: Research shows most publishers don’t have a plan to address distributed content. How platforms get publishers to play the access game.
NEWSLETTERS: Newsletters as news products: A guide for local newsrooms. What are your newsletter analytics trying to tell you? Are you listening? Why consumers get email fatigue.
PARTNERSHIPS: National and local news collaborations: Three key ways to partner now.
PAYWALLS: The Wall Street Journal to close Google loophole entirely.
PROGRAMMATIC: Why Google won’t kill off header bidding.
SEO: What does it mean to practice local SEO ethically?
SUBSCRIBERS: Advertising vs subscription. Reaching 50,000 subscribers, De Correspondent is focusing on closing the gaps between journalists and readers. How Ben Thompson built Stratechery into a one-man publishing empire.
Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology
ANALYTICS: "The Google Analytics setup I use on every site I build." How to use analytics to differentiate your content. New analytics tool Kaleida shows what stories and topics matter to readers.
CREATIVE COMMONS: Creative Commons’ new search tool is now in beta, pulls CC images from multiple sources.
CRIME: Q&A: The Marshall Project’s Bill Keller on the future of criminal justice reporting under Trump.
DATA: Three ways to make data visualizations and interactives work on mobile.
ENGAGEMENT: Care about fact checking and credibility? Get serious about understanding your audience. Ideas worth stealing: These strategies will help journalists earn news consumers’ trust. Six things journalists can do to win back trust.
FOIA: MuckRock’s Brown on FOIA as journalism’s flashlight.
FREE PRESS: In UK, journalists who obtain leaked official material could be sent to prison under new proposals.
IMMIGRATION: A review of immigration coverage so far, from straight-up amazing reporting to crowdsourcing.
LIVE EVENTS: In Chicago, two news orgs are using texting and live events to widen the reach of their reporting on lead.
SECURITY: State-sponsored hackers targeting prominent journalists, Google warns.
SLOW NEWS: How 'slow' journalism brings depth and nuance to complex stories.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Where did that story come from? Pew finds new evidence that many readers don’t know.
SPORTS: It's no gag: Major-college athletes gain legally protected right to speak with media.
STORY COMMENTS: To read or not to read comments: Understanding the persuasive firepower of user discussion.
STRESS: How journalists and publishers can tackle dangerous stress levels in newsrooms.
VIDEO: Five highlights from news:rewired: from live video ethics to mobile data journalism.
VIRTUAL REALITY: Any device running Google's Chrome browser is now a VR platform.
Industry News
BLEACHER REPORT: With layoffs, Bleacher Report does away with its user-generated roots.
BOSTON: The Boston Globe reports a surge in paid digital subscriptions. Two Massachusetts daily newspapers cease publication.
FACEBOOK: Facebook denies it’s a media outlet, but many users disagree. People are OK at remembering where they get news online (but still think Facebook’s a news outlet). Facebook agrees to audit of its metrics following data controversy. Facebook takes steps to improve advertising data after criticism. Facebook gives advertisers guarantees for ads with sound and more.
FAKE NEWS: Journalism fights for survival in the post-truth era. Fake news isn’t a new problem, and we’re better equipped to fight it now. Jefferson vs. Orwell on the fake news problem. Is fake news a solvable problem? Getting automated fact-checking from science fiction to reality. Fake news is killing people's minds, says Apple boss Tim Cook. Facebook, Google, and Apple have a role to play in solving fake news problem (but aren’t totally sure it is yet). Breaking News: When real news is fake. Inside the Macedonian fake-news complex. Family-owned paper threatens state legislator with lawsuit for labeling it as "fake news."
FCC: Republicans are ready to take down the FCC.
FLIPBOARD: Flipboard revamps its approach to personalized news with new “Smart Magazines.”
GANNETT: Gannett and McClatchy made digital gains at the end of 2016. Four Gannett newspapers in the Southwest announce they will be shrinking their print editions.
MEDIUM: How an idealistic Silicon Valley founder raised $134 million to change journalism, then crashed into reality.
MOBILE: Is mobile search cannibalizing Google's core search business?
NEW YORK TIMES: The New York Times claws its way into the future.
OPEN NEWS: With $1.1 million in funding from Knight, OpenNews is becoming an independent organization.
PRINT: Newspapers have high level of trust, but will they capitalize on it?
PUBLIC MEDIA: West Virginia governor proposes cutting off funds for public broadcasting.
SNAPCHAT: More than 60 percent of Snapchat users skip ads on the platform. How Snapchat is going after small and midsize businesses.
STUDENT MEDIA: Editorial: Remove gag from student journalists. A reading list for future journalists.
TRUMP: Journalists see Trump as a threat to their careers, and calling. The life-sucking tedium of covering official lies. Trump is managing the press corps to avoid tough questions. White House grants press credentials to a pro-Trump fake news site. Journalist says Omarosa Manigault bullied her and mentioned a ‘dossier’ on her. ‘Drop dead, media!’ Trump fans yelled — then bought the local papers. PR flacks may be the media’s secret weapon against Trump.
In a chaotic presidency, Civics 101 is giving listeners a reintroduction to how the U.S. government works. "Trump bump" grows, as ‘Government Executive’ exploits the journalism of change. Meet the wildly popular blogger chronicling President Trump one day at a time. With “Burst Your Bubble,” The Guardian pushes readers beyond their political news boundaries. Pop the personalization filter bubbles and preserve online diversity.
TWITTER: Bright spot for Twitter: Publishers are seeing video views jump. Twitter plans to trim down its ads products.
TV NEWS: Dropped by NBC, Boston’s WHDH is placing a big bet on local news and aims to be “DVR-proof.” From televisions to telescreens: Video viewing habits are sensitive information.
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Half of Wall Street Journal subscribers are now digital.
WIKIPEDIA: Handful of “highly toxic” Wikipedia editors cause 9% of abuse on the site. Wikipedia calls the Daily Mail “generally unreliable,” and bans it as a source in most cases.
YELP: Yelp plunges after sales outlook misses estimates. Yelp launches new feature for asking and answering questions about any business.
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.) |
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