LION will offer local news investigative reporting grants
With a $25,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, LION Publishers will offer mini-grants to its members this year to support investigative and accountability journalism projects.
LION will then work with participants to tie the impact of their reporting to garner donations, subscriptions and/or paid memberships from readers, helping them create a sustaining source of funding for similar work in the future.
“We’re excited about what this fund will do to kickstart investigative reporting in small local news organizations,” said Steve Beatty, who will help LION administer the program. “By tying the results of that reporting to fundraising efforts, we hope that it becomes a part of their business models, as that resulting support from readers raises money to fund even more investigative work, which produces more results and more support from readers.”
As Facebook chips in, everyone's focus is on subscriptions
Facebook is spending $3 million to help local newspapers build digital subscriptions.
The move, which got a lukewarm reception, is one move in the larger dance between publishers and platforms.
And step back for a second. Facebook and Google are competing to drive more subscriptions to journalism organizations. Imagine that. How Facebook and newspapers are becoming frenemies.
There are naysayers, of course. "It’s going to end in tears," according to one "reality check" for subscription-thirsty publishers.
Meanwhile, there are two significant resources for local news publishers looking at subscriptions or paid memberships as a partial path forward.
* LION and the Center for Cooperative Media will host a day-long summit on Reader Revenue April 6 at Montclair State University. Join us!
* And the American Press Institute is out this week with a major study on why recent subscribers chose to pay for news.
Related: The contest letter we should all be writing. Are news media memberships a viable business model? Schibsted shifts focus to 'stickiness.' Free news gets scarcer as paywalls tighten. Research by The Economist shows audiences prefer brands with social purpose.
Everything is awful. Oh God somebody do something
"It’s less about what we’re doing on Facebook, and more about what’s being done to us."
In an interview with Nieman Lab, Jonathan Albright, the research director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, paints a bleak picture of the big platforms' dominance over journalism, public discourse and democracy.
“It’s getting worse. Since the 2016 election what I’ve come to the realization — horribly, and it’s very depressing — that nothing has gotten better, despite all the rhetoric, all of the money, all of the PR, all of the research. Nothing has really changed with the platforms,” Albright said. “We’re basically yelling about Russia right now when our technological and communication infrastructure — the ways that we experience reality, the ways we get news — are literally disintegrating around us.”
Related: We need to re-build news delivery. Here’s how.
A public service approach to local news emerges in Detroit
“I was not satisfied with covering low-income communities for a higher-income audience. I wanted to cover issues for and with low-income news consumers.”
Sarah Alvarez of Outlier Media in Detroit is re-imagining local journalism as a public service.
"By drawing on a hefty database of information compiled from city and county public sources and automating initial responses, Alvarez has built the one-woman-show of Outlier Media into a resource for low-income news consumers in Detroit in search of tangible, individualized information. In 13 months, Alvarez has sent messages to about 40,000 Detroit cell phone numbers ..."
News About Local Independent Online News
CANADA: Canada pledges $50 million to local journalism. Publishers want more.
CHICAGO: She didn't see herself or the young Black community in Chicago's main media outlets, so she started her own.
DC: Three sportswriters launch subscription D.C. sports site.
GOTHAMIST: After sudden death, local public radio stations are bringing Gothamist, DCist and LAist back to life. The many questions surrounding the revival of Gothamist. Here are a few other details (and one big question).
ILLINOIS: Chicago alderman to launch statewide online news site.
MINNPOST: Through a special fellowship program for nonprofits, MinnPost is hiring a Ph.D. to lead its audience development efforts. Know someone?
NONPROFITS: Knight Media Forum Focuses on Non-Profit News, Impact and Danger of Algorithms.
NORTH CAROLINA: Carolina Public Press announces statewide expansion in North Carolina, wins 7 state press association awards.
PRO PUBLICA: How ProPublica revealed the threat and extent of toxic military sites across the U.S.
Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue
AD DESIGN: Research: Ad placement affects memory retention. Ad density can be just as problematic as bad ads. When Dotdash rebranded its home and food content as The Spruce almost a year ago, it took a risk: cutting ad loads by 30 percent.
AD SALES: How SPH Magazines is hacking the sales funnel.
AD TECH: After pushing Facebook and Google for more transparency about effectiveness, P&G, world’s biggest advertiser, slashed digital ad spending by $200 million last year.
BLOCKCHAIN: With $5 million in funding, Civil is building a journalism marketplace on blockchain.
EVENTS: Want to get into events? Start small. This Iowa newspaper’s maintenance manager led the creation of its latest product — an escape room.
MESSENGER: Mass Messages From Small Businesses on Messenger Are One Step Closer to Reality.
MICROPAYMENTS: Like the changing of the seasons, publishers (again) turn to micropayments. French media is in talks about collaborating on a unified login system.
NEWSLETTERS: How to Design a Journalism Course Around Email Newsletters. Learn from these insights into Quartz's newsletter strategy.
PODCASTING: Anchor’s new app offers everything you need to podcast. Podcast publishers, start preserving your stuff. (This podcast will tell you how.) Taking Web Podcasts From Hack to Production: The highs and lows of building a new podcast interface.
VIDEO: ‘Success’ on YouTube Still Means a Life of Poverty. YouTube’s brand-safety efforts are forcing YouTube networks to cut small channels. ‘A big resurgence’: Publishers get a boost from Twitter video. Digital Video Industry Continues to Grow in Size and Complexity. RIP Facebook Live: As subsidies end, so does publisher participation. On the other hand, despite subsidies disappearing, some publishers see hope for Facebook Live post-algorithm change.
Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology
AGGREGATION: How content aggregators, news publishers can work together.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Reporting on climate change.
COLLABORATION: How The New York Times and The Times-Picayune teamed up to cover coastal erosion.
DATA: A simple tool for building data journalism projects in the newsroom. Your Interactive Makes Me Sick: Why your coolest scrolly features can cause problems, and what to do about it. De Standaard extends brand with citizen science research.
DESIGN: Can social Stories work for news organizations — without putting them on a platform? Where have all the big, wow-inducing digital stories gone? Early evidence from The Guardian's experiments suggests that there may be more economical ways for newsrooms to cover evolving stories on small (or really, all) screens.
EDUCATION: With school discrimination coverage, a suburban weekly flexes its muscles.
ENGAGEMENT: Can people be civil about polarizing topics? 'Dialogue journalism' could serve as a roadmap.
FACE RECOGNITION: Face recognition: what use is it to newsrooms?
FACT CHECKING: Here's how close automated fact-checking is to reality. In the era of fake news, where have all the fact-checkers gone?
FAIR USE: Court Says TVEyes' Fox News Clips Not Fair Use.
FOIA: Anti-secrecy lawsuits soaring against Pruitt's EPA. Critics say Vermont AG's plan to post all public records requests and responses is transparency gone too far.
FREELANCE: A Journalism Golden Age? Not Just Yet: Behind a Funder's Critical Support for Freelancers.
MEDIA LITERACY: Measuring a community’s “news awareness.” Media literacy is about where to spend your trust. But you have to spend it somewhere. Can we keep media literacy from becoming a partisan concept like fact checking?
MOBILE: Now That Everyone Is Doing It, Are Push Notifications Worth It?
OPIOIDS: Inside Time's decision to dedicate an entire issue to the opioid epidemic.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Journalism has a catch-22 problem with visuals. How photojournalism can survive the digital revolution (and your short attention span).
REFUGEES: There have been many discussions about the right or wrong way to cover issues such as the refugee crisis, but what does the research say?
SCHOOL PROTESTS: Student Press Law Center offers advice on covering walkouts and school protests.
SEO: Four guidelines for writing SEO-friendly headlines.
TRAUMA: Local journalists created a Facebook group with tips and support for covering mass shootings.
TRUST: Yes, there’s a crisis of trust in journalism. But it’s inside newsrooms, too. A journalism educator wonders: How can I teach students how to maintain their credibility? Trust in news matters. Don’t give up on it.
VR: The Ethical Challenges of Immersive Journalism.
Industry News
ALGORITHMS: How publishers can elevate great journalism through news quality scoring.
ALT WEEKLIES: Can an alt-weekly newspaper survive in 2018?
AUSTRALIA: Fairfax profits tumble 54% as company flags it will ‘take advantage’ of media consolidation.
BOTS: With in-article chat bots, BBC is experimenting with new ways to introduce readers to complex topics.
DIVERSITY: ASNE partners with University of Virginia to invigorate diversity survey. Two Charts Showing How The Mainstream Media Gets Minorities Wrong.
FACEBOOK: Facebook's algorithm has wiped out a once flourishing digital publisher. For social publisher LittleThings, Facebook’s “prioritization of friends/family content over publishers was the last straw.” "Facebook created a system that rewarded “sharable” “content.” So companies were started — and detoured — to make sharable content. But what content was shared? Oftentimes, useless, meaningless drivel." Publishers Are Switching Domain Names To Try And Stay Ahead Of Facebook’s Algorithm Changes. Viral publishers see sharp engagement drops on Facebook. The Reason Facebook Engagement is Falling for Brands and Publishers. How publishers can survive Facebook churn, part one and two. Wired’s Nick Thompson: Facebook needs to pivot news feed to quality. Why Facebook’s New Algorithm Is Good For Journalism. There is no easy fix for Facebook’s reliability problem. Facebook Lets Ads Bare a Man’s Chest. A Woman’s Back Is Another Matter.
FAKE NEWS: Stop blaming Russian bots for everything. How Trump Conquered Facebook — Without Russian Ads. Why 2020 will be a Facebook election, too. Why can everyone spot fake news but the tech companies? How to find 'real news' when Russian bots and algorithms are invading your newsfeed. Algorithms are one reason a conspiracy theory goes viral. Another reason might be you. Alt-right leaders can no longer spread disinformation on Medium. The Inside Story Of How An Ivy League Food Scientist Turned Shoddy Data Into Viral Studies.
GATEHOUSE: Since a 2014 reorganization, Gatehouse has acquired 42 local media properties for a total of $892 million.
GAWKER: This Man Helped Peter Thiel Demolish Gawker.
GOOGLE: CNN Boss Jeff Zucker Calls on Regulators to Probe Google, Facebook. News Corp. CEO Slams Facebook, Google for Not Sharing Enough Ad Revenue. What Facebook, Google and Twitter Owe America. AMP: the missing controversy. How Google cheats with performance. Duopoly Shares More Data With Brands, But There Are Snags.
GUARDIAN: Beyond puppy dogs: How The Guardian approaches good news.
GUN VIOLENCE: No, Dana Loesch, members of the media do not 'love' mass shootings. The NRA is using Trump’s playbook to attack the news media. What journalists can learn from the Parkland teens. How journalists can minimize harm covering shootings.
HARASSMENT: How Digital Harassment of Female Journalists Threatens Freedom of Expression.
INFOWARS: InfoWars' main YouTube channel is two strikes away from being banned. With conspiracy-peddling sites under the microscope, Taboola yanks its content ads off Infowars. USA Today Publishes InfoWars Conspiracy Nut Without Even Realizing It.
MOBILE: An AI editor and story summaries are helping Compass News become a go-to app for non-news junkies.
NET NEUTRALITY: The FCC’s order gutting net neutrality is now official — but the fight is just getting started.
NEWSWEEK: It stands accused of improper ties to a religious institution. Its newsroom has been gutted by firings and resignations. The inside story of Newsweek's explosive growth and spectacular downfall.
NEW YORK TIMES: Tom Scocca wants to provide an alternative to the NYT Opinion section.
PRESS FREEDOM: When Fighting Fake News Aids Censorship. Three publications are suing the EU over fake news allegations. An unusual First Amendment fight on the Chesapeake Bay.
PRINT: Digital revenues are beginning to benefit traditional newspaper companies. ‘No silver bullet’: Publishing’s ‘incremental’ revenue often doesn’t replace lost ad dollars.
RADIO: iHeartMedia Preparing Bankruptcy Filing. Liberty Media offers $1.16 billion for 40 percent in restructured iHeart radio.
SINCLAIR: 21st Century Fox Finalizing Deal With Sinclair to Acquire Six TV Stations.
SNAPCHAT: Snap Inc Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel received $637.8 million as total compensation as the company went public last year, the third-highest annual payout ever received by a company’s chief executive. Media buyers: Snapchat is focused on enabling commerce in ads.
SPJ: Alison Bethel McKenzie has been named the new executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists.
STUDENT MEDIA: Can college newspapers thrive in the digital age? Proposed cut to Wichita State student newspaper – is it payback for critical coverage?
TRONC: Howard Saltz Out as Tronc's Sun Sentinel Editor and Publisher.
TWITTER: Twitter launches Bookmarks, a private way to save tweets. Twitter to explain on Capitol Hill how its platform was used in Herald, fake tweet hoaxes. Twitter is asking the public to help measure how toxic it is. Media sites that don't purge bots should be fined, senator says. While Facebook spars with critics, Twitter goes for humility on social media.
UK: Bureau Local announces fund to support local reporting from UK journalists and members of the public.
VERMONT: Rutland Herald, Times Argus eliminate Pulitzer-prize winner’s position.
YOUTUBE: YouTube is taking down conspiracy theorist channels and popular gun videos. YouTube's conspiracy video problem is just getting worse, researcher says. YouTube's New Moderators Mistakenly Pull Right-Wing Channels. YouTube promoted a video that falsely attacked a Parkland student. How did this happen? YouTube Live gets automatic English captions, live chat replays, and more.
Upcoming Events
AD RATE BASICS WEBINAR: LION will host a webinar on how to determine advertising rates and packages at 1 p.m. March 20.
YOUTUBE FOR PUBLISHERS WEBINAR: LION will host a webinar on YouTube for local news publishers at 1 p.m. April 24.
READER REVENUE SUMMIT: LION and the Center for Cooperative Media will host a day-long summit on Reader Revenue April 6 at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
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. |