Emerging News Organization:
The amazing chaos that is news
Nov. 29, 2009
Michele McLellan
Very little is certain about the online news experiments we’re seeing except their stunning diversity and verve.
Last month, I spent two days talking to start up owners in Seattle and another day at J-Lab‘s New Media Women Entrepreneur summit in Washington, DC. I also coach news startups as a consultant to the Knight Foundation and at Knight Digital Media Center. All of this has spurred a lot of thinking on my part about how the Reynolds Journalism Institute can help these start ups.
It might help to categorize them and build a list of them that may offer lessons in content, civic engagement, transparency and sustainability. I think it’s a good way to bring some order to a chaotic young universe and elevate a conversation that often pits old media against upstarts in the blogosphere. This lis may also help identify strengths and areas where news sites might need help.
Online News Experiment Categories
1. The Bigs.
Although not typically as big as a major metro or regional newspaper, these sites tend to have multiple reporters and editors and their aim is to produce highly professional content. Examples: MinnPost, Voice of San Diego, and The Texas Tribune. Although not strictly a start up, the online-only Seattle Post Intelligencer might fall in this group.
What do they need most? A revenue model. Most started with help from philanthropists and foundations. They are strong players in journalism but their financial future is uncertain. What can we learn from them? The value of focus. Unlike general interest newspapers, these sites tend to focus heavily on just a few important topics rather than trying to cover the entire playing field. For example, Voice of San Diego stresses coverage of housing, education, environment, economy and local government and politics, science and public safety, and doesn't spend much time on other topics.
2. The local news entrepreneurs.
Many of the online news start ups, large and small, are entrepreneurial. In my book, the local news entrepreneurs are small local start-ups that are heavily focused on finding a workable business model for their news ventures. They often diversify, mixing tech services and platforms with their local and neighborhood news endeavors. A couple of examples from Seattle: My Ballard, Capitol Hill Blog. Oakland Local is another highly entrepreneurial venture that also makes community-building a priority (which means it could fit in category #3 as well).
What they need most: Caffeine. What we can learn from them: The value of Web and tech expertise and business diversification. My money is on these folks to figure local news out for the rest of us.
3. The community lovers.
These folks see news and information as a vehicle for strengthening their communities. They often fill gaps left by legacy media but they do not see themselves as a replacement. They are the most likely to have non-professional contributors, although many do hire journalists. Many have received start up funding from Knight Foundation and other foundations but are looking for revenue models. Example: TheRapidian. What they need most? Many need help learning best practices of accuracy and transparency and managing citizen contributors, as well as navigating the Web and social media. What can we learn from them? The value of listening to, understanding and engaging community as the right thing to do and make money.
4. The niches.
I'm thinking here about topic or service niches as much or more than than geographic ones. Like the entrepreneurs, these are often focus heavily on developing a business model. Many are journalists who have left traditional news organizations in recent years. Examples: Julia Scott's BargainBabe and Elaine Helm Norton's NW Navy News, which is both local and niche.
What they need most: Business expertise. What we can learn from them: The power of depth and branding, and how to connect with users.
5. The personals.
These are the persona-driven sites and blogs that typically do not have large followings or much expectation of impact (which is not saying they don't have value). Most turn over quickly. What they need most: I'm probably over generalizing here but I think these sites will largely do what they're going to do without much help. What we can learn from them: The power of branding.
You'll notice I didn't separate for-profit from nonprofit models and I didn't separate those who use user content and those that don't. Those are both important distinctions in the old world, but they will blur over time. Shared interests trump differences. Feel free to argue otherwise.
Have I got the right categories? Please suggest additional categories or distinctions. For example, should ethnic media be one category or do other site features matter more? (Many in the ethnic press are both entrepreneurial and community-loving, but are only now moving online.)
And please help me build a list of the best sites. I'll write about criteria for the list later this week.
This is a cross post with Knight Digital Media Center’s Leadership 3.0 blog, where you can add comments. Please do! www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/leadership_blog