Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism
OFF THE TOP
You might have heard: “Venture philanthropy” is coming to journalism: the funding draws in capital from mission-minded individuals or groups and then invests in social enterprises, while also providing coaching (Nieman Lab)
But did you know: The American Journalism Project has launched a major effort to reinvigorate local news with $42 million in funding (American Journalism Project)
The American Journalism Project, a new initiative to reinvigorate mission-driven local news through venture philanthropy, today announced its official launch with $42 million in lead funding commitments, a Board of Directors, and its first three hires. Founded by Elizabeth Green and John Thornton (founders of Chalkbeat and The Texas Tribune, respectively), the American Journalism Project is dedicated to strengthening an ecosystem of civic news organizations that believe local journalism a public good. The organization will support existing and emerging news organizations with grants and hands-on support to ensure their long-term sustainability through diverse revenue generation and modern technology operations. The Knight Foundation previously announced $20 million in support, and is joined by Arnold Ventures, Emerson Collective, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Facebook Journalism Project, and philanthropist Christopher Buck.
+ “Expand financial support for news,” including through venture philanthropy, was among recommendations from the recent bipartisan Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy. Others include news organizations practicing radical transparency and diversifying their staff. (Aspen Institute)
+ Noted: Facebook will only renew about one-third of existing Facebook Watch news shows (Digiday); Mozilla partners with Scroll to test alternative funding models for the web (VentureBeat); Apply to work for Nieman Lab as a staff writer (Nieman Lab)
API Update
How American Press Institute research can help publishers learn about modern news audiences (Local Media Association)
Recent research by the American Press Institute has explored news audiences’ preferences, paying behaviors and perceptions about the media. That research is the topic of a talk that Jeff Sonderman, deputy executive director at API, will give at this week’s Mega Conference in Las Vegas. Sonderman shares about API’s research, reader revenue strategies and what’s new at API.
TRY THIS AT HOME
How the New York Times expanded its subscriber base beyond urban centers (Bloomberg)
After introducing a paid cooking app more than a year ago, New York Times executives noticed something unexpected: Many of its subscribers came from rural America. The newspaper, long synonymous with city living and coastal elites, had found a way to reach people in the middle of the country — through their stomachs, writes Gerry Smith. The discovery showed that the 167-year-old publication might be able to change its image, while vastly increasing growth targets for subscribers.
OFFSHORE
Top French media companies team up for unified login system (Digiday)
Media companies eager to deepen relationships with their audiences are teaming up and turning to unified login systems so users can access multiple media sites through a single email address. France is the latest country taking this route, with 10 media companies across news publishing, radio and broadcast setting rivalries aside to collaborate on a single tech system. Together the cohort of newsrooms reach around 80 percent of French internet users, are all in the as-yet-unnamed alliance. The media groups are pooling resources — and €5 million ($5.7 million) in funding over three years — to create an independent, common technology infrastructure that all publishers and other media owners can plug into.
OFFBEAT
The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America (The Verge)
Interviews with current and former U.S.-based Facebook content moderators show they make significantly less than regular Facebook employees, some develop PTSD, and a few have been radicalized by the fringe content. Casey Newton interviewed a dozen current and former employees of Cognizant in Phoenix. All had signed non-disclosure agreements with Cognizant in which they pledged not to discuss their work for Facebook, or even acknowledge that Facebook is Cognizant’s client. The shroud of secrecy is meant to protect employees from users who may be angry about a content moderation decision and from sharing Facebook users’ personal information with the outside world. But the secrecy also insulates Cognizant and Facebook from criticism about their working conditions, moderators told Newton. They are pressured not to discuss the emotional toll that their job takes on them, even with loved ones, leading to increased feelings of isolation and anxiety.
+ How I ditched my phone and unbroke my brain (New York Times)
UP FOR DEBATE
The New York Times’ Mark Thompson on how he’d run a local newspaper: “Where can we stand and fight?” (Nieman Lab)
What would New York Times CEO Mark Thompson do if he ran Gannett? How much does he attribute the Times’ accumulation of millions of digital subscribers to the journalism produced by its burgeoning newsroom? Does the Times have a role to play in helping local news recover? Ken Doctor asked Thompson about the wider takeaways others might get from the Times’ success.
SHAREABLE
How the definition of “journalist” is changing (Recode)
Last month alone, 2,000 people working at media publications lost their jobs. Such layoffs were only the most recent in what has been a years-long trend of media job insecurity. But new data from LinkedIn shows that the plight of journalists may not be that bad — if you’re willing to consider a broader definition of what constitutes “journalism” and its para-industries, writes Rani Molla. Since 2004 — the year Facebook launched and began eating heavily into the advertising revenues of news publications — the share of journalism hires out of all hires has declined 14 percent, according to new annual data from LinkedIn.
+ 51% of tech industry workers believe “Trump has a point about the media creating fake news” (BuzzFeed); Check out what your news org’s website would have looked like on the very first web browser, from 1990 (The Verge); How the public thinks journalism happens (CJR)
The post Need to Know: February 26, 2019 appeared first on American Press Institute.
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