sustainability

How Nonprofit News Ventures Seek Sustainability: A Knight Study

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The proliferation of nonprofit newsrooms is one of the more promising developments in an industry wracked by a crumbling financial base and sweeping technological change. Since 2000, dozens of nonprofit media groups have sprouted, not only across America but worldwide. Many are deeply committed to investigative and accountability journalism, working to fill a void left by a mainstream media that either can’t or won’t do its job as social watchdogs. In April, the Knight Foundation published the third installment in a series of reports since 2011 tracking the progress of nonprofit news sites as they strive for a sustainable financial base. There are lessons here for media nonprofits worldwide.

fundraising

GIJN’s Fundraising Primer for Nonprofit Media Groups

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With the global spread of nonprofit media, journalists are looking for new ways to raise funds and structure the business side of their news organizations. Fundraising expert Bridget Gallagher, who helped launch the GIJN secretariat and has raised millions of dollars for nonprofits, provides some useful fundraising tips.

Homepage Featured

Nonprofit Newsroom Survival Guide (part two)

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Last month we wrote about survival strategies for nonprofit investigative journalism organizations. As we stressed in that story, key to succeeding in the long term is diversifying revenue. Now, GIJN’s colleagues at the Investigative News Network have put together a useful infographic on the varied sources of revenue that groups can tap. GIJN’s staff will be joining an INN day on managing nonprofit newsrooms, held at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference on June 20 in San Antonio, Texas. Included will be sessions on fundraising, best practices, branding and membership.

archiving

What a Failed Media Startup Can Teach Us About Involving Readers in Reporting

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Canada’s OpenFile had an elegant concept. They would ask readers to tell them what they thought was important and make editorial decisions around that. But the platform’s initial success couldn’t be sustained as it struggled to make money and maintain the flow of reader-suggested stories. Here’s what the OpenFile journalists learned about community journalism along the way.

De Correspondent

How To Get People To Pay for News

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A Round-up of Recent Debates about Community Support and Culture Change in Newsrooms. A study released earlier this month suggested that 40% of Americans would buy digital newspaper subscriptions if they were presented with a persuasive argument. It is worth spending a minute unpacking what that “persuasive argument” might look like.

audience engagement

The Dirty Words Journalists Have to Say Without Blushing

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Customer, profits, monetize. These are just some of the words that make journalists cringe because they sound so dirty when associated with our ethically-produced investigative journalism. But university professor James Breiner argues that journalists and the media need to add these words to their vocabulary without feeling squeamish.