How much is reporting worth?

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Permalink Reply by Andria Krewson on November 28, 2009 at 5:45pm

Bob and others,

Yes, with a surplus of unemployed and underemployed reporters in most communities, your questions are quite valid.
The same thought about Teach for America hit me in December 2007:

But the current nonprofit climate, as well as pushback from for-profit companies, makes me doubt that can happen.

And while some people are demonstrating that for-profit sites can be sustained on a small scale, another well-meaning contrarian, Dan Conover of Charleston, S.C., makes me think really local journalism will belong to those who do it on the side, as a civic commitment or hobby, while earning their bread-and-butter elsewhere. Or maybe Dan's post is just a challenge to think more broadly.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Calo on November 28, 2009 at 8:01pm

Thanks .. and thanks again for the reference to Dan Conover's excellent post. I keep thinking that business is business and reporters tend to know absolutely nothing about it. There are institutional winners in the mess (I'm calling it Un Gran Fracaso in a presentation I'm giving in Colombia) and as the fog clears, they will be apparent: Oprah, Bloomberg, one of the political web sites. Hyper local I have my doubt about. I just can't any sustainable value there. Maybe Patch just becomes the Wal-Mart of local reporting.

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Permalink Reply by Anne C. Nagel on December 3, 2009 at 6:27am

Thank you. Thank you. I have been struggling with the view of journalists starting hyperlocals. I'm a business person who started a hyperlocal because I and my fellow merchants couldn't reach our customers in my small town. Traditional media was now longer working.

My frustration with journalists is that they are not looking at themselves as a business asset. Instead of saying "I want to report, so I'll try the internet," evaluate what skills journalists have (communication) and what are the needs of the community. How can they satisfy those needs and will it be profitable?

I think the best hope for journalists is to hook up with smart business people who understand business. Once you understand business, the rest comes much easier. My bank just handed me a large line of credit. They approached me. When I asked why, they liked my business plan and they know I can run a small business. I don't know if I'll use their money or not, but they also want to advertise.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Calo on December 3, 2009 at 9:36am

You have my sympathy. Look, reporters are often very smart people. The problem is they are like over-nurtured children who think the world revolves around them. That myth held sway from --- i'll use movies as cultural references ---- All the Presidents Men to The Insider.... so we have a whole generation of reporters (and journalism professors) who start and end their thinking with this idea of themselves as heroes of democracy. Once in a very great while, they are...but most of the time the value of their work is something else altogether. On top of this reporters are mostly one dimensional....and business is just one of those things they generally dont get.. We have to --- acknowledge our limitations and collaborate with the people who can really help innovate.


Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Jane Stevens on November 29, 2009 at 5:08pm

Bob -- Check out the companion wiki to RJICollaboratory -- Jurnoswiki.

In the nav bar on the left, there's a link to "Niche News Organizations". Take a look. There's LOTS of them, and more being created every day. The real story is in the networks listed at the bottom of the page. Many of those have more than 100 niche news sites that are part of a federation. In the most advanced -- Federated Media (our own John Battelle's creation...and our own Neil Chase is VP there) and NetShelter.net -- the individual site owners are making, on average, better wages than I ever did working at newspapers.

There aren't as many local sites, but they're growing. And once the locals mature into federated organizations with real collaborative marketing specialists, local Web journalism will do much better work than newspapers, TV or radio ever could.

p.s....nice to see you here!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Calo on December 3, 2009 at 9:30am

Likewise Jane! that's a great link.... and if one projects 5 years out from this... I CAN see value for the owners and I guess, from that eventually, the reporters..... So perhaps the future for owners has potential...but pity the poor reporter? That's why i think people need to stop thinking of themselves in that way (as I know you have many years ago) unless they are content will being your basic civic-minded part-timer...

The Ownership Society! Wasn't that a slogan from the early days of the BushII?

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Permalink Reply by Jane Stevens on December 3, 2009 at 10:27am

Actually the site owners ARE the reporters. Reporters are the new owners.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Calo on December 12, 2009 at 9:25am

http://xark.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/11/the-imagination-gap.html

as Dan Conover says in this vital post "But that isn't a business. It's a job without benefits, sick days or vacation, and it's not likely to be sustainable for many people in most markets. "

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