For everyone following the story of the Cook County Prosecutor who subpoenaed records from student journalists investigating a murder case, here’s the latest…
The Chicago Sun Times reports a judge has accepted an amended bid for a new trial for a man who’s spent the last 30 years in prison and claims he’s innocent. But this comes at the expense of student journalists who were apparently intimidated by the prosecutor’s investigation into their grades, emails and notes. Attorneys for murder convict Anthony McKinney asked the court to throw out evidence that might exonerate him, evidence turned up by the Medill Innocence Project.
According to the LA Times, prosecutors “accused students of improperly influencing witnesses by paying them and flirting with them”…a charge the Innocence Project denies.
It’s not hard to see the chilling effect this episode will have on journalism schools, especially those with media partners.
Even a well funded news startup has big challenges. The Bay Area News Project, slated to launch in a few months, has $5 million in seed money, donated office space, paid student interns from Berkeley, a deal with the New York Times, and a CEO making $400,000 a year. An optimistic business plan predicts the Project will make $12 million in year 5.
Are you envious yet?
The LA Times reports why this startup with 15 employees faces a tough road if it tries to compete with the San Francisco Chronicle.
While traditional news media falters, Facebook has 400 million active users, and Twitter has a log of 10 billion tweets. Many news organizations like the NY Times, CNN.com, the AP and the BBC are hiring social media editors dedicated to communicating with readers and viewers. The American Journalism Review reports there are 51 social media editors across the country, based on a list provided by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Their main job is to monitor what people are talking about on different social networks, and spot the trends that may turn into news. They also engage with audiences to create a conversation around the news.
Atlantapost.com went public last week with online news for black professionals. According to a news release, the site features original and aggregated content on personal finance, business, media and politics. Moguldom Media has similar sites in New York, Washington and Chicago. Media Bistro details the demographics and the company’s other targeted ventures.
Will public funding, the public radio model be the savior for high quality, ethically sound journalism? Laura Walker, President and Chief Executive Officer of WNYC Public Radio, says, “I don’t think it is an easy model, I think it’s actually harder, and I think it gets underestimated.” To learn more, watch the Leonard Witt video interview with Walker and read the transcript below. The interview is part of the Center for Sustainable Journalism’s Future of Journalism series. Sign up for Future of Journalism alerts on the Center’s home page.
Walker: That’s a big question. I think we’re in a real period of dislocation and creative dislocation, and financial – the economic model. I’m not a pessimist, I believe that there’s going to be a lot of interesting journalism that will come out of this time. I think that the model of what a journalist is, is going to change from somebody who sits at their computer, and calls up their sources, and writes a report that is a one way report, to something that is a much more organic process that includes input from lots of people out there. I think in many ways it’s harder to retain the journalistic principals when you have so many sources and you have to check them all. But I think several newspapers, a lot of newspapers will survive, many will die. I just… I hope that there will be both the entrepreneurial ventures in the for-profit world, the non-profit entrepreneurial ventures, and some media organizations that are investing in journalism.
Witt: Now everyone talks about the public media models, so many of these new start-ups, you know, “Oh let’s do like public radio does, we can raise a lot of money.” Now maybe they can but what does that do… Is the pot big enough for them and for you, and is that a good idea?
Walker: I think that in some cases it can be very naive but I think we need to expand, too. I think frankly there are a handful of public radio stations that are out there and have …. Maybe not a handful probably 30 to 40 public radio stations that are doing good really solid journalism in their communities. In terms of the philanthropic model there’s money out there if we all do good stuff and I think it’s really frankly about vision. Somebody like Paul Bass in New Haven is, you know… yeah, he can do that because he has vision and he has a way he can raise money from foundations, and he’s nimble and he’s ambitious. So yeah, I think, I actually think that it also will raise the bar for all of us. And so I don’t think it is an easy model. I think it’s actually harder, and I think it gets underestimated. I think you have to have a board in the end that’s going to also help with fundraising. There are, I think, many major donors and some foundations that will fund this. As I said in the panel, I think the diversified revenue stream is critical, critical. For journalistic reasons as well.
Witt: I’m thinking they really have to go out to the people and give them some ownership, that’s my own feeling. In a place like Georgia right now you have WABE, which is owned by the school board. And then you have GPB, which is kind of owned by the state. This is not a good formula for high quality, ethically sound journalism and so how do we get around that? You do have independents like yourself and MPR and OPB out in Oregon.
Walker: I think there are some that are owned – like WBUR in Boston. They are owned by the University, they’re great. They’ve been able to build a really strong news department. I was talking to somebody from WSHU. They’re owned by Sacred Heart University. They have a real investment in news. I think partnerships… where there isn’t a strong public radio station… Hopefully there will be entrepreneurial ventures even where there is. We’re working with Pro Publica. We’re working with the BBC, WGBH and others, so I think partnerships will help. I think there are people in every community where there are great journalists, like you, and great reporters. I think we need a new model. Owned by the people? I’d love to hear more about it. I’m not sure.
Witt: Well I’m just thinking in terms of co-operatives. Go out a say “you want a journalist to cover civil rights? We’ll get you the journalist, we’ll build the infrastructure, you can be an owner of this co-operative just like you would be of a food co-operative, or just like you would be if you were in Green Bay and that’s a co-operative ownership of that team. It would prevent the Sam Zells taking over, it would make sure the money went right directly to the news, and people would have a vote, even on some of the board members.
Walker: So who are the members, just anybody?
Witt: Anybody who wants to pay in the public. I know it sounds bizarre but I’m actually getting some traction on this in Georgia.
Walker: That’s interesting.
Witt: It would be great to partner with public media stations especially those that have some problems with going out and doing the coverage themselves. It’s sort of like Pro Publica, but rather than doing just investigative reporting this might be on civil rights or endangered species or whatever.
Walker: Vertical themes?
Witt: Right. Right.
Walker: Somebody mentioned the Argo Project that NPR is kind of the catalyst for, and that’s really about, I think about 12 different streams of more in depth coverage. I think it’s a very interesting model.
A new picture of how we get our news is emerging from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. A new study shows the internet is now the third most popular news source, behind local and national television news, beating out newspapers and radio. Here are some revealing numbers:
92% of Americans get their news from multiple platforms
61% get some of their news online
80% have cell phones, and 33% of them access news on cell phones
37% of online users contribute to news stories, comment, or share stories by posting them on Facebook or Twitter
One conclusion of this report is that smart phones have turned news consumption into an “anytime, anywhere affair” for many avid news consumers.
Conde Nast is launching tablet versions of it’s top magazines, starting next month with GQ. Vanity Fair and Wired will follow in June, while The New Yorker and Glamour will launch next summer. The New York Times reports the publisher is testing different prices, ads, and other digital approaches over the next six months, to learn how to generate revenue from digitized content.
TV Newser looks at the pros and cons of digital one-man bands – reporters who shoot and edit video in addition to reporting and writing stories. Charles Bierbauer at the University of South Carolina, Gwen Ifill at PBS, Lou Ureneck at Boston University and Andy Mendelson at Temple all weigh the cost savings against the impact on the quality of journalism.
The Newspaper Association of America has a new poll showing 57% of adults prefer newspaper websites for local information and online advertising. The survey of 3,050 people is called Site Matters: The Value of Local Newspaper Web Sites. It ranks newspapers tops for local news, sports, entertainment and classifieds. This should give hope to newspaper execs, who are searching for ways to save their papers, and make their websites more profitable.
Spot.Us is a crowd-funded website that helps freelance journalists pitch a story idea, and hopefully raise money from people who see it. The site has now added social networking connections, a progress blog for each story, and a widget for third-party websites. Other enhancements allow a citizen journalist to volunteer their help with a specific story. Readwriteweb has more on how you can use Spot.Us.
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The Harnisch Foundation
There would be no Center for Sustainable Journalism without Ruth Ann Harnisch, president of the Harnisch Foundation, whose inspirational, intellectual and financial support has made the Center possible.
