How To Make Money From News

Four new business models for journalism have been presented by a research team in the US.

The group from the City University of New York put together the proposals after conducting interviews with industry insiders, studying media data, and carrying out a survey of hyperlocal websites.

Visitors to the New Business Models for News site can examine these in depth as they are presented in the form of a spreadsheet detailing costs and projected revenue.



The team was tasked with providing business models for a sustainable form of journalism for a city without a notable news offering in print.

Here are the four business model proposals:

1 & 2

Hyperlocal & Ecosystem Framework Models

“Incorporates two models: hyperlocal and the sales, support, and technology framework that we believe is necessary to optimize businesses in the ecosystem.”

3

New News Organisation

“This model envisions a new, metro-wide news organisation ... that operates on a smaller scale and performs a wide variety of tasks.

“It will produce original unique beat and investigative reporting and it will also work collaboratively with the other members of the ecosystem and its readers to add value.

“Advertising will remain the key business driver, but to maximise profits the new organisation will diversify its revenues.”

4

Not-for-Profit News Organisation

“We want to show the level of resources that might be available in a given market to augment local news gathering efforts.

“Researching the available charitable money in a market, we picked a hypothetical bottom line of $3 million and built one possible organisation to augment journalism in the market.”

Have Your Say

Each spreadsheet can be downloaded by users who can then alter figures such as staff numbers etc and add their own ideas.

See Paul Bradshaw’s Online Journalism Blog for his thoughts on the viability of the proposals.

Reporter Launches Bristol Site

A journalist is going it alone by launching his own website dedicated to news and events in Bristol.

Bristol 24-7 is the creation of Chris Brown, who took voluntary redundancy from the Western Daily Press earlier this year.



Speaking to Journalism.co.uk, Brown asserts that the site is a full-time commitment as he attempts to create the go-to news website for Bristolians with a mix of original and aggregated news.

The former Independent journalist also plans for the website to become the first online port of call for visitors to the city.

At the moment, Bristol 24-7 is a one-man show so Brown is editor, reporter, photographer and videographer – among other things.

However, he hopes that interaction with readers will provide him with fresh perspectives.

“What goes on the site will be determined by my skills as an editor,” he said.

“I'll either make the right or wrong calls, but hopefully readers will let me know soon enough what they think of my decisions and will suggest better stories on the day.”

And Brown believes that his one-man band operation has the requisite flexibility to become attuned to the needs of an online audience.

“I have believed since I came up with the idea that I can produce a better online newspaper than the traditional media groups; do it at a far lower cost; and develop it faster and more intuitively to the demands of the readers.”

As for revenue, Brown is seeking site sponsorship and will provide digital marketing services to interested parties.

“It’s not just the better value for money that digital marketing offers businesses now, it is the proactive approach which looks at exactly what a business wants to achieve and uses the new technology to make it happen that will rule the day.”

Find out more about Brown’s long-term ambitions for the site in his interviews with Journalism.co.uk and HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk.

Online-only Doesn't Pay for Finnish Paper

Switching to an online-only format can cost newspaper publishers more than they save.

A recently released study of the Finnish financial daily Taloussanomat -- which printed its last edition in December 2007 and now focuses exclusively on delivery through the web, e-mail and mobile -- shows that the move resulted in a 52 percent savings but a 75 percent drop in revenue because of losses in print advertising and subscriptions.

The paper also severely cut its newsroom staffing levels, and most stories currently come from news agencies or other sources. Journalists who remained said they felt a lot of pressure to boost traffic figures. `If the visitor numbers are low, [the news desk] will publish some populist story like a story about David Beckham’s underwear to get reader figures up quickly,' one journalist said.

Overall, the newspaper `has seen a shift towards populism as a result of pressure to increase visitor numbers, aided and abetted by the constant availability of data on site use. There has also been a shift towards "how to" journalism,' authors Neil Thurman and Merja Myllylahti conclude.

However, while online-only papers should feel freer to exploit the potential of the digital medium without the burden of legacy content, `other burdens -- financial and logistical -- counteracted that advantage. The cumulative effect means killing the print edition does not immediately transform a title’s ability to produce interactive, nonlinear, multimedia content,' they write.

The study is to be published in Journalism Studies. A free .pdf. version is available online from the authors.

Sun Launching Radio Phone-In Online

The Sun promises that its forthcoming online radio station will be “The Home Of Free Speech”.

Weekday phone-in show Sun Talk is set to launch next month with former Talksport DJ Jon Gaunt at the helm.

According to Media Week, the new show forms part of News International’s investment strategy in multimedia content.

Sun Talk will be transmitted live between 10am and 1pm and will also be available as a download during the whole week.

And the station has managed to pull in an impressive guest for the first live show - Conservative leader David Cameron.

The Sun says the opposition leader will be taking calls and email questions from Sun readers during the inaugural show.

Writing on the launch announcement page, Gaunt reiterates the show’s commitment to the views of the audience.

“This is the station for YOU where you will not only get expert comment, controversy and loads of laughs but also the chance to interact and have YOUR SAY - and say it how you want.”

Further details about Sun Talk can be found on thesun.co.uk.

[HT – Journalism.co.uk]

Subscription Model Tested In Denver

Ex-staffers from the Rocky Mountain News could be back on their old beats if a venture to fund a website with subscriptions proves a success.

Three entrepreneurs are behind the attempt to create a news website – In Denver Times – to replace the gap left by the closure of the Rocky last month.

Video introduction to In Denver Times.


According to Associated Press, the site would be funded by reader subscriptions and advertising revenue.

Some 50,000 annual subscriptions costing $4.99 (£3.43) is the target figure for the investors if the website is to be up and running by May.

These subscribers would then receive extra content in the shape of mobile feeds, access to interactive features etc.

About 30 journalists and editors from the Rocky Mountain News would be hired by the website if subscription targets are met.

One of these former Rocky reporters in line to get a job with In Denver Times is Tillie Fong.

She said: “I want to be a journalist. This is ‘what I want to be when I grow up,’

“When the Rocky closed, it was traumatic, shocking. It was a hard blow. It was a death. This is sort of like a phoenix.”

If you want to know more about the creation of In Denver Times, a video is available of the press conference announcing its goals.

The first website to rise from the ashes of the Rocky Mountain News was I Want My Rocky, which features blog posts and reports from former journalists at the newspaper.

Seattle P-I Becomes Online-Only

America’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer has converted to an online-only newspaper this week.

Owner Hearst Corporation says the Seattle P-I is the biggest American daily newspaper to cease print production and become a web-only operation after it printed its final edition on Tuesday.

The New York Times reports that the move will be closely watched by other titles operating “in an industry that is fast losing revenue and is casting around for a new economic model”.

It continues: “The move shows how some newspapers, in the future, may not vanish but move the battle from print to the digital arena.”

A minority of editorial staff will be kept on to produce content for the website, which is to become more like an opinion and news aggregation site rather than a traditional news website with investigative reports.

Some people are taking an optimistic view of the change and see it as a chance to be at the forefront of news experimentation in the digital age.

“We clearly believe we are in a period of innovation and experimentation, and that’s what this new SeattlePI.com represents,” said Steven Swartz, president of the newspaper division at Hearst.

However, some ex-staffers have expressed their concern at the lack of investigative reporting that will be carried out by the new online-only SeattlePI.com.

“The thing that’s always been closest to my heart is The P-I’s coverage of the underdog, people who are invisible,” said Ruth Teichroeb, an investigative reporter for almost 12 years with the newspaper.

She added: “Those people who have the least voice in society are losing access to another part of the mainstream media.”

To see more reactions from editorial staff to the print closure, see the below video which features interviews with columnists, reporters, editors and photographers.