Blogs

Local podcasts: What three independent news projects are learning

Community News Leadership 3.0

Tue, September 15, 2015 | 5:50 p.m. PDT

The last few years has seen a boom in podcasting, and more local independent media projects are using podcasts to inform and engage their communities. Here are three local podcasts worth a listen.

Beacon launches a $3 million matching funds initiative for immigration coverage

News for Digital Innovators

Mon, September 14, 2015 | 10:00 p.m. PDT

by Nancy Yoshihara

The effort signals the crowdfunding startup’s move toward issue-oriented projects, matching funds and partnerships with news groups, foundations and associations.

MuckRock introduces a project tracking system; expands crowdfunding platform

News for Digital Innovators

Tue, September 8, 2015 | 2:17 p.m. PDT

by Nancy Yoshihara

The two initiatives come under the umbrella of MuckRock Projects. They are designed to provide a way to track reporting projects that use public records and the Freedom of Information Act, and to help raise new funds for independent journalism.

Sept. 15 webinar preview: Best practices for ad sales at news startups

Community News Leadership 3.0

Mon, September 7, 2015 | 10:00 p.m. PDT

by Michele McLellan

News startups that are achieving financial success have one thing in common: They have professionalized their sales operations. We'll take a look at what that means at a free KDMC webinar. Here's a preview:

Local news startups link engagement to revenue

Community News Leadership 3.0

Tue, September 1, 2015 | 4:42 a.m. PDT

by Michele McLellan

As display advertising comes under threat, small news startups experiment with other sources of revenue, leveraging engagement rather than mass scale.

Attention female journalists: Hack the gender gap October 9-11

News for Digital Innovators

Mon, August 31, 2015 | 10:00 p.m. PDT

by Nancy Yoshihara

The Women’s Hackathon, devoted entirely to female students, faculty and professionals, will be held October 9-11 at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles.

Messaging apps: Worth trying (carefully) for community engagement

Community News Leadership 3.0

Wed, August 26, 2015 | 9:15 a.m. PDT

by Amy Gahran

Messaging apps are gaining in popularity in the U.S., according to new Pew research. They offer some potential for community engagement, especially among younger and lower-income community members. However, exploring this communication channel should be handled sensitively. Pew also highlighted other current trends in social media engagement.

Among millennials, usage and subject mix in online news consumption differ by race, ethnicity

News for Digital Innovators

Mon, August 24, 2015 | 10:00 p.m. PDT

by Nancy Yoshihara

Overall online access to news about the world is similar among African American, Hispanic, and white millennials but distinctions emerge when in comes to patterns of usage and topics, according to a new study.