The Journalism Accelerator has published a fascinating case study on a collaboration between traditional news organizations and start ups to produce an investigative report about the fate of Haitian deportees that was published across multiple news outlets.

As collaboration becomes more popular (and necessary) in a money-strapped news landscape, we can move past the concept at start looking at what works and what doesn’t. The Journalism Accelerator takes a step in that direction with “JA Use Case: Five steps to pave the way toward collaborative revenue.”

The collaboration began when a freelance reporter learned that one out of two Haitians being deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency were taken straight to Haitian jails, even when there was no conviction for violating Haitian law. The reporter, Jacob Kushner, approached the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. The Center then lined up additional Florida partners, including two public radio stations, and online news partners in other states who published localized versions of Kushner’s story. The effort cost less than $8,000, with several partners contributing to defray costs. If you are in the online news space and interested in content collaboration, be sure to read the details in the JA post.

Among key lessons of the collaboration:
- Find mutual benefit. In this case, FCIR wanted a larger audience, while some of the partners wanted investigative content they couldn’t produce themselves.
- Know the value a collaboration brings. Think about revenue, reputation and the prospect of an important long-term relationship.
- Make legal responsibilities and any editorial terms of collaboration clear in advance. The project was not without its disagreements. Different local partners had different editorial standards, something that is not uncommon in the dynamic local news space.

This case study is one of a number of recent reports from the Journalism Accelerator, a Portland-based start up that aims to be a resource and connector for actors in the emerging journalism space. Here is a round up of a virtual forum on collaboration that the JA staged last month. Lots of tips and ideas here.