January 28, 2010
Promising online news organizations - The hunt is on
Part of my work as an Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow is identifying promising online news organizations, learning from their experience and seeing if RJI can help them flourish. Here’s my list so far. Please help me out by suggesting additions in the comments.
(Update: I have added site to the list, based on suggestions from commenters and others. See the updated list here. Thank you.)
I have a list of hundreds of the news sites (from the Knight Community News Network‘s database and other sources). With help from Missouri School of Journalism grad student Adam Maksl, I’m looking at sites and measuring them against criteria that indicate they are primarily a news site that is updated regularly, are accessible and transparent to readers, and are working on a viable business model. We’re also looking at how these sites use social media and other interactivity to engage their users.
What we’re finding is that many of the sites on various lists are defunct or fairly inactive, which is similar to the findings of annual studies by Esther Thorson and other researchers at the Missouri School of Journalism. But we’re also finding sites that seem to be making a modest go of news and possibly the news business. We want to highlight them.
What follows is our list of promising sites. So far. We’ll be adding to it in the coming weeks, and as we write more about a particular site, we’ll link to it from here. Please feel free to add your thoughts here. Also please tell us about sites you think we should explore. It doesn’t matter whether these sites are for-profit, not-for-profit or even corporate as long as they are willing to share what they’re learning.
Most of the information is gleaned from a review of the site. If we’ve missed something or gotten the wrong impression, please let us know in the comments or e-mail me at michele dot mclellan at yahoo dot com.
Please help us with our list. We need your contributions. If you operate one of the sites, please feel free to add relevant information in comments here.
We’ve created some categories for organizing the sites, with the caveat that most sites don’t fit one rigid definition. But we’ve attempted to define dominant traits or practices and acknowledge up front that the categories may not reflect nuances. (Thanks to Susan Mernit and Lisa Williams for wise feedback on the categories.)
1. NEW TRADITIONALS - These sites are dominated by original content produced by professional journalists. While the newsroom staff may be smaller than in a traditional newspaper newsroom, these sites tend to have more journalists on staff than community or micro local sites. Many are embracing digital connectivity with their users, but traditional journalism is their bread and butter. Most of these sites are powered with grant funding and are searching for a viable revenue model, perhaps one that mixes grants, donations, sponsorships, syndication and advertising. Among others, the Knight Foundation is putting significant money into many of these sites.
* New Haven Independent is a professionally-staffed local news site in Connecticut, edited by Paul Bass and sponsored by the not-for-profit Online Journalism Project. Topics: Neighborhoods, government, politics, criminal justice, schools, business. Revenue: Foundation grants, advertising, donations. About New Haven Independent. Bonus points: With grant funding, recently spun off a sister site, the Valley Independent Sentinel (About), also professionally staffed, which serves five towns in Connecticut’s Naugautuck Valley.
* Gotham Gazette is a New York City site operated by the Citizens Union Foundation. Topics: City and state policy and politics. Revenue: Donations, advertising, foundation grants. Bonus points: Uses interactive games to engage users in solving civic problems. About Gotham Gazette.
* St. Louis Beacon was founded by and is staffed by professional journalists, including editor Margaret Wolf Freivogel. Topics: Revenue: Grants, donations, memberships. Bonus points: Member of the Public Insight Network, which solicits citizen perspectives and experiences to inform journalism. About St. Louis Beacon
* The Tyee is a Vancouver, B.C. news site that uses professional journalists and seeks to publish stories that mainstream news sources ignore. The editor is David Beers. Topics: Government and public affairs, environment, justice system. Revenue: Advertising, donations. About The Tyee.
* Voice of San Diego, with a high-energy look and a carefully crafted mission, is a model for online city journalism done right. Topics: Politics, education, neighborhoods, public safety, housing, economy and quality of life. Revenue: Grants, donations, memberships, advertising. Bonus points: Investigative reporting. About Voice of San Diego.
To be added: MinnPost, Texas Tribune, Seattle PI, California Watch, Wyo.file
Newcomers in 2010: Florida Independent, Connecticut News Project
2. COMMUNITY - These sites often rely on professional journalists but they tend to be bootstrappers who also focus on community building—actively seeking user feedback and content, writing in a conversational tone, and fostering civic engagement with practices such as voting, calls to action, and partnerships with local organizations and activists.
* Oakland Local is a community news site founded by Web entrepreneur Susan Mernit in Oakland, Calif. About. Topics: Environment, food, development, identity, arts & education. Revenue: Start up grant, advertising in the works. Bonus points: Savvy combination of community partnerships and strategic use of social media create community buzz. About Oakland Local.
* Open Media Boston reports local news with a small professional staff supplemented by citizen journalists. Topics: Local news, arts and living, tech, opinion. Revenue: Advertising, donations, foundation grants. Bonus points: Uses social media tools to solicit content submissions from readers. About Open Media Boston.
* Twin Cities Daily Planet is a rich community news site in Minneapolis-St. Paul founded by journalist Jeremy Iggers. Topics: Neighborhoods and communities, work & economy, politics & policy, arts & lifestyle, immigrants and immigration. Revenue: Donations, advertising, sponsorships, foundation grants. Bonus points: Aggregates dozens of community sites, including ethnic media. About Twin Cities Daily Planet.
To be added: Gables Home Page.
3. MICRO LOCAL - Sometimes called “hyper local,” these sites provide highly granular news of a defined neighborhood or town. They may have a tiny staff—one or two people plus interns or citizen contributors—supported by highly local advertising.
* BaristaNet, run by veteran journalists Debbie Galant and Liz George, covers three towns in northern New Jersey. Topics: Locals news and events. Revenue: Local advertising, including classifieds. Bonus Points: The site has formed some partnerships with other local organizations, including creating an online local parenting guide (Barista Kids) with a local children’s organization. About BaristaNet.
* The Batavian: Digital news pioneer Howard Owens started this New York news blog for Gatehouse Media, then took it with him when he left the company. Topics: Local news. Revenue: Advertising, sponsorships. Bonus points: Another demonstration that there is a revenue model in local advertising. About The Batavian.
* The Loop is a micro local news site founded and operated by television journalist Polly Kriesman, a multiple Emmy winner. It serves Larchmont and five other communities near New York City. Topics: Local news and events. Revenue: Advertising. Bonus points: News with good-natured attitude. About The Loop.
* The Rapidian is neighborhood citizen news site in Grand Rapids, Mich., operated by the Grand Rapids Community Media Center. Topics: Neighborhood news. Revenue: Foundation grants, including Knight Foundation. Bonus points: Active use of social media, mapping local events and news. About The Rapidian.
* West Seattle Blog is operated by Tracy Record and Patrick Sand. Topics: Local news, crime, traffic, events. Revenue: Advertising. Bonus points: Demonstrating that highly local advertising can anchor a modest business model. About West Seattle Blog.
To be added: Seattle’s Capitol Hill and My Ballard blogs.
4. LOCAL NEWS SYSTEMS - These are highly local, low cost sites created with a regional or national template, often by a corporation. In taking the temperature of the news ecosystem, it is important to note that corporations are interested in micro local news and the local advertising they may draw. What do they know that established news organizations don’t?
To be added: Patch, YourHub, Metblogs
5. NICHE - To be added: Health News Florida, Bargain Babe
6. NICHE LOCAL - These sites focus on a limited number of specific topics—restaurants and entertainment or health and medical news, or they aim to engage very specific communities such as young people or seniors.
* Seattle/Local Health Guide was founded by MD/journalist Michael McCarthy. Topics: Health news from the Seattle and the Puget Sound region and information about services available in the area. Revenue: Advertising in the works. Bonus points: A flu vaccine locator widget. About.
* BeyondRobson covers mostly arts and entertainment in Vancouver. Revenue: Advertising. Bonus points: Part of a small network of sites published by FreshDaily.ca, a media company that focuses on hyperlocal reporting in several Canadian communities. About BeyondRobson.
* Duke City Fix is an Albuquerque, New Mexico community Web site that is managed by volunteers. Topics: Neighborhoods, restaurants and music. Revenue: Ads by Google. Bonus points: Active commenting community. About Duke City Fix.
* Irish Philadelphia focuses on local news and culture for Philly’s Irish-American community. It is run by two Philly journalists, Jeff Meade and Denise Foley, who themselves have Irish roots. Topics: Music, dance, art, food, genealogy, sports, travel. Revenue: Advertising. About Irish Philadelphia.
To be added: The DuSu.
7. MINI SITES - These sites typically are run by one or two people. They tend to be idiosyncratic in the selection of stories they cover and not highly aggressive in finding revenue. While we recognize their value in the news ecosystem, we do not plan to study them in depth. But we will list examples we come across.
* Coconut Grove Grapevine. is a low-key local blog site for Coconut Grove, Florida by Editor/Publisher Tom Falco. Topics: Civic events, weather, business specials. Revenue: Advertising.
* Frederick Maryland Online is another low key local blog. Topics: Local events. Revenue: Advertising. About FMO.
* Lakeland Local is a microlocal blog in Florida run by Chuck Welch. Topics: Local news, crime, events. Revenue: Not apparent from site. About Lakeland Local.
* Boise Guardian is a local watchdog blog in Boise, Idaho, that mixes news and opinion; the editor is David R. Frazier. Topics: Local politics and policy. Revenue: Donations. About Boise Guardian.
* Northfield Citizens Online is a citizen-run local news site in Minnesota. Topics: Civic issues, local events, weather. Revenue: Seeking sponsorships. About Northfield Citizens Online.
* SkokieNet in Illinois is operated by the Skokie public library and invites users to contribute stories, photos and calendar listings. Topics: A wide range of local news and events. Revenue: Not clear beyond public library support.
8. AGGREGATORS - These sites curate links and headlines from other sources. While curation provides a valuable service, our study is focused on sites that originate news.
(This list is cross posted at Reynolds Journalism Institute.)
What do you think of our list? What sites should we add? Please add your feedback in the comments below!
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Tags: knight foundation, reynolds journalism institute, news organizations
Comments
Check out the Chicago Current: http://www.chicagocurrent.com.
It’s a local political journal from the editorial team behind the Chi-Town Daily News.
By parkeral27, 02/01/10 at 4:56 pm
FutureOfCapitalism.com. I guess this would fit as a “niche” site covering the interaction between business and government. I edit it.
By IraStoll, 02/01/10 at 6:19 pm
Two great education journalism web sites: EdNews Colorado (http://www.ednewscolorado.org), Gotham Schools (http://www.gothamschools.org)
By Linda Perlstein, 02/01/10 at 8:03 pm
Michelle,
for your niche sites, I would recommend you check out “Euskal Kazeta Basque News,” which is dedicated to covering the Basque American community in the U.S. Originally from the Basque country that straddles France and Spain, Basque immigrants flocked to the West in late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Euskal Kazeta produces all of its own content and uses social media to reach out to its growing viewer base. Here’s the link:
Thanks
By robert, 02/01/10 at 9:17 pm
“Lightstalkers is a network of unconventional travelers. The core of our membership is made up of photographers, but we count journalists, aid workers, military and security professionals, and information techs among our community as well. We also have an extended crew of editors, agents, friends and family, and the odd people we meet at airports and rest stops, people who wonder where we are and what we’re doing out there. Lightstalkers is open to anyone who wants to participate. We have no membership requirements, only a code of sharing and cooperation.
Lightstalkers was created to help its members to help each other. It was designed to serve as a hook-up center for a mobile, global crew of of explorers and operators. Using the site as a virtual base camp, we track each others movements and projects, exchange unique, real-time information, and assist each other with advice and feedback. Lightstalkers is a directory, a database, and a resource center.”
By teru, 02/01/10 at 9:52 pm
Dear Michele,
Streetcorner is an Australian hyper local news site. We currently have two sites, one covering Western Sydney and the other covering Eastern Sydney.
http://www.streetcorner.com.au/home/index.cfm?mycomm=ES
We cover local news on a daily basis and the public also submit their own stories. We cover local politics, property developments, crime as well as lifestyle, people, history etc. It is already clear that we cover stories that the established media don’t.
Don’t know if you are interested in “on-line news organisations” outside the USA but there are quite a few emerging.
Feel free to get in contact but regardless I am very interested what you are researching and look forward to reading about your conclusions.
By Streetcorner, 02/01/10 at 11:56 pm
Michelle,
Great list, to add to the strong Minnesota presence here, including The UpTake in the community section would be appropriate. We have been leading the way in cutting edge video coverage and transparency in Government since our launch in 2007.
To see where we are headed, please look at our Knight News Challenge grant application here: http://tinyurl.com/knightgrant2
We would be honored to be included in this list.
By Jason Barnett, 02/02/10 at 6:08 am
Irish Central focuses on news for the Irish diaspora in the U.S., Britain and Australia. It is run by two Irish journalists; long-time Irish American publisher Niall O’Dowd (Irish America magazine and the Irish Voice newspaper) and relatively new Irish American import Kelly Fincham. Topics: News, politics,business, gossip, music, dance, food, roots, sports, travel, and a bundle of other content from our bloggers. Revenue: Advertising. See http://www.irishcentral.com
By Kelly Fincham, 02/02/10 at 6:40 am
Two of our hyper-local partners would definitely be good to include in the best practices list:
Davidsonnews.net, a community site located in a suburb of Charlotte
and
Qcitymetro.com, a niche website aimed at the African-American community in Charlotte.
Steve Gunn
The Charlotte Observer
By sgunn, 02/02/10 at 9:17 am
The Beachwood Reporter, at beachwoodreporter.com, is an award-winning Chicago-centric news and culture review that combines witty and incisive political and media coverage as well as workplace columns, unique approaches to music and sports, and a reputation for that ever-so-elusive “authenticity,” which we achieve by being, um, authentic. Like journalism is supposed to be. And we’ve just scratched the surface of our vision. We’ve also done award-winning investigative reporting, including a project that won SPJ’s national award last year.
By SteveRhodes, 02/02/10 at 1:24 pm
I’d like to add our news site, True/Slant. We launched our beta in June; we’re an original content news network with 275+ entrepreneurial journalists and over 1M UVs / month. We probably fall right in between New Traditionals and Community.
Please take a look: http://trueslant.com
By andreaitis, 02/02/10 at 3:00 pm
I wanted to respond directly to Chuck Welch about Lakeland Local. Chuck, I really like your site. Both I and my grad assistant, Adam Maksl, are quite impressed. As Adam pointed out to me, the site is very comprehensive and forward-looking. Great use of maps. More power to you for doing it on your own time. That makes you a bit of an outlier since most are seeking revenue. But you’re definitely a site from which people can learn. Thanks.
By Michele McLellan, 02/02/10 at 3:14 pm
A few thoughts on David Johnon’s comments. We are working in part from the KCNN list, but it is very out of date. We did publish criteria for the sites. The link is in the post.
We see this as a first stage of identifying sites about which it might be good to do more reporting—sites people can learn from.
It’s not a contest. It’s an exploration that hasn’t been done before. Like the universe we’re exploring, it’s a work in progress and we’ll take feedback and new discoveries into account.
I suppose we could work in private until we had what we thought was a perfect list. But I’d rather do this in the open and get feedback. Thanks for yours.
By Michele McLellan, 02/02/10 at 3:18 pm
Check out Livingstontalk.com. The site was started by some of the workers laid off by Gannett/Livingston County Daily Press & Argus in Michigan. We call it a hyperlocal information and conversation website. It launched Oct. 1 and has been growing, both in terms of readership and conversations.
By Maria Stuart, 02/02/10 at 7:01 pm
Just pushing in Bighow http://bighow.com an easy tool to do local journalism, for any city in the world.
By pramit, 02/03/10 at 6:40 am
You might want to consider The Jersey City Independent (http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/), a hyperlocal online-only alternative/community newspaper hybrid covering, well, Jersey City. We actually began as all-digital and recently expanded into the print world too, purchasing a twice-yearly local arts+culture magazine.
By Jon Whiten, 02/04/10 at 8:25 am
This is a great list, both the original post and those in the comments. I look forward to looking at all of them. My “new traditional” site, http://www.ParagraphInk.com, is in soft launch. It’s an aggregation of sorts or a fledgling network promoting sites doing traditional journalism. Paragraph Ink is decidely not local and listing/participation is open to any qualifying site that would be relevant to an American audience. Drop me a line at jsidesd(at)yahoo.com if you want to chat about having a site included.
By Jsidener, 02/04/10 at 4:30 pm
Western Wisconsin has quite a few sites that need to collaborate…we are working on forming some hub for news, event, calendar, etc.
I am the admin for http://kicktime.org that provides arts, entertainment, environmental and government news/events. We also encourage local businesses and promote their offerings. One avenue for this is through the companion directory http://kickapedia.org that keeps hyper-local information at people’s fingertips. I also maintain a new video site for the area at this address: http://kicktime.mirocommunity.org/
Since this is a very rural area a business model is not clear at the moment, but the effort to aggregate into a hub and support more investigative reporting are positive steps on the way to being more than a public service. Total numbers in the watershed area combined with many of those residents lacking high speed internet connection, result in some barriers to making these sites a commodity. Hopefully by collaborating within a larger region we will get the resources needed to get to the next level.
By LynnC, 02/09/10 at 12:42 pm
Hi Michelle. Great idea. I hope you’ll check out my brand new site, CuyahogaFreeXchange (http://www.cuyahogafx.com), covering Cuyahoga County in northeast Ohio. It’s still in its very early stages, but I’m trying to write about a wide variety of topics that will provide a different viewpoint and lead to developing an active online community.
Also, I hope you won’t get made at me for mentioning this, but I believe you have a typo on your criteria page. You have “an ethnic of participation.” I assume you mean “ethic.”
Thanks!
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By ddextereswer, 12/03/10 at 3:03 am
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