At a time when newspapers are hemorrhaging employees and questioning their survival, they are adopting a more stable role in the community through new media – namely, citizen journalism. Newspapers are helping communities connect, reach out, learn more about their resources through their sites. The goal is to foster a way to make the community dependent on the service, like allowing citizens to connect at any hour. They could exchange tips, or, for example, resources for young professionals to establish roots in their new city.
This was a focus of the uber-packed (about a dozen were left without a chair) ‘How News Companies Can Change’ workshop on Wednesday and getting the public addicted to the story.
The question, though, was creating innovative projects for news companies that fit into their mission and are sustainable.
This forces newspapers to test their assumptions. Are traditional media companies innovative by partnering with Twitter or Facebook? No, said Jennifer Carroll of Gannett. Newspapers use the technologies to tap into the communities they’re trying to reach.
Neil Budde of DailyMe spoke about looking at distribution and destination. Considering them both. Looking at the niches and groups out there to distribute your content and brand. Help people create their own destination with a flavor of your content. Individuals can become editors, shape the content, create packages and content around moms or young professionals in Rochester, to be specific.
Ordinary citizens can fill news vacuums in creative ways, said Jan Schaffer of J-Lab. For example, niche sites and regional investigative sites starting out, like the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism in Madison.
CNN‘s David Bohrman said the network ‘threw away the old-rule book” from the campaigns to Election Night to Inauguration Day. Debates looked different by bringing in YouTube. By embracing new technologies, younger viewers came in. More people watched the Election Night on CNN than any other network, so it was a prevailing of the new over the old and stodgy. They partnered with the Web site. They urged people to watch the program with their computers.
Solana Larsen said Global Voices looks at communities that don’t usually speak up. Not your CNN audience, but still people interested in using new media to have a voice. Covering international stories through the eyes of the people living through the events increases the story’s value.
Journalists, then, should think outside of the box and expand their source list.
But the question of the business model emerges. How do you have the revenue to pay people to do risky reporting around the globe?
A dialogue quickly grew on how to integrate the community and technology to aggregate content and determine the payment. Like Allvoices – you can make a lot of money if many viewers are checking out a contributor’s entry. While some just want to contribute, others are concerned with the pay. This got a lot of whispers going and heads turning.
Others suggested the traditional source of advertisement but making it part of the content. If people will take time to view a certain ad, then that makes it relevant to the public and can help bring in revenue.
One unexpected suggestion – ask the prostitutes (or strippers like Marisa Tomei’s character in the film The Wrestler) for the community scoop, since they’re paid to listen…
Born in Colombia and raised in Miami, I graduated in May 2008 with a Master’s degree in New Media from Columbia University’s Journalism School. Immediately upon graduating I worked with the Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer where I did reporting and Web producing.