Why I’m optimistic about local news

Publishers can fill a big void in coverage, but they need the right people A media entrepreneur asked me recently if I was optimistic about the future of local news organizations. Actually, I am. Let me run through some of the reasons and end with some caveats. First of all, there is a shortage of […]

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For-profit publishers race to collaborate

Local and national competitors adopt previously unthinkable sharing tactics Recently I have been doing a lot of research about how news organizations have turned to collaboration rather than competition as a business model. This would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Editors and publishers jealously guarded their exclusive stories and competed to unearth […]

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Put readers at the center of everything

Publishers are figuring out how to generate revenue with data, machine learning The covid-19 crisis has accelerated trends away from advertising and toward reader revenue for news publishers. And now everyone is talking about how to use data from online reader behavior and tastes to drive the business models for quality journalism. At an academic […]

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How AI and data boost journalism sustainability

Big databases help news organizations predict who might subscribe or donate If it seems like this blog is turning into a book review section. It could be because classes have ended here in Pamplona and I am reading more to “sharpen the saw”. (Can you guess which book that quote is from? Answer at the […]

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On the front lines in Latin America, journalists battle and thrive

Digital natives are leading the way to produce quality journalism for their communities Versión del post en español Each year, the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas puts on a series of roundtable discussions with Latin American journalists. It’s called the Coloquio Iberoamericano, and it’s conducted in Spanish, but the staff prepared summaries in […]

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‘I see a ton of journalism jobs at good salaries’

Publications need communication grads with traditional skills and tech savvy–Joanna Sullivan Joanna Sullivan has spent much of her career as a reporter and editor of business publications. Her tenacity as an investigative reporter was one of the reasons I promoted her to editor of the Baltimore Business Journal. Her career began before digital media dominated […]

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How publisher credibility creates economic value

Transparency is key to strengthening trust in media People tell each other stories all the time to make sense of the world. At the moment, various storytellers are competing for our attention. Their motives vary wildly: to surprise, distract, entertain, confuse, create envy, win votes, inspire hatred, make money, and, in some cases, to perform […]

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