Our examination of citizen-media business models would be incomplete
without looking at the non-profit model for citizen journalism. While
citJ is a field ripe for picking by media-savvy entrepreneurs and
traditional for-profit media organizations, the public-service aspect
is strong. Many individuals and organizations who see the value in
citizen media will want to help it thrive — and benefit their
communities — without the profit motive entering the picture.
A trip around the Web finds the occasional nonprofit citJ
venture (and plenty of small for-profit citJ Web sites that might as well
be non-profits, at least for now).
Some citJ non-profits exist as purely volunteer organizations,
providing news and information and an outlet for the sharing of events
and opinion to the communities they serve. They are funded by
philanthropists, foundations, contributing members, sponsorships and
other means. Some even work as co-ops, in which members keep the operation
running and pay dues to support the cause.
Nonprofit citJ does not have to mean the volunteer model. Some
not-for-profit citJ operations pay a staff of journalists and pay
freelancers, while citizen contributors participate either solely for
the bylines or receive a token amount of money.
Some nonprofit citJ sites were created to offer an
alternative to mainstream media — an especially compelling idea in
cities or towns where a single newspaper has a monopoly on the news. Setting up
such a site is a great idea in smaller towns that have no significant
local media and must rely on media outlets for major towns miles away;
it’s a way to actually get some local coverage of smaller stories that
regional media overlook.
Volunteering in New Hampshire
An example of the all-volunteer model is the Philbrick James Forum,
a citJ operation serving Deerfield, N.H. and surrounding
communities. Its mission is to be “an easily accessible source of
information and a venue for input by the citizenry (that) will
encourage community involvement and identity.”
The Forum is a New Hampshire nonprofit corporation and a
federal 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, which means that it’s able to
accept tax-deductible contributions. It is organized as a cooperative,
with membership in the corporation open to anyone. The Web site
describes its members this way: “We are volunteers of all ages. We are
long-term residents and newcomers, employed and retired, politically
active and apolitical, churchgoers and atheists. What unites us is our
dedication to creating a means for open communication with and about
our community.”
In addition to fees from members, the Forum accepts ads from
local businesses, and has an ad manager handling that. It also
publishes occasional print editions; a recent one covered issues facing local communities on the March 14 election
day; the print editions are mailed to all households in Deerfield and Candia, with
other distribution methods for the towns of Northwood and Nottingham.
Public-radio model in San Diego
Perhaps the strongest non-profit citJ local-news venture is evolving on the other side of the country, in San Diego. Voice of San Diego
is taking sort of a public-radio approach to local news on the Web. Not
a purely citJ operation, the Web site has hired a full staff of
journalists and support people (11 total, though some are part-time) to
operate as a serious news organization meant to provide an alternative
voice (and competition) to major local media, including The San Diego Union-Tribune. CitJ is a strong component of the news operation; community members are invited to report and write for the Web site.
Voice of San Diego was founded with a major contribution from
Buzz Woolley, a retired venture capitalist and entrepreneur. It is also
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, operating with the support of individuals, foundations and businesses, as well as money from sponsorships.
The public-radio analogy can be seen in the Web site’s emphasis
on recruiting members at various levels of support, starting at $35.
According to executive editor Scott Lewis, the site has signed up 270
members so far. They get public-radio-like incentives, such as a
behind-the-headlines newsletter, coffee mugs, private donor receptions,
etc.
Lewis says that another goal is to get grants to support the Web site’s reporting, and some grant applications are pending.
In terms of Voice of San Diego’s citizen journalism, Lewis says
that has been difficult to coordinate: “We’re still trying to find our
footing.” The strongest citJ piece of the Web site is its group of local columnists,
whose work often generates rousing debate in the reader-comment areas.
He says that it’s proving difficult on the local level to find enough
engaged people; sites drawing from a national pool probably have it
easier.
Some of the local citJ content submitted falls under the
category of “sometimes when you don’t pay, you get what you pay for,”
Lewis says. So the site has been known to spend small sums of money to
get citizen content. Paying someone $25 for a column “can make a world
of difference in what we get,” he says.
More fund-raising strategies
Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism
at the University of Maryland, has been studying citJ business models
and watching the non-profit efforts. She says she’s seeing lots of
innovation in funding and supporting these efforts.
It takes some creativity and hustle to raise funds and keep
them coming. But the grant world looks potentially promising; indeed,
J-Lab has its own annual award program which gives grants to innovations in journalism that involve citizens actively in public issues and invite their participation.
Other stuff that Schaffer is seeing includes citJ operations
recruiting donations of services from the private sector, such as
pro-bono legal work; assistance with developing business plans to
support the citJ operation; help in selling sponsorships from corporate
sales managers; subscription models for premium services; affiliations
with institutions that can help out, such as universities, journalism
schools and libraries and “tip jars” asking Web site users for
donations.
Even at Voice of San Diego, perhaps the most advanced
non-profit citJ operation, executive editor Lewis concedes that
initially there wasn’t much of a business model to support the site. A
year later, the process of devising an effective business plan is
happening.
It’s still early days for non-profit citJ, but in time it’s
possible that this now-small media sector could grow to be akin to
public radio.
