Paying for Online Stories

As newspapers scramble for ways to make money, the New York Times has turned to a fee-for-service model for online readers--to begin in about a year.
New online columnist Robert Wright writes Jan. 26 about the possibilities of this fee system working and encourages the use of a "micropayments" fee system that would essentially charge article for article and directly bill to one of our already established accounts like iTunes.
Would this work for community newspapers?
The Times plans to allow readers to read for free if they come to an article via a blog or other referral. That seems too risky for community newspapers; one or two local bloggers could subscribe to the paper and then refer their readers to most of the articles.
A key to the Times' new fee system is that readers would get a number of "free" reads each month before they have to start paying or subscribing for the online service. I wonder if that would work well for community papers. Let readers get a taste of the paper each month and then, when they want more, they may be more likely to just pony up the subscription fee.

Stories on Community Journalism

I always enjoy hearing what people have to say about working in community journalism. Here are a few samples:

• Lil Mirando - Honored to Practice Community Journalism (Hammond Star) - "My first day on the job I learned that the police reporter before me had screwed up his notes about a crime report and erroneously listed a store manager as a shoplifter. As a result, we had a huge trust issue with the police. It was eventually resolved over time as we got to know each other." This is the thing about community journalism - a lot of the ethical issues are self enforcing when you have to live and work with the people you are covering.
• David Knopf - Returning to Community Journalism After Working in the City (Sun Tribune) - "It was a fast start, indeed, for 2010. For me, it began on Dec. 14, 2009, the day I returned to doing what I like best — working for a community newspaper. If happiness could be backdated or made retroactive, I might say it was the best Thanksgiving I’ve had, with so much to be thankful for." We know the metro papers are facing serious economic problems these days, but it seems as though there is still life at the community papers.
• Jock Lauterer's students at UNC launched the Durham Voice, a community newspaper looking at the Northeast Central Durham community. Here's a video about what the students got out of working on the project. This video was posted by Lisa Marie Albert.

AEJMC convention 2010 - hotels

The August convention seems like a long way off, I know, but with budget constraints what they are, it's probably not too early to look at prices and alternatives (and, yes, I try to stay in the convention hotel, too, because of the meeting rooms arrangements with AEJMC, but sometimes the budget just doesn't allow it).

Two blocks from the convention hotel there is a Comfort Inn (17 floors and decent, not some fleabag). Using my AAA, I was able to snag three nights of rooms there for $411 ($132 each for Wednesday and Thursday and $94 for Friday + tax). The best-available online rate was not much higher.

Breakfast -- and Internet -- are included. And this is a fully cancelable reservation, not one of these prepaid, no-refund wonders.

I remember it from the last time I was in Denver. It's a quick walk and right near the 16th Street Mall for shopping.

So if you must, as I must, look for alternatives this year, this is one, especially if you book early. (And if AEJMC comes up with a better deal at the Sheraton, then you can cancel and shift.)

Doug

About 200 journalists, community members, professors and students gathered to study questions related to the theme of "Journalism That Matters" earlier this month at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The energy, inspiration and dedication to getting journalism done right in this new era was palpable as conference participants decided on sessions to hold each day based on questions about issues in how to best reach the public through journalism today. A key point was that the communication model was not to be Sender/Journalist to Receiver/Audience. The audience was to be front and center and involved.
But since most folks I encountered began their careers or at least were trained in old-fashioned journalism (where the reporters and editors decide what's news each day), the discussions centered on transitions to today's world and audience and today's journalism, often not provided by a mainstream company.
Many reps from online journalism sites promoted their endeavors during the conference's first day, Jan. 7. Other journalists, several who were laid off when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer closed 10 months ago, talked about how they were becoming "entrepreneurial journalists," ones who find their own ways to make a living doing reporting for the common good.
One University of Washington prof said their school would be offering a course in entrepreneurial journalism this year. Should we all add that to our curricula? A course dealing with that would be interesting, but I think our students first need to be trained to be fast-working, productive journalists. After some education, the best training would still be found at a regular media organization. Then they could venture out on their own. What do you think?
The next Journalism That Matters meeting will be in Detroit from June 3-6. Check it out.

Return of Computer Science Meets Community Journalism

A couple of weeks ago I posted an item about how computer science and community journalism are coming together. Yesterday I came across a help wanted ad for computer programers to work on a community journalism project being run by a company called Patch. It sounds like what is being proposed is something that would be based out of New York City with single reporters covering each community. Here's a story from Forbes.com about Patch. Is this the future of community journalism? And if so, how do we feel about it?

Looking for community-focused reporting examples

A longtime teacher once told me that the key to success is to never teach a class the same way twice. Either through intention or disorganization, I've followed this advice and this semester it's got me looking hard at a community-focused editing class that I've taught for years.
I'm looking for examples of how others do it, I suppose.
The class, which was the focus of a study published in the most recent issue of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, follows a model of reporting inspired largely by the Poynter Institute's summer fellows program, which was, in turn inspired the journalism program at West Virginia University. Basically, students are assigned geographic sections of a community and discover the news by mapping that area, walking that area, studying that area for what emerges. There are too many people to credit for these ideas, but COMJIG founding member Peggy Kuhr's great Web site, Covering Communities, has helped me a great deal.
Over the years, students have discovered stories that surprised us all. The hope is that someday the project will grow into a year-round community news lab where students and community members will collaborate.
This year I'm trying a few new things. In the past an editing class has overseen a reporting class in this project, but that's always been problematic. This year the editing class will be the newsroom, soliciting work from other journalism classes. Each student will apply for a "job" in that newsroom based on the needs of the news organization and on the interests of the students.
It will be exciting; it will be messy. And, as I write this, I'm left wondering about a number of different things:
- How on earth do I grade students in such a setup? I'm considering some kind of performance review where students submit a report documenting the work they've done.
- How do I plan such a class? The first few weeks are basically about looking at different models, getting everyone set up and thinking about logistics. However, after about week four I'm tempted just to write: Publish, publish, publish. That doesn't seem like enough...
- Will anyone do the reporting? I know students will want to work as editors and to do multimedia work, but can I reasonably expect anyone to step forward to do the important nuts and bolts reporting that is crucial to the publication's success. Perhaps each person will have to do some share of the reporting.
So, I'm asking for help. How do you do it? What has worked? What hasn't? What advice would you offer to anyone thinking of doing a practicum of this nature? I see that many of these questions will be answered at the AEJMC sessions scheduled for Denver, but for the time being...

An Oklahoma Community Paper Closes

Terry Clark, journalism professor at the University of Central Oklahoma and director of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, laments the closing of The North Central Reporter. He writes that it was a model of what community journalism ought to be. The paper closed because the publisher wanted to move on and do other things, she no longer wanted to be, as her daughter put it, The North Central Reporter. One thing that community journalism undeniably needs is passionate people willing to put their all into it. And that can be a high cost of doing business.

Community Journalism Roundup

• Bringing Together Computer Science and Community Journalism - What if you combined digital media skills and community journalism skills into a single summer workshop for middle school students? That's what a National Science Foundation grant has been supporting at the College of New Jersey. This is the kind of thinking we need if we are to attract young people into community journalism.
• Former Philly Inky Columnist Starts Community Journalism Site - Tom Ferrick, late of the Philadelphia Inquirer has started up a non-profit local news site called Metropolis. Can these sites really provide an alternative source of community news? Philebrity sees stories with value there.
• TCU's Texas Center for Community Journalism Tweets - The TCCJ now has a great community journalism Twitter feed.