Archives: September 10, 2009

 

Nonprofits with a perspective hiring journalists: A sign of things to come?

By Jim Barnett

Here’s a press release headline that’s likely to be recycled many times: “Nonprofit Institute Hires Investigative Journalist.” Just add the names of the nonprofit and the journalist, and you’ve got another story about the future of watchdog journalism in the post-newspaper era.

Now here’s a test: What if the institute in question is a right-wing think tank that gets its money from a national group dedicated to cutting health and welfare programs and to opposing safety and environmental regulations? Is that okay? Is it still journalism?

That’s exactly the situation in Phoenix, where the Goldwater Institute recently hired former newspaper reporter Mark Flatten to “research, investigate and expose government corruption and abuse,” according to a statement from CEO Darcy Olsen. A news article notes that the money to hire Flatten came from the State Policy Network, which describes itself as “the capacity building service organization for America’s free market, state-focused think tank community.”

So what exactly is Flatten up to? Is it journalism? Or is it advocacy? Keep reading »

10 months, 3 weeks ago 8 comments

Journalism Online’s charging clients a 20% commission

If you’ve been following our coverage of Journalism Online, the pay-for-news venture founded by Steve Brill, Gordon Crovitz, and Leo Hindery, you know how they plan to generate revenue for news sites. What hasn’t been clear is how the firm itself will make money.

But in a document submitted to the Newspaper Association of America, which was just made public, Journalism Online reveals its business model: They’re asking for a 20-percent cut of subscription revenue (after credit card fees).

I checked with Cindy Rosenthal, the firm’s spokeswoman, who confirmed the information and said they weren’t charging clients anything beyond the commission. Journalism Online says it has signed letters of intent with media companies representing 176 dailies but won’t disclose their names. Guardian News and Media and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel are the only known clients, and most major newspaper companies have said they aren’t on board.

[UPDATE: 10:36 a.m.: In a brief chat with Brill as I waited for the bus this morning, he said, "What we tell publishers is, we only do well if you do well."]

Journalism Online had been the highest-profile of several firms known to be shopping paid-content solutions to news sites. But yesterday we revealed that Google is also making a play in that area, and much of the ensuing coverage suggested a new, if wildly imbalanced, rivalry between Google and Journalism Online. That will depend on how serious Google’s intentions are.

Keep reading »

10 months, 3 weeks ago 16 comments