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Title:

Equipping David: Funding for Investigative and Community Journalism

Your vote:
Yes No
Organizer:
Jan Schaffer, J-Lab
Description:
The focus has long been on creating a new business model so large news media companies to survive. But what about the smaller community news sites? Or the investigative reporting ventures popping up around the country? Find out why foundations are interested and what makes this bond special and beneficial.
Questions
Answered:
  1. Who are these new community media makers?
  2. What are other ways of funding community news sites besides advertising?
  3. What is the importance of community news sites?
  4. Why should we care about investigative journalism?
  5. Should we be concentrating on saving big media?
  6. How do you get foundation funding?
  7. How do foundations decide which ventures to fund?
  8. What is the impact of community news?
  9. How do you measure the success or statistics of a development-funded journalism project?
  10. What sort of technology or social media are these sites using to gain traffic and readers?
Level:
Intermediate
Category:
Case Study, Community / Online Community, Funding / VC, Journalism 2.0
Type:
Panel
Event:
Interactive 2010
Anna Tauzin
on 20/8/09
My name is Anna Tauzin and I'm the Web Editor for J-Lab in Washington, D.C. Though we've watched the decline of the newspaper industry over the past several years, we at J-Lab have also marveled at the amount of citizen and community-driven media sites popping up all over the map, often with the monetary support of foundation grants. (http://www.kcnn.org/citmedia_sites/)

Additionally, while large newspapers are slimming down their investigative units, independent watchdog ventures have formed, also with foundation support. (http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/, http://www.theaustinbulldog.org/)

So why should we care about investigative and community news? In a fairly-recent interview with Clay Shirky, a strategist on the Internet and communication, he said, "...My nightmare is that every city with less than a quarter of a million people in it sees its only daily newspaper vanish. And that a good portion of those cities turn to... 1950s New Orleans-style corruption. Which is to say because there’s no one watching, no one will be held accountable."

This prediction may not be true in every town, of course, but it's a very real concern, not just for the future of journalism but the future of an informed public, too.

This panel will take a look at how investigative and community journalism sites are filling the gap left by their newsprint brethren with initial grant support from foundations.

Anna Tauzin
on 20/8/09
Possible Panelists*:

Jan Schaffer - Former Business Editor and a Pulitzer Prize winner for The Philadelphia Inquirer, is executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism and one of the nation’s leading thinkers in the journalism reform movement. She left daily journalism in 1994 to lead pioneering journalism initiatives in the areas of civic journalism, interactive and participatory journalism and citizen media ventures.

Alberto Ibargüen - President and CEO of the Knight Foundation. Ibargüen is the former publisher of The Miami Herald and of El Nuevo Herald. During his tenure, The Miami Herald won three Pulitzer Prizes and El Nuevo Herald won Spain’s Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in journalism.

Feather Houstoun - President of the William Penn Foundation. Houstoun is responsible for the strategic direction of the William Penn Foundation's grantmaking, as well as its external affairs, finances, and administration. Houstoun previously served on the Foundation's board of directors, as part of the team overseeing funding related to the environment and community development.

David Johnson - David Johnson teaches courses in digital journalism, interactive storytelling and convergent media. His research interests include social networking and media, behavioral economics and serious games. Before coming to American University, he was chief technology officer of Scripps Media Center in Washington DC, home to Scripps Howard News Service. Johnson sits on the New Media Committee and Broadcasting Task Force at the National Press Club and consults frequently on niche and community site development.

Ken Martin - Editor and Publisher of the Austin Bulldog, a nonpartisan site for independent investigative reporting in the public interest, with a focus on creating dialog with community members. Martin is an investigative journalist with more than twenty-seven years experience at newspapers, magazines and newsletters in Austin and newspapers in Williamson and Hays counties.

Jeffrey and Susan Davis - Editors of The Appalachian Independent, an online newspaper covering the community living in and around the Appalachian Mountains.

David Poulson - Editor of Great Lakes Echo, a project of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University (of which Poulson is associate director) that produces content covering the Great Lakes area.

* Not all of these people have been contacted about appearing on the panel, but I will update the comments section as I speak with them.

What do y'all think?
David Poulson
on 20/8/09
Great idea. Funding support and evaluation criteria are exactly the kinds of information conference attendees will seek.
David Johnson
on 21/8/09
Brilliant! I'm greatly intrigued as to the possible solutions to this mounting issue.
Ken Martin
on 21/8/09
I love this idea. I attended the International Interactive Symposium on Online Journalism at UT April 17-18 and as the founder of a small startup investigative reporting operation I felt pretty left out, as the focus was primarily on what daily newspapers are doing. This panel will be a tremendous help to me and I feel honored to have been invited to participate. Let's do it!
Rachel Rogers
on 24/8/09
Anna Tauzin is the most inspirational journalist I have ever read from. My life is forever changed. Investigative and community journalism is the link my friends!
Mark Mitchell
on 25/8/09
"But what about the smaller community news sites? Or the investigative reporting ventures popping up around the country? Find out why foundations are interested and what makes this bond special and beneficial."

I think this is a wonderful -- really, a vital and essential panel discussion for SXSW this year and I love the questions being posed for the panel. These new community news sites may be the future (and the great opportunity) of journalism.
Anna Tauzin
on 26/8/09
Glad to see everyone's comments on the panel! Rachel, I'm so flattered.

It looks like Alberto Ibargüen is not available as a panelist, but another possibility is Gary Kebbel, the journalism program officer at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Mr. Kebbel has worked closely with J-Lab in choosing and advising new community news sites around the country.
Anna Tauzin
on 28/8/09
Watch this video on the serious impact a locally focused news site can have on the community: http://vimeo.com/4785821

Editors and organizers from NewCastleNOW.org (http://www.newcastlenow.org/), The Next Mayor (http://thenextmayor.com/) PlanPhilly (http://planphilly.com/) and The Forum (http://www.forumhome.org/).

In the video, one of the editors from The Forum talks about before the news site existed, many candidates ran unopposed or seats remained vacant during elections. However, after forming their site, she said she feels that citizens are more engaged in community politics.
Cindy Royal
on 2/9/09
Exactly. When newspapers fail, who will fill the need for investigative reporting? Someone will. What are some effective models for funding and staffing these operations? I would definitely attend this panel. Anna is one of my former students, and I am very proud of the work she has done at J-Lab. Please support this panel.
Anna Tauzin
on 3/9/09
Another video, this one about professional journalists receiving foundation funding to cover critical investigative issues in their communities: http://vimeo.com/4872978

Featuring people from TheNextMayor, PlanPhilly, and Voice of San Diego.
dee kapila
on 4/9/09
This is a must-attend for me. Great idea Anna!
Anna Tauzin
on 14/9/09
Should our panel be chosen, we would likely combine with David Cohn's panel (http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/2285) about Spot.us, another successful Knight-funded investigative journalism project.
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