Jason Stverak: April 2010 archive
Investigations and explanations - two journalism tasks where nonprofits can thrive
April 13, 2010
The newspaper industry is struggling. According to a March 2010 report from the Pew Research Center's annual Project for Excellence in Journalism, the American newspaper industry has lost $1.6 billion in annual reporting and editing capacity since 2000. In the last three years, the newspaper industry has cut thousands of full-time reporting and editing jobs.The rapid decay of traditional for-profit news media is not because the public is less hungry for news. Indeed, the Pew study shows that Americans are avidly interested in news. What has changed is that Americans for the most part aren't willing to pay for news, mostly because they believe they can get all the news they want without paying for it.
So how will America fill the growing void in journalism as traditional for-profit media models fail?
The answer is in nonprofit journalism organizations dedicated to producing quality journalism for all news consumers.
But what is nonprofit journalism? What purpose does it serve?
As most people would agree, journalism is gathering, verifying and conveying news, descriptive material and opinion -- increasingly in the 21stcentury through a widening spectrum of media. A nonprofit organization operates to serve the public good without the shackle of debt and dividends.
Combining non and profit, two simple words, can create massive confusion.
The obvious answer is that nonprofit journalism is freed from the crippling constraints of business, but that definition is far too simple. Nonprofit journalism, which has grown exponentially over the last few years, has truly become the answer for an ailing news industry. More...
3 Comments | 
Archive Link
RSS Feed
