Rocky Mountain News Says Goodbye

Denver’s Rocky Mountain News published its farewell issue today, after 150 years.

First published by William Byers in 1859, the News was Colorado’s first newspaper. Throughout the years, the News had survived an 1864 flood that washed away its printing press, savage weather conditions that made it impossible for carriers to deliver it, and numerous competitors for its readership. In the past decade, it won four Pulitzer prizes. The current economic landscape, however, made it untenable for Denver to support two daily newspapers. The writing was on the wall since December, when E.W. Scripps and Company (its current publisher) put it up for sale. More about the News’s history and reminiscences from its readers and staff can be found here.

The News isn’t alone, either. Other major news institutions around the country are struggling to survive. New America Media recently published a commentary by Jim Bettinger, director of the Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, on the dire economic circumstances facing the San Francisco Chronicle. Read more here.

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The $2 million newsroom?

In the wake of the Feb. 22 Chicago journalism town hall, Chi Town Daily News editor Geoff Dougherty has laid out, in more detail, the possibility of covering local news with constrained budgets.

With a few caveats (it's solely payroll), Dougherty posits that you can put together a "robust local news organization."

Behold, the $2 million newsroom plan:

http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Ravings_from_the_editor/The_2_million_newsroom,22987

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DC Press Corps: MSM Down, Niche Media Up

A three-month study on the scale, scope and nature of the Washington press corps, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and journalist Tyler Marshall, is now out and the picture is a fascinating one. The story is more about a dramatic transformation than simply a shrinking act. Take note:

* ClimateWire, an on-line newsletter launched less than a year ago, deploys more than twice the reporting power around Capitol Hill than the Hearst News Service

* The DC bureau of Mother Jones, a San Francisco-based nonprofit magazine, has seven reporters, about the same size as the now-reduced Time magazine bureau

* CQ, a news operation that produces an array of on-line and print publications, now has the largest number of journalists accredited to cover Congress

In addition to the decline in the reporting power of mainstream media and the growth among more narrowly focused special interest or niche media, there has been a marked jump in foreign media now represented in Washington. In 1968, there were about 160 foreign correspondents reporting from Washington. In October 2008, there were nearly 10 times as many.

For more on this study, click here: http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/new_washington_press_corps

To see an MF-funded study on the diversity of Washington news bureaus, carried out by UNITY and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and released in July, 2008, click here: http://cronkite.asu.edu/news/diversity-072408.php

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Does Born Free Have to Mean Staying Free?

In a provocative speech on the state of the news media (the annual Hays-Press Enterprise Lecture), Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson explored ways that news organizations might charge for what they’re now providing for free. He cites recent Pew Research Center data that a tipping point occurred last month: more people in America got their news online for free than paid for it by buying newspapers and magazines. Isaacson addressed such issues as the pricing of books versus music, resistance from internet service providers to news pricing and existing payment systems (Pay Pal, Spare Change, Bee-Tokens, Tipjoy, etc). He advocates a micropayment system, one “so easy to use that you’d hardly think about making an impulse purchase.” Could this be the lifeline that traditional media outlets – but also citizen journalists and bloggers – have been seeking?

To see more on Isaacson’s speech, click here:
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.4959311/k.49F5/A_Bold_Old_Idea_for_Saving_Journalism_2009_HaysPress_Enterprise_Lecture_by_Walter_Isaacson.htm

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How to save newspapers?

Huffington Post has an interesting piece by Sally Duros on how a new kind of business structure - the L3C - may provide a lifeline to solvency to newspapers.

The L3C is a low-profit limited liability structure that encourages foundation investment while allowing a profit. The idea then is for daily papers to tap into foundation support for sustenance. Her piece is focused on papers in the Chicago area, and she references a bill creating the L3C hybrid introduced to the Illinois legislature Feb. 4 that apparently has good prospects.

For more, click here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-duros/how-to-save-newspapers_b_164849.html.

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Knight Foundation Co-Sponsors 'Twitter' Awards

KF + Sawhorse honor 26 leading Twitterers. For more:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003941037

Note to self: Story has 142 characters, including URL. Need to rewrite!

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UT-San Marcos To Host Conference on Spanish-Language Media

It’s not too late to sign up for the 2nd International Latino Media Conference 2009, “The State of Spanish Language Media.” The conference, which features a number of leaders in the field, will take place Feb. 19-21, at Texas State University in San Marcos. Discussions will cover the development of Spanish-language media in Latin America, the status and future of Latino-oriented media in the U.S., media policies pertaining to U.S. Latinos and the role of Spanish-language media in politics. The conference is open to scholars, students, media analysts, media professionals and policy advocates.

For more click here: http://www.centerforlatinomedia.com

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It's OK to Fail

Susan King of Carnegie Corp. provides some refreshing insight from a media funder on when grants fail in a recent Carnegie quarterly newsletter . Her article, "Media Grantmaking Strategies: When the Impact is in Question," analyzes a grant she ushered in early in her tenure at Carnegie to improve coverage of Carnegie-funded initiatives in national media.

The piece looks at the Foundation's goals, the nonprofit's goals and operating environments under which the grant was made. Ultimately, Carnegie's justification for investing wasn't realized. But the funder still learned a valuable lesson about making grants.

For the article, visit:

http://www.carnegie.org/results/24/index.html

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LSU Releases Diversity That Works for J-Schools

Ever wish there was a simple-to-use resource for Journalism Schools to help improve their diversity efforts – from hiring to research to student body to curriculum? Well, it’s actually out – and it’s free.

The Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University has just published, with Knight Foundation support, a free publication that highlights examples of successful diversity programs in universities around the country. Edited by Ralph Izard, "Diversity That Works" contains personal reports from journalism/mass communications programs about successful efforts and the ideas and activities that made them work.

To download the book, visit: http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu/diversitythatworks.html

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Saving Journalism in Chicago

A group of big local media names are getting together Feb. 22 to hold a three-hour town hall on the state of local news in Chicago and, more importantly, how to save it. And they've invited the public to join.

Panelists scheduled to attend include Eric Zorn, Carol Marin and Alex Kotlowitz, according to media columnist Michael Miner at the Reader. For more information, check out his column at: http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/hottype/090129/. Don't forget to RSVP, according to instructions, if you plan to attend.

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Newspapers of the Future

Check out this entertaining clip, produced in 1981 by KRON, about how newspapers might be available by computer. At $5 a pop, shouldn't be much competition for the 20 cent street edition, the anchor notes.

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