This week presented yet another fascinating development in the journalism business model. Many people believe that as news organizations have to trim their staffs and budgets to meet Wall Street expectations, the first things to go will be international bureaus and investigative journalism.
This week brought the announcement of a new investigative organization with a big fat annual budget that means it won't have to sell advertising or have circulation. It's bank-rolled by billionaires who think contribution to the public interest is the only return-on-investment that matters.
It's called propublica and it's led by a widely respected journalist, Paul Steiger, who used to edit the Wall Street Journal.
I have two questions for you. Will it work? Will it matter in the public conversation?
Friday, October 19, 2007
Non-profit Journalism
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5 comments:
I think he has the credibility to get ProPublica going and will have the staff to do the necessary means of getting something done.
I think it is a great idea that will work, for at lest the short term. Only time will tell if it will be a fad or not. I'm interested to see where he takes this as a non-profit. That it is backed by non-journalists shows promise to me.
I think this is a great idea that will hopefully work. Investigative journalism is important and the fact that its going to have a big budget will allow for a lot of real investigations with real results
I definitely agree with John Carroll's comment at the end of that article. It definitely seems like an awesome idea, but it's really going to have to prove itself.
Also, how will it be able to maintain that kind of funding in the extended future (i.e. after the current benefactors pass on)?
Maybe I'm just cynical, but it seems whenever money's involved, so are agendas.
I'll be critical when reading, but I'll still read.
I agree with the cynic. To an extent, whoever is funding this operation is going to have influence over it. It may be less influence than that which the business-oriented media has to deal with, but it is influence nevertheless. My favorite nonprofit is Link TV. It's viewer supported.
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