Back in 2002-2005, we talked bloggers vs journalists and said we got past it, but today, some of the tensions are still there. How can we move forward? Some ideas for partnering.

1. News
Entrepreneurs
vs.
Tradi2onal
Journalism
Are
we
there
yet?
Susan
Mernit
Oakland
Local
SXSW
2012

2. Tuesday
March
13,
2012
2

3. EDITOR ENTREPRENEUR
Charles Waldo Bailey III, former Tavi Gevinson, founder
Editor, Minneapolis Star Tribune Rookie Mag
Entrepreneurship
is
being
baked
into
the
DNA
of
media
crea8ves;
Legacy
media,
not
so
much
3

4. We’re still in a transition
4

5. Back
in
the
day:
2002
“Bloggers vs. journalists is
over. I don’t think anyone will
mourn its passing. There were
plenty who hated the debate
in the first place, and openly
ridiculed its pretensions and
terms.”
--Jay Rosen, Press Think, 2002
5

6. But partnerships can be challenging with
legacy media—not everyone agrees on the
value exchange
Hyperlocal
news
non-­‐profit
Oakland
Local
has
strong
partnerships
with
KQED,
New
America
Media,
Yahoo!
News,
The
Bay
Ci8zen,
California
Watch,
The
Inves8ga8ve
News
Network,
The
Media
Consor8um
and
local
blogs-­‐-­‐but
not
with
the
local
newspaper
(yet).
6

7. Home page: oaklandlocal.com
7

8. March
2012
discussion
at
Journalism
Accelerator
“We were approached by Digital
First to partner with them at the
Oakland Tribune. They offered
us– traffic.
After we stopped laughing, we
asked if they wanted to buy our
reported content and/or sell ads
or us. Answer: No. Legacy: FAIL”
--Susan Mernit, Oakland Local,
2012
8

9. Note
the
emo8onal
language
of
the
response
from
Digital
First
EIC,
March
2012
“Ah, the reliably lazy “Legacy Fail”
argument. A more mature way of looking at it
would be this: We offered traffic, and you
weren’t interested. You asked for money, we
weren’t interested. No hard feelings or
reasons for bitterness. We just couldn’t
come to an agreement.
I missed the rule that says that anytime a
start up asks a legacy media company for
money, we are required to cough it up.”
--Jim Brady, EIC, Digital First/ANG, 2012 (excerpt
from longer post) 9

10. Is there a connection between legacy media’s
attitude & the sense new media entrepreneurs
are profiting in ways traditional media are not?
10

11. Note the shifting revenue streams
• Oakland
Local
• Tradi8onal
revenue
streams
journalism
revenue
• Adver2sing
streams
• Sponsorships
• Adver2sing
• Events
• Events
• Training
&
• Sponsored
Consul2ng
content
• Grants
11

12. Tradi2onal
media
wants
to
become
more
entrepreneurial
But
it
takes
learning
new
skills-­‐-­‐
change
management,
ability
to
collaborate,
partner,
be
win/win—
12

13. What’s the win?
The future of news could look like this:
• Regional and local sites
• Collaborative partnerships
• Ad networks
• Share the revenue
• Share the audience
But we all need to grow to get there
13

14. Share
your
views
Susan
Mernit
susan@oaklandlocal.com
@susanmernit
@oaklandlocal
hVp://susanmernit.com
hVp://oaklandlocal.com
hVp://
susanmernit.tumblr.com
What
do
you
think?
14

15. APPENDIX:
ABOUT
OAKLAND
LOCAL
15

16. News:
Mission-­‐driven
and
Not
For
Profit
What
is
Oakland
Local?
•
Web-­‐based,
local
daily
news
&
repor8ng:
original
repor2ng
&
community
voices,
3-­‐6
stories
day
•
Local
Community
ar8cles:
4-­‐20
week
•
On-­‐going,
web-­‐based
training
programs:
serve
non-­‐profits,
community
orgs,
small
business
•
Events
&
meet-­‐ups:
Code
for
Oakland,
In
Oak
Lunch
series,
Oakland
News
Café
16

17. Our
Audience
is
Large,
Dynamic
&
Engaged
•
100,000
visitors
to
web
site
every
month
•
2,500
newsleVer
subscribers
•
5,000+
TwiVer
followers
•
6,600+
Facebook
followers
•
700
registered
contributors
•
45+
community
contributor
pieces
per
month
• More
2me
spent
on
site
per
visit
than
Bay
Ci2zen
or
Oakland
Tribune*
*
Knight
report,
Quantcast
17

18. JOIN LOCAL COMMUNITY GETTING
RESULTS
18

19.
=
IMPACT
Oakland
Local
web
traffic:
150,000
page
views,
72,000
visitors,
February
2012
(Compare:
Alexa.com
reports
monthly
visitors
to
Inside
Bay
Area/Oakland
Tribune
at
35,485
per
month)
Distribu8on
through:
• KQED
• SFGate.com
• Yahoo!
News
• Google
News
• The
Media
Consor2um
• New
America
Media
• Reuters
• Byliner
AWARDS
Society
of
Professional
Journalists,
California
Grand
Jurors,
East
Bay
Press
Club
19