The latest move to shore up journalism was announced this past weekend at the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ awards luncheon in Baltimore.? Beginning in July the Associated Press will initiate a six month pilot project that distributes articles from four nonprofit investigative journalism organizations to its 1,500 member newspapers.? AP also provides news to radio and TV stations. The four organizations are: the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporting Workshop and ProPublica.
It seems that truth in American journalism has temporary rescuers but a sustainable business plan for print media is still needed! Ryan Blethen, Editorial Page Editor, Seattle Times has other ideas. He wrote:
Recession could fuel new era of local newspaper ownership
One of the many intriguing ideas that could again place newspapers in the hands of local ownership is a new take on a tested business model: low-profit, limited-liability corporations. The new incarnation is called an L3C.
The L3C might be the perfect pairing for journalism and business. It would permit a company to act as a nonprofit and attract investors but allow for modest earnings. Even better, the overriding reason for an L3C is the public role it endows. This is a model made for the mission of newspapers.
Victor Pickard is examining L3Cs as senior research fellow at Free Press, a national media-reform organization. He said that L3Cs could free up newspapers to focus on serving communities with quality journalism.
“The low-profit model would let newspapers focus on their social good ? that is, news gathering ? and not just the bottom line.?
Staci Kramer at paidContent.org wrote:
[It is] being seen more often today as a way to combat the gaps in newsroom budgets and staffs.
