A presentation by Jan Schaffer at the 2012 SXSW conference in Austin, Tex. entitled, "News Entrepreneurs vs. Traditional Journalism."

1. News Entrepreneurs
vs.
Traditional Journalists
#sxsw
#NewNews

2. Phenomenal Growth
• At least 4,700 sites known to be
active.
• Many with journalistic DNA
• Breaking news
• Watchdogging local officials
• Filling gaps left by MSM

3. Origins
• Solo founder – often traditional journalists
(mom and pops)
• Small sites funded by community foundations
(Knight Community News Challenge)
• Larger sites: angel or foundation money
• Chains/ chainlets – Patch to Main Street
Connect and Hamlet Hubs

4. Hyperlocal Sites

5. University-based News Sites

6. Niche News Sites

7. Statewide Watchdog Sites

8. Journalism as Events

9. Journalism as Acts of
Collaboration

10. Collaboration Models
• One-off enterprise
reporting project
• $5,000 award
• Must collaborate
Stories:
Tax delinquent properties
Broadband capacity
Education reform

11. Niche Collaborative Sites

12. Ethical sensibility: “building”
community, not just “covering” it

13. High Journalism Attributes
• Mission-Driven Reporting
• Accountability journalism
• Transparency
• Crowdsourcing
• Advocacy for community issues
• Closer connections to audiences

14. Journalism Chops > Churn

15. jans@j-lab.org
@janjlab