Non-profit journalism is nothing new it’s a staple of our culture that we often take for granted. Digital non-profit news however is something completely new. Since the web has completely revolutionized the way in which we receive our news a new type of newspaper has emerged. Traditional newspapers give away some content, but put up a pay-wall for other content. The online non-profit mentality is to give away everything for free and simply ask its readers for donations as well as soliciting corporate sponsorships.
How do traditional models work for this new breed of journalism? How do non-profit news outlets sustain or grow their operations form their mission and niche audiences without veering from their mission. That’s the question that Adam Soclof hopes to answer at the panel “Monetize Mission: Not Memes: The Future Of Non Profit journalism.” “Non profits in news business to look beyond notion that journalism is dying and explore new revenue models that are scalable in a meaningful way” said Soclof. One of the problems that Soclof is focused on is staying true to a news non profit mission without comprising any of the editorial integrity in the newsroom. Additionally, Soclof hopes to demonstrate that journalism is far from dead, and publishers don’t need to resort to cheap gimmicks to increase clicks and shares on their websites. Soclof stresses that the panel is not about bashing buzzfeed and other user generated content platforms, but rather spark a discussion about how niche non-profit news sources can engage and grow their audiences.
With an array of experienced panelists who have worked and are working in the non-profit journalism field expect an engaging conversation about the future business models of non-profits.
The panel will be moderated by Adam Soclof the associated director of outreach and partnerships for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Additionally Adam has written over 350 blogs for the Jewish Telegraph.
Jake Batsell is a fellow at the Texas Tribune. A journalism professor at Southern Methodist University’s Division in Journalism Batsell is spending the 2013-2014 academic year researching at the Texas Tribune as part of the Knight Foundation fellowship to research the best non-profit digital news.
Joshua Benton is director of the at Harvard Nieman Journalism labUniversity, which is focused on the future of Journalism.
Nicole Hudson is a strategy consultant at Because Really, a digital communication strategy firm. Previously she worked at the St. Louis Beacon where she was responsible for everything non-editorial.
The panel will be held Sunday March 9th at 5:00 PM at the Austin Convention Center room 9ABC.
View a short video with the panelists here: