{"id":2080,"date":"2023-03-16T15:14:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T15:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/journalism\/?page_id=2080"},"modified":"2024-02-13T13:28:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T13:28:51","slug":"community-media","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/journalism\/community-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Media"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Logan Porter and John Owens at the helm of a low-cost livestreaming operation for SPJ Region 2 conference in Roanoke, Va. April, 2022.<\/p><\/div>\n

The digital revolution<\/strong>\u00a0has had a gigantic impact on the people who gather and distribute news.\u00a0 Traditional local and regional newspapers are in sharp decline, according to the\u00a0Pew Research Center.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Many newspapers have gone bankrupt, and all have become less relevant to daily life. \u00a0 Today, far fewer people are keeping a public eye on local and state government.<\/p>\n

The reason for the decline is fairly straightforward.\u00a0 Advertising has always been the mainstay of the press.\u00a0 Since the 1800s, news organizations have earned most of their money from display and classified advertising.<\/p>\n

Ad executives used to say that only half of their advertising was effective, but they didn\u2019t know which half.\u00a0 In the early 21st century,\u00a0 search engines like Google allowed shoppers to zero in on the best prices, and they also allowed companies like Google to charge marketers for the privilege of coming\u00a0 up high in the search rankings.\u00a0 \u00a0So the Internet made the market more efficient, but it also meant that it was less efficient to advertise in newspapers\u00a0 and magazines.<\/p>\n

Classified advertising also became more or less free through services like Craig\u2019s list.<\/p>\n

In light of this, it\u2019s important to recall that advertising isnt the only way that the press used to make money, and it isnt the only approach that can be taken in the 21st century.\u00a0 Maybe we could take a page from the old community publishing model.<\/p>\n

Community publishing used to approach the mission of\u00a0the press\u00a0as both a business and a public service.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Typically you\u2019d find:<\/p>\n

\u2022 A profitable printing services operation that churned out\u00a0 books, legal notices, \u00a0accounting ledgers, minutes of local organizations, wills and deeds and a thousand other essential record-keeping tools for the public and private business; and<\/p>\n

\u2022 A not-so-profitable newspaper that provided a public service, and also helped the printing operation stand out from its competitors.<\/p>\n

At a industrial scale, regional newspapers remained profitable until advertising revenues started to fall around 2006 \u2013 2008. More recently, the old community printing operations also became unprofitable \u00a0 People use far less paper these\u00a0 days, and many of our books and notices and record keeping tools have\u00a0 been converted to digital forms, where publishing is more efficient and less expensive. \u00a0So along with advertising revenues, \u00a0printing services revenues are also drying up for community publications.<\/p>\n

Social media often just present new problems\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the near-vacuum of community news, we have seen a surge of new media functions, but they often have serious problems. \u00a0Facebook moderators have \u00a0editing styles that are not informed by a tolerance for open debate or any knowledge of where the actual limits of debate are (or should be) according to US tradition and law. Craigslist has no social responsibility, and using it can be risky. Fake news is endemic at the national level and promoted by interested parties at the local level.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, local news is barely covered, and this can lead to dangerous situations.\u00a0 For example, not long ago, a city council in a Virginia community heard an engineering report about rust in the pylons (towers) that hold the bright lights over the football field. The engineers were worried the pylons could fall over in a high wind.\u00a0 But there was no local paper to cover the council meeting.\u00a0 When the band director and the football coach heard about this in private conversations later that week, they were astonished that news so important to their students\u2019 safety was not reaching them.\u00a0 This is\u00a0 the kind of information deficit that we face in the absence of traditional news reporting.<\/p>\n

Proposals to fix the traditional media don\u2019t go deep enough<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many proposals for new journalism ventures amount to the \u201cbetter pilot\u201d model. If we could just have better pilots flying more specific routes, the idea goes, we\u2019d have more people paying for piloting services.\u00a0 Often these new ventures are non-profit enterprises that have no real hope for financial success other than short-term foundation grants.<\/p>\n

We need to envision not only new kinds of pilots and airplanes, but also an entirely different approach to aircraft design. We need new kinds of \u00a0community hangers which not only encourage new pilots, but also new ways to think about what it means to fly, and what airframes and engines and new theories can help us achieve more.<\/p>\n

Media services could replace advertising revenues\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the self-evident proposition that every community has information needs, whether its just the humble bulletin board at the local library or the most elaborate community press organizations, or a variety of function in between.<\/p>\n

In recent decades, community information needs have broadened, and some of these are already being served by\u00a0commercial media services operations \u2014 for example\u00a0Flickos<\/a>\u00a0for video digitization and\u00a0Lumoid<\/a>\u00a0for media equipment rentals. \u00a0These are \u201clong tail\u201d services that don\u2019t specifically target local political, environmental and social information needs, so they only show the commercial potential, rather than the potential for service.<\/p>\n

Media services non-profits or coops\u00a0<\/strong>could provide a new kind of revenue or volunteer structure. Some of the projects a non-profit could take on include:<\/p>\n