Collaboration between media organizations is important to cover more stories, foster diversity, obtain expertise, amplify content, and focus on important issues. New media trends include the explosion of digital startups and new models of journalism. Reinvention in the media industry focuses on solving people's problems. Opportunities for collaboration include partnering with startups, public radio, experts, and crowdsourcing stories. Memberships and events can also engage audiences and support media organizations.

1. Collaboration is the
New Competition
How to Juice Good Collaboration
NewYork Press Association
April 8, 2017

2. Why Collaborate?
• Cover stories you don’t have the resources to cover alone
• Foster diversity when you can’t hire
• Help you obtain/provide expertise for complex stories
• Amplify content to larger audiences
• Access new topics, avoid duplication
• Give you added power and leverage
• Focus public attention on important issues
• Be closer to innovation

3. Changing Media
• Participatory Media: Process v. Product
• Participatory Consumer: Catalyst v.
Commodity
• Funder/Stakeholders: Civic participation in
public issues

4. New MediaTrends
• Explosion of Digital News Startups
• Media Entrepreneurship - all-time high
• Investor $$ > Scaling up
• Legacy Media > New Initiatives
• New Models of Journalism
• Metro Dailies inTrouble

5. Who’s Re-inventing NewsToday?
• News entrepreneurs
• Pro-am journalists
• Single topic experts
• SiliconValley engineers
• Venture capitalists (hedge funds)
• Legacy Media
• Advocacy groups

6. Reinvention >
Jobs to Be Done
• People don’t look for products to buy
• They live their lives, encounter problems,
and look for solutions
• They’ll hire a product or service to solve it

7. Who saw media jobs to be done?
• Craigslist – classified ads
• Google – search and ads
• Facebook – social connections, referrals
• Twitter – social sharing
• YouTube – video
• Flickr, Instagram – photo sharing
• Sirius – satellite radio
• Medium – publishing platform

8. SMALLER AND SMALLER
PIECES BUILD
BIGGER NEWS ECOSYSTEMS
Media Entrepreneurship:
All-Time High

9. Pattern: How does it happen?
• Newcomers are non-threatening
• Bottom feeders
• Early iterations are inferior
• But they appeal – cost or convenience
• Established companies, repelled by quality,
small market size, lower profits
• Suddenly the new products improve and start
scaling up

10. Partnering with New Players
• Indie startups
• Public radio
• Niche topic sites
• Universities
• Community members
• Advertisers

11. More Collaboration Opportunities
• Experts on programs, panels
• Niche topic specialists
• Training & workshops
• Community events
• Co-branding, logos

12. Big Nonprofit Startups:
ProPublica, The Marshall Project

13. Steal our Stuff

14. Hyperlocal Startups – For Profit

15. BigR Media – merged 12+ news
sites

16. Spirited Media Growth—
Billy Penn,The Incline, Denverite

17. Whereby.Us –
EverGrey, The NewTropic

18. Berkeleyside DPO

19. SingleTopic Sites- Health
ClearHealthCosts.com C-Hit.org

20. State-based Investigative Sites

21. Schools Reporting

22. Arts & Culture Sites

23. Sustainable Cities

24. Urban
Milwaukee.com
Visioning with a
graphic artist

25. Explore Utah Science

26. University News Sites

27. Rise of CommunityWebcasts

28. Share Stories
NJNewsCommons.org

29. Detroit Journalism Cooperative
Public radio,TV, Bridge magazine, ethnic media

30. Richland Source: Baby Boxes

31. Networked Journalism

32. PartnershipVisibility
Landing Pages Home Page Real Estate

33. Synchronized Coverage
Homelessness Graffiti

34. Reporting Grants
• $5,000 award for single
enterprise story
– School Reform
– DeadbeatTaxpayers
– Abandoned Buildings
– H.S. Dropouts
– Power Map of Philadelphia
• Publish with a partner

35. Crowdsourcing Stories
• Open calls for information
• Vetting financial disclosures
• Citizen input on municipal budgets

36. Co-Report Stories
ProPublica NPR

37. Pro Publica – Crowdsourcing
WH Financial Disclosures

38. Crowdsourcing offshore accounts

39. See Click Fix

40. Hearken: Ask Qs

41. GroundSource – mobile
connections

42. Public Broadcasting
Partnerships

43. Partnering with Radio
• Public radio, television
• LP-FMs
• African-American, ethnic radio

44. Indie/ Public Radio Partnerships

45. Mergers w/ Public Broadcasters

46. San Diego: Inewsource + KPBS

47. Public radio collaboration:
NolaVie.com +WWNO

48. NewHavenIndependent.org
LP-FM radio

49. News Games

50. WAMU – American Univ News Game

51. Citizen scientists
WNYC Sensor Journalism

52. FIU: Eyes on the Rise

53. Citizen Op-Eds

54. Sponsors as partners
• No pay to play
• Need transparency
• Rules of engagement

55. Events as Journalism

56. TexasTribune – Events
Events -$1 million-plus

57. CPP - Events

58. Members as Partners
• Advance access to stories
• Personal briefings
• Tours and excursions
• Quarterly magazines
• Face-to-face interaction w newsmakers

59. DeCorrespondent: Memberships
• 52K members
• 78% pay $65yr
• 22% pay $6/mo
• Largest crowdfunded
campaign $1.7M
in 30 days

60. Membership increase

61. VoiceofSanDiego.com
Memberships

62. Paid News Release Library

63. PricingTiers

64. New Haven Independent
community event posters

65. Engagement/Impact
• Outreach: Driving audience to consume content
• Reaction: inviting users to comment, share, like, chat.
• Stakeholder participation: contribute stories, time,
funding.
• Civic participation: activating audience to address
issues. (CIR/ NineNetwork)

67. Thanks
jans@j-lab.org, @janjlab