LINK TO VIDEO: Putting journalism under non-profit ownership no panacea for

[Bill Densmore]

Putting journalism under non-profit ownership has benefits, but is no
panacea for financing it, NENPA panel finds -- http://bit.ly/cQuv9o

--
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Bill Densmore, 2008-2009 Fellow
Reynolds Journalism Institute

[Noah R. Bombard]

It was a good forum. Some interesting perspectives, particularly the issue of where do you draw the line between sponsor and advertiser and, as a non-profit, do you have to?

There was a report I read recently (maybe someone here can recall reading it) that showed the most effective non-profit news sites relied on diversity of revenue. I would have liked to have had time to delve into that a little more. It seems like the ability to receive grant money and donations could be best used to add to some more traditional and non-conventional revenue streams. 

Noah R. Bombard

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--
Noah R. Bombard
"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."
-Abraham Lincoln

[Bill Densmore]

Noah, what you suggest is the beauty of the L3C corporate form.
http://newshare.typepad.com/mgpaudio/2009/09/audio-the-l3c----a-new-lease-for-newspapers.html
http://newshare.typepad.com/mgpaudio/2010/01/audio-jtm-pnw-the-l3c----mixing-profits-and-social-purpose.html

-- bill

On Fri, 5 Feb 2010, Noah R. Bombard wrote:

> It was a good forum. Some interesting perspectives, particularly the issue
> of where do you draw the line between sponsor and advertiser and, as a
> non-profit, do you have to?
>
> There was a report I read recently (maybe someone here can recall reading
> it) that showed the most effective non-profit news sites relied on diversity
> of revenue. I would have liked to have had time to delve into that a little
> more. It seems like the ability to receive grant money and donations could
> be best used to add to some more traditional and non-conventional revenue
> streams.
>
> Noah R. Bombard
>
> On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 8:30 PM, Bill Densmore <dens...@rjionline.org>wrote:
>
>>
>> Putting journalism under non-profit ownership has benefits, but is no
>> panacea for financing it, NENPA panel finds -- http://bit.ly/cQuv9o
>>
>> --
>> -------------------------------------
>> Bill Densmore, 2008-2009 Fellow
>> Reynolds Journalism Institute
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Journalism That Matters" group.
>> To post to this group, send email to jtm...@googlegroups.com.
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

>> jtmlist+u...@googlegroups.com<jtmlist%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>

>> .
>> For more options, visit this group at
>> http://groups.google.com/group/jtmlist?hl=en.
>>
>>
>
>
>

--
-------------------------------------
Bill Densmore, director/editor
The Media Giraffe Project
Journalism Program
108 Bartlett Hall
Univ. of Massachusetts
Amherst MA 01003
OFF: 413-577-4370 / CELL: 413-458-8001
dens...@journ.umass.edu
************************************************************
WRAPUP:
"From Gatekeepers to InfoValets: Work Plans for Sustaining
Journalism," May 27, 2009, Washington, D.C.
OVERVIEW: http://tinyurl.com/mstm7g
EVENT ARCHIVE: http://www.journalismtrust.org
ALL VIDEO: http://ustream.tv/channel/infovalet
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[Noah R. Bombard]

Is anyone on this list involved with a company using L3C or considering it?

I looked into it a year ago when I began trying to start Worcester Wired, but my fear was the difficulty in getting money from some foundations under the L3C status. It's new and different and it seems like potential donors don't really know how to deal with it. 

As you know, Bill, I ended up throwing my efforts into the non-profit idea, not because I feel it's the end-all of online news organizations, but because I believe it is one structure that definitely can work. I'll also admit my choice in direction was also driven by my own insecurity in pitching all my efforts into a commercial operation, which many (some on this list) have proven can work. But Worcester is legendary for great ideas that flop and the non-profit option seemed like a way to still pursue a lot of those commercial revenue streams, while adding to them support from grants and donors -- not to mention making it more of a community  entity rather than my own commercial enterprise. 

Thoughts from anyone out there on this stuff?

-Noah