1. business and industrial
2. advertising and marketing
3. advertising

TIME TO LOOK AHEAD
A strategy for local news
organizations to thrive in the future
METHODOLOGY
In March, 2014, NYPA contracted with a research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to
analyze and assess the challenges facing the newspaper industry and the disruption created
by digital innovation. We selected RPI because we wanted researchers who were not
affiliated with journalism organizations or journalism schools. We wanted researchers who
would look from the outside in, without any vested interest in the future of the newspaper
industry.
We asked RPI to look at 3 broad areas:
 Overall Strategy
 Business Model Insights
 Operational Level Strategies
 To achieve these objectives the researchers studied other industries that had experienced digital disruption,
and their responses to the disruption. They analyzed broad technology trends likely to impact the industry in
the future. They conducted site visits to newspapers across the state. This is estimated to be a two year
project; we are currently at the halfway point.
SECTION 1
Objectives
Overview
Mission
OBJECTIVES
To outline a strategy for local news organizations to sustain themselves, and to
thrive in future
To focus on internal organizational and cultural changes that need to be made in
order to remain competitive
To suggest that medium sized changes need to be made immediately. Big leaps
and sophisticated thinking will come later. Changes need to be made in the correct
sequence.
To get buy-in and support from leadership and management throughout the
organization, including editors, ad managers and circulation managers.
OVERVIEW
1. The mission and its implications
2. Synergizing digital and print
3. Content – the biggest piece of the plan
4. Advertising
5. Circulation/distribution
6. Role of NYPA
7. Future steps of the study
REVISITING THE MISSION
Revisiting the mission is an important - really important
A simplified mission for local news organizations
"Enrich local communities and their citizens’ lives
through news, analysis, and opinions”
News organizations have become too focused on specific aspects of the broader
mission
First amendment issues, open government issues and keeping government honest
have taken center stage
REVISITING THE MISSION
Editors and reporters need to assess coverage and to recognize that many
traditional coverage areas including local government, zoning and development,
school boards- serve only some members of local communities
While these are areas where news organizations excel and have an advantage, they
are not popular (Pew Report, 2011) with a majority of readers
These areas are important and consistent with your journalistic values
Excessive focus on these issues utilizes resources that could be used to produce
content that appeals to underserved members of the community
Much of the news content produced today serves small segments of the
community consistently, and other segments not at all.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISSION
COMMUNITY 360
Keeping with the mission, the organizing principle for local news organizations
going forward is a concept we will call—Community 360
Everything needs to be viewed through this lens
 How did we enrich the lives of our community today?
 Do we serve everyone? Have we neglected anyone?
 Have we fulfilled our mission of being the vanguards, the custodians of our community? In what
ways is our coverage lacking?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISSION
COMMUNITY 360
In the glory days - newspapers were facilitators of the all important conversations
There are multiple pipelines now - how can news organizations control as many of
these pipelines as possible?
The appetite for community news exists across a broad spectrum that includes the
younger demo, but community news organizations are not satisfying this appetite
IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISSION
COMMUNITY 360
Community 360 should be adopted as the marching call
Envelope your community, take charge of your community, possess your
community, own your community, be the eyes and ears of your community, the
curators of your community
At once act as:
 The town hall - where people share views
 The town square - where people meet , socialize
 The town bazaar - where people conduct commerce
IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISSION
COMMUNITY 360
Calls for an active role in shaping the conversation in the community - not a passive,
‘reporting’ role
FCC report (Waldman , 2011) concludes that there is a shortage of local
accountability reporting
We disagree!
We think there is a dire shortage of reporting that enhances the lives of various
constituents in the community in an impactful way- accountability is only one aspect
Community 360 as a philosophy has implications for content generation, advertising,
circulation, all parts of the organization
IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISSION
COMMUNITY 360
Digital innovation has increased the competition for attention and eyeballs
This has called into question the value proposition of local news organizations like
never before
This value proposition was under question prior to the digital explosion - digital is
only partly to blame. Cutbacks in newsroom staffing levels resulted in a reduction in
both quantity and quality of content.
Developing a plan to serve all 360 degrees of your community will require a radical
rethinking of content generation
In an era with such intense competition , re establishing value proposition through a
Community 360 approach is vital
IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISSION
COMMUNITY 360
A disproportionate amount of our resources are dedicated to coverage of local government
and meeting news. Reducing (not eliminating) this coverage will enable us to deploy these
valuable resources to focus on other aspects of our mission.
News organizations need to step back and look at their communities. Watchdog journalism
is important, but enterprise reporting, solutions journalism, and analysis are equally
important and contribute greatly to community engagement.
We OWN the community. No one else owns the community - we do. And our current
coverage ignores broad sections of the populations we serve.
Reporting on things that have happened is only one part of the equation. Covering events is
another part of the equation.
Asking questions, identifying problems, posing solutions and engaging the community are
equally critical parts of the equation
SECTION 2
Platform from an
Agnostic Perspective &
Broad Observations
A PLATFORM AGNOSTIC PERSPECTIVE
There is too much doomsday sentiment in the industry
Too much negative language such as ‘digital threat’, ‘digital disruption’
This language and perspective needs to change immediately
Senior management needs to lead the effort to stop using negative language such as
paywall, print dying, etc.
Conversation needs to focus on the ‘digital opportunity’
We need to view digital as new way to generate and deliver content, reach out to
readers
News organizations have a temporary sweet spot, but print-only strategies are not
sustainable. We must change our language and focus on digital opportunities.
A PLATFORM AGNOSTIC PERSPECTIVE
Another unfruitful conversation- ‘print is alive’, ‘print is dead’
Print will surely die if content is unattractive to readers
Print needs to be viewed for what it is - a medium; the question is where is this
medium consumed, what advantages does it provide to consumers?
You will not get lean in/ undiluted engagement if content is not of value, whether in
print or online
A PLATFORM AGNOSTIC PERSPECTIVE
If news organizations are able to methodically change their content, the next
priority is becoming platform neutral. A platform neutral approach implies that:
 Digital is an opportunity
 Whether print is alive or dead is not the question
 Print and digital need to be used synergistically, as complements to maximize readership and
eyeballs
 Calls for rebranding as news organizations
 Platform agnostic also has concrete implications for the organization of the newsroom, advertising,
marketing and circulation
A PLATFORM AGNOSTIC PERSPECTIVE
Changing the thinking and the language in these directions - digital opportunity,
platform agnostic, news organization- is essential; not a trivial matter
Requires full and immediate commitment of senior leadership
Will set a strong foundation for transformation
Will fundamentally alter the way people make decisions and view problems on a
day to day basis
Along with Community 360, this will bring about much needed cultural change
BROAD OBSERVATIONS
The industry in a very simplistic sense, is a two sided network
Local consumers and local advertisers; news organizations connect the two sides
with good content
Could argue that a third gateway needs to be opened up- readers as contributors of
content in various ways
But evidence seems to suggest number of inherent difficulties in this
BROAD OBSERVATIONS
The two sided network comes together because of content- no content, no game
Traditionally readers have been the subsidy side, advertisers the money side; don’t
see this changing
Subscription revenues may increase for differentiated content providers (cf. NY Times
report; Seamans and Zhu)
If you have good content that readers value, you can aim for subscription revenue
increases, but we can't make decisions about subscription revenue until we get the
content right
So for now, ad revenues remain the important driver of revenues
BROAD OBSERVATIONS
The industry is enjoying a temporary sweet spot- older readers who are still reading
print have remained loyal; there will be a lull for a few years
This is an absolute luxury!! No industry has this kind of slack, time to reengineer
Disruption usually comes quick and lethally, e.g. Kodak, Blockbuster
Need to make the best use of this sweet spot while our ‘core business’ (print news)
is still a cash generator; need to use this ‘opportunity’ to reengineer
BROAD OBSERVATIONS
Our site visits suggest some degree of complacency- especially among those
companies that have been profitable in the last few years, through cost cutting, etc.
But revenues will be under increasing pressure as more as more and more
consumers transition to digital
There is an express need to reengineer, even if you are currently profitable
Journalism is our sustained competitive advantage, but there is an incredible amount
of resistance to change on the part of editors and reporters
SECTION 3
Content
CONTENT: SETTING THE TONE FOR CHANGE
Newspapers' sustained competitive advantage comes from our reporters - reporters
are the value initiators; without them the two sided network would not exist
This is also where we see the biggest need for change
Sustained competitive advantage comes from assets that satisfy four conditions:
(Barney, 1991)
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Valuable
Rare
Inimitable
Non Substitutable
CONTENT: SETTING THE TONE FOR CHANGE
Reporters, to the extent that they generate content that is relevant to the
community are valuable
Good reporting is a rare skill; reporters with good understanding of the local
community are even rarer
Inimitable- Local TV, radio, and other local news sources do not have this asset, and
cannot replicate it
Good reporters are non substitutable – citizens with cell phones, bloggers,
aggregators, news groups, social media- are not substitutes for good reporting and
writing
CONTENT: SETTING THE TONE FOR CHANGE
As senior managers, when you work to affect change, it is worth reemphasizing that good
reporters are the key to the sustained competitive advantage of news organizations
Reporters need to be coopted, they need to buy into the need for new content
Forcing them will not be effective and coaching them to change the way they view their
mission will not be easy.
News organizations cannot thrive without good reporters, but they won't survive unless they
adopt strategic new content strategies.
CONTENT: REENGINEERING NEWSROOMS
We suggest three key themes to re engineer newsrooms:
1. Reporters need to don a business hat - constantly need to ask whether content serves mission, is it
something that customers would be willing to pay to read…
2. Content is a ‘product’ systematically targeted at various market segments - Community 360. Are
you creating the right product?
3. Organizational - create new roles, use formal analytical tools, institute processes to bring
discipline, maximize reporter resources
CONTENT: DONNING A BUSINESS HAT
Journalists sit at a crossroads
Values, allegiance to their profession vs. what it takes for news organizations to thrive as
businesses
Journalism as a profession has traditionally emphasized the role of the fourth estate- upholders of
free speech, open government, and democracy.
This role is essential, but it is not exclusive. The role of journalism needs to be larger than this - it
needs to be supplemented by broader responsiveness to the needs and interests of ALL
constituents in the community - not just government and business leaders.
SECTION 4
Change in Perspective
Donning a Business Hat
CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE:
DONNING A BUSINESS HAT
Reporters need to continually ask: Who is likely to read this article/content? Who
will benefit from it? Which constituents does this piece of journalism reach?
How does it enhance their lives?
Would these constituents be willing to pay for this article?
Donning a business hat doesn’t mean writing advertorials
Local news organizations should never cross that line
Communities must have irrevocable faith that news organizations will not produce
content that is directly paid for by advertisers
CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE:
DONNING A BUSINESS HAT
That said, editors and reporters can be business oriented without sacrificing values
There is no conflict in asking: “How can I serve the community while generating
content that people would be willing to pay for? “
Good journalism costs money - editors and reporters need to be paid.
To ‘fund’ its social role as the fourth estate , journalism needs to generate profits
Otherwise the very future of journalism is at stake
CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE:
DONNING A BUSINESS HAT
As a starting step, we advocate a multi functional orientation/training program for journalists
when they are hired
They begin by spending a week in circulation- shadowing a circulation manager. Reporters
need to understand the make-up of the community, who are readers are, who isn't reading
the paper, and why.
Then they spend a week in advertising- shadowing an advertising sales person
Reporters need to understand the dollars and cents of the business, to gain an appreciation
of how difficult revenue generation is. They will also come to understand that ad reps are
out in the community, talking to the community, driving past construction sites, and that they
are a good source of legitimate story ideas.
Reporters need to understand that without money, there is no mission
Such training will go a long way in giving a business perspective to reporters
SECTION 5
Implications of Community 360
COMMUNITY 360:
SOME IMPLICATIONS
Every citizen is a prospective source of news and content that can benefit the community
How can we tap into this person’s knowledge, expertise, experiences to generate content
that benefits the community?
Conversely how can we generate content that will affect this person’s life?
People in communities should be viewed not just as consumers, but also as generators of
content… “Community enhancing journalism”
This mind set needs to pervade the whole news organization - will initiate the process of
steeping you in your communities, taking charge of them - embrace the community
COMMUNITY 360:
SOME IMPLICATIONS
Can’t focus exclusively on accountability, investigative, or enterprise reporting; we
need to add ‘community enhancing’ reporting
The basic philosophy - look at the story/content behind the person…
Engaging the community is more than readers commenting on stories. It includes
readers as contributors - providing valuable, interesting content that engages other
readers, and creates mini communities interested in similar content
COMMUNITY 360:
SOME IMPLICATIONS
We are not talking about hyper local - the focus here is more on tapping the full
potential of the community to enrich lives
This will automatically increase circulation
You must be news repositories – but today you are not providing a complete snap
shot of your community
COMMUNITY 360:
SOME IMPLICATIONS
You have always been the "paper of record," recording the histories of your communities, and chronicling their evolution
Now, archiving is critical - for several reasons:
Newspapers have a rich stock repository to draw on to generate content that nobody else has
This is a huge competitive advantage
Information services derived from archives and from enhancing the conversation with your community will increase
community understanding and can also be revenue generators
Potential opportunity to monetize your archives
Archiving should offer value based pricing- should not be based on the amount of time it took you to retrieve info
SECTION 6
Content as a Product
Market Segmentation
Widening the Reach
Enterprise Journalism
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
MARKET SEGMENTATION
How does your news organization make content decisions?
Can you write the process down?
We find no evidence of documented strategies for content generation
Are the strategies all in people’s heads?
Other then what goes on page one, is there a strategy ?
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
MARKET SEGMENTATION
We suggest adopting classical principles of market segmentation while viewing
content as a product
Have I generated content that targets all segments in the community?
Am I reaching out to various segments often, and regularly?
A potential tool - content targeting tables
Plot demographic segment/content type on the vertical axis; Horizontal axis frequency
Will give a clear sense of gaps in content generation
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Most content decisions are based on gut feel
We suggest that they should be based on something more concrete - metrics
Begin by systematically plotting your community and understanding the demographics:
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By age - percentages
By ethnicity - same approach
By sex
By income level
By employment
What proportion is embedded in the community? What proportion doesn’t care about local
news at all?
How do you bring those who are not embedded into the fold? How do you impact and
engage them with appropriate content?
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Content targeting tables will provide important metrics
But they will do more than that
Like language, they are symbols of commitment to change, commitment to the
perspective of content as product, Community 360
If they are displayed prominently as white boards in the news room they
will give a clear signal to reporters that it is important to generate content targeted
at various segments/niches
CONTENT AS PRODUCT - MARKET SEGMENTATION
Content Targeting Tables
By Demographic
CONTENT AS PRODUCT - MARKET SEGMENTATION
Content Targeting Tables
By Topic/Theme
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
WIDENING THE REACH
Who are the non customers of local news organizations? What do we know about them
and why they don't read (need) our content?
We see an express need to conduct focus groups; to conduct an in depth analysis of what the
non customers, including the younger demographic, would like to read
You can enlist professional help to facilitate this - local college professor or NYPA
The lack of interest among the younger demographics is often attributed to the dying habit
of reading print, or to a lifelong attachment to all things digital but we disagree - it is the lack
of appealing content targeted at this segment that is the issue
There is also a need to understand other non consumers- particularly racial/ethnic groups in
the community
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
ENTERPRISE JOURNALISM
Enterprise journalism is a key component of content as a product - it is a critical piece of taking
ownership of your community.
Identifying themes for enterprise journalism is a critical exercise
Taken together the themes should appeal to a wide range of audiences, not just a select few.
Heroin addiction
Local business initiatives
Local environmental issues
Local government initiatives
Take the lead, provide not just a reporting perspective, but a problem solving perspective
Lead the conversation in specific areas - talk to experts, learn from other communities through the
network of peer local news organizations
CONTENT AS PRODUCT:
ENTERPRISE JOURNALISM
Enterprise journalism is where the focus should be in terms of events
Organize events such as speakers, debates - not to make money, but to embed
yourselves in community; to be perceived as thought leaders, the agents of change
Look for partnerships that help embed you in the community
Solutions Journalism Network- another promising option for collaboration
Enlist NYPA help in events - will come back to this
Enterprise journalism - a key way to enhance your presence; needs to be a full set of
activities, rather than just reporting
SECTION 7
Creating New Roles &
Content Generation Strategy
CREATING NEW ROLES:
EDITOR, NEW CONTENT
We recommend that you repurpose your newsroom staff/reporters to create new
content
We advocate creating a separate role - Editor of New Content or Editor for
Innovation or Editor for Product Development
NY Times has just hired Kensey Wilson from PBS in this role
CREATING NEW ROLES:
EDITOR, NEW CONTENT
Person with a high degree of credibility, respect
Ideally an insider, someone within the existing set up; someone who sees the need
for change, not a new hire
Role should report directly to the publisher, senior management
Person’s responsibility would include coming up with content that engages the
whole community in a 360 fashion
Specifically new enterprise themes, ideas for community enhancing journalism, ways
to widen reach and address younger audiences
MAKING CONTENT GENERATION STRATEGY
EXPLICIT, SYSTEMATIC
Currently it is not clear how editors make decisions related to what content to
generate
Largely depends upon gut feel, very informal
Editor’s judgment will remain key, without question!
But the process of content generation must be explicit, put it down on paper
Will allow you to critically examine it , identify its weaknesses, refine it
MAKING CONTENT GENERATION STRATEGY
EXPLICIT, SYSTEMATIC
Specific answers need to be developed for the following:
 How do we generate our content? What steps do we take to identify what stories to
write about?
 How often do we reach out to the community to assess what content we need to
generate? In what ways do we do it? Do we reach out to opinion leaders? The right
people?
 Is our process adequate? Are we gauging the pulse of the community accurately?
 Are there any steps we can take to improve our process of content generation?
MAKING CONTENT GENERATION STRATEGY
EXPLICIT, SYSTEMATIC
Making it explicit will give a birds eye view, will enable you to evaluate if the
right process is in place
Come up with innovative ways to generate new content, improve contact
with community
Will enable you to make adjustments and to identify mechanisms that have
not been incorporated
Develop a clear understanding among everyone in the newsroom
CONTENT GENERATIONSTRATEGY:
INCLUDING ALL GROUPS
Much like academics, reporters and editors often have an ivory tower attitude
They need to be more open to ideas about what content should be generated
We suggest regular meetings with other departments - perhaps once a month
This will reinforce the business perspective among reporters
Will also create vital cross functional links – reporters and editors appear to be
isolated
CONTENT GENERATIONSTRATEGY:
INCLUDING ALL GROUPS
Beyond that, need to use all eyes, ears possible to assess what content needs to be
generated
Circulation can provide vital input on what demographics are not subscribing - an
indicator of what kind of content is missing
Similarly, advertisers can provide vital input – engaging them in regular conversations
about content is an embedding tool
Regular incorporation of circulation/advertising in the content generation process
would be vital for Community 360
CONTENT GENERATIONSTRATEGY:
SOCIAL MEDIA LISTENING
Social media can play a critical role not only in distributing content, but in generating content
Much of the conversation appears to be centered around the use of social media to get your
content out, distribute it
Journalists are tweeting, sharing on Facebook etc.
We ask the reverse question: how are you using social media to generate appropriate
content, content that is of value to the community?
Are you following the tweets of the community and opinion leaders?
Not easy to do - can’t just follow high ranking elected officials- must follow civic groups,
colleges, environmental groups, etc.
CONTENT GENERATIONSTRATEGY:
SOCIAL MEDIA LISTENING
Are you following the relevant people, entities on Facebook? Schools, churches,
volunteer orgs., etc.
While the concept of social media listening has been applied to understanding what
communities are saying about brands online, we suggest using the idea more
broadly to understand the concerns, conversation in your community
Social media listening should be an integral part of content generation strategy, if it
isn’t already
CONTENT GENERATION:
PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
Content generation is like other creative endeavors- research and development for
example
If resources are not managed properly, they will be used for the wrong objectives
News organizations have the ability to generate more stories/day than anybody else
– 3 to 4 times more stories than TV
CONTENT GENERATION:
PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
E.g. 20 reporters, 8 hours/day, 5 days= 800 reporter hours, total capacity
How are these hours being utilized?
What is the average number of hours consumed by a legacy story?
What is the average number of hours consumed by a new story?
What is the impact- how many people does it affect, how likely are people’s lives going to
change
Suggest plotting some stories using these two dimensions
CONTENT GENERATION:
PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
Aggregate resource utilization map- size of circle represents reporter hours
consumed
CONTENT GENERATION:
PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
The objective of the plot is to identify content that is consuming a disproportionate
amount of resources
Do you really need to write another report on last week’s weather? Or the local
school board? What is the impact? Is it going to consume a disproportionate
amount of resources while interesting only a few readers?
The tool also brings novelty/ efficiency/impact to the forefront
It would be instructive to do a rough analysis along these lines as a start
There is an express need for local journalism to reestablish its credibility - tools such
as this will facilitate that
CONTENT:
SYNERGIZING DIGITAL AND PRINT
Breaking news while necessary, is not your area of advantage
The advantage of local news organizations lies in analyzing and contextualizing news
Differentiating content too much between platforms - trying to sustain print by
providing a restricted digital product – is a bad idea
Stand the risk of losing readers who prefer digital
Need a coherent release strategy
CONTENT:
SYNERGIZING DIGITAL AND PRINT
Reporters tool kit should include capabilities to work with both digital and print
Write a news brief for digital under breaking news
Follow it up with richer content - emphasis on contextualizing the news, analyzing its
implications
Digital version while being identical to print in written content should include videos,
multiple pictures etc.
SECTION 8
General Observations
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Local Journalism needs to reestablish credibility
 Credibility of local journalism under serious threat
 In the words of one editor, its an artisanal product
 There cannot be one trivial story on page one or the home page - have to convey the impression of
serious journalism, covering serious stories, generating solid content that enriches communities
 Consumers, external constituents should be able to pick up paper and get a solid sense of the
community, its issues etc.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:
PUBLISHER
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Currently too caught up in day to day fire fighting, need to step back, take a look at the big picture
Develop a clear vision of how your news organization can contribute to the community
Change language from doomsday - digital opportunity, news organization
Ingrain the Community 360 way of thinking, along with platform agnostic
Do not divert from your core business- there are too many things that need to be done here to take
your eye off the ball
 SEO services for local businesses, integrated marketing for local businesses - these are not what you
should be involved in – like eating your young
 Use these resources to get yourself found, design good headlines etc.- there is a whole world of
actions you need to take to get yourself found online
 Your advertisers come to you because you are providing access to your readers; SEO enables them to
market themselves independent of you
SECTION 9
Circulation
The Role of NYPA
Future Steps of Study
CIRCULATION
Community 360 - everybody is a potential reader
Platform agnostic - total eyeballs matter, not just print numbers
Circulation manager has to have a well rounded view:
 Metrics have to include both print numbers and online
 Circulation manager has to be made responsible for both
CIRCULATION
Circulation manager also responsible for ensuring social media visibility- the new
form of circulation
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Good Facebook page
Good solid Twitter feed, with good links
Plug ins so that content should be shared
Currently journalists/reporters are being held responsible, but we don’t think it should be their
responsibility
 Circulation managers need to work with journalists on this front
 Also work with journalists/reporters on marketing content properly - i.e. correct headlines… again
not just the responsibility of reporters
CIRCULATION
Doing a poor job of promoting yourself (what else is new?)
So focused on advertising, that circulation is not being systematically addressed
Too much emphasis on circulation sales approach right now, resulting in lots of
turnover, churn
Sample principles as advertising -if reader is not subscribing, why is that the case?
Who is reading? Good grasp of demographics of the region? If a reader is not
subscribing…how can we entice…not through price promotions only but also the
value of the content
CIRCULATION
Whether print survives or not… is in hands of reporters/press but also circulation!!!
Systematically analyze where print is likely to be consumed, where digital is likely to
be consumed
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Coke/Pepsi- An important lesson-within arm’s reach
Beat substitutes like tea/coffee/water- by simply making sure soda was always within arm’s reach
Go back to your local businesses…ask them to display - local businesses need you-explain to
them, if they don’t display to their customers, how do they expect that their name will get in front
of people? Has to be a cooperative effort… go to local business associations …do this
systematically
Should you give some copies away for free… absolutely
NYPA'S ROLE
Content sharing- Facilitate the process of newspapers helping each other through a
network of local news organizations
Content archiving
 Content archiving helps provide a clear sense of how the community has evolved over time
 Should be used as training tool for new journalists
 Should be used as a repository- draw on it to keep content of high quality, contextualize current
events in a richer way by providing historical context
NYPA'S ROLE
Help with event planning- in particular events that build on enterprise journalism;
not anything else
Run focus groups to understand what it will take to attract new readers, and
especially young readers
Run ad campaigns increasing awareness of the role and importance of local
journalism
Run workshops on innovative content that incorporates Community 360
Facilitate collaborations- e.g. Social Journalism Network
FUTURE STEPS OF STUDY
Work with individual news organizations to see how to implement these suggestions
- test drive
Disseminate these ideas to in regional meetings across the state - get feedback
Conduct a survey- to understand where the population stands, the perceived
hurdles, an inside account of what needs to be changed
Talk to leaders- e.g. policy makers ( e.g. NY Fed Chairman) , politicians, community
leaders- to seek their opinion on what role local news organizations need to perform
THANK YOU
Michelle K. Rea
Executive Director, NYPA I NYPS