news publishing

In June of, 2021, U.S. Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona, and Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, introduced H.R. 3940, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (LJSA), a bipartisan bill designed  to help local newspapers sustain financial viability through a series of tax credits..

The LJSA was originally the brainchild of Arizona-based Francis Wick, CEO of Wick Communications and fellow news publisher Alan Fisco, President of the Seattle Times, who each, along with support from America’s Newspapers, lobbied their local congress members, to introduce the bill that was hoped to provide some needed financial assistance to help abate the widespread proliferation of newspaper shutdowns nationwide.

For months the LJSA was debated and modified with hopes that its passage would become a reality. Its closest chance came In November of 2021, with the modified, stripped-down version that only offered tax credits for hiring and retaining journalists. H.R. 390 was then included in the draft text of the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better reconciliation package. But the LJSA was not to be; last-minute lobbying by Big Tech and others squashed the bill, "pushing it to the curb" for possible resurrection in the next Congress.

Now, a new piece of legislation, which offers tax incentives to both local news media that employ journalists and the local businesses that help support the media outlet through their advertising dollars, has surfaced as the Community News and Small Business Support Act (H.R.4756). The new bill was introduced on Thursday, July 20, 2023, by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA).

At its core, H.R. 4756 lays out a five-year plan to provide payroll tax credits to local/community news outlets expressly to hire and retain local news reporters across the country. Small businesses (those with fewer than 50 employees) that advertise in local newspapers, digital news sites, on local radio or with local T.V. stations are also eligible for tax credits.

In this episode of E&P Reports, we go one-on-one with one of the key players in helping champion tax incentive-based legislation through the U.S. Congress, Dean Ridings, CEO of America's Newspapers, one of North America's largest news media trade organizations. Ridings offers a quick history of the new Community News and Small Business Support Act (H.R.4756), a bill designed to help sustain local journalism through tax breaks for those who pay newsroom salaries and small businesses who support local journalism through their advertising dollars. Ridings also speaks frankly about the chances of eventual passage of the bill and what each local news publisher can do to help make it happen.

On its website, the Journalism Funding Partners (JFP) states a mission to “Increase the depth, diversity and sustainability of local journalism by building and stewarding connections between funders and news organizations.” Founded as a 501 (C)(3) in 2019 by the former publisher of the Raleigh News & Observer, Orage Quarles and internationally recognized reporter and senior consultant for the Democracy Fund, Sheila Solomon. JFP has secured and managed more than $5 million in grants to help support new and existing journalism coverage.

One of the funding projects that the JFP coordinated allowed for the Nashville Tennessean to create its first beat solely dedicated to covering local First Amendment issues. Thanks to these funds, Angele Latham has been winning national attention with her local reporting on the Sumner County (TN) governing board’s passage of an amendment declaring that the county would uphold “Judeo-Christian values.” Latham also was responsible for recent, in-depth coverage of current Tennessee laws passed that restrict “drag show” performances within the state.

Funds managed by JFP also helped create a new beat at the Raleigh News and Observer, centering on climate change and the environment, covered by reporter Adam Wagner. Wagner’s recent investigative series centering on “Big Poultry” exposed how the more than 4,600 state poultry farms that raise more than 1 billion chickens and turkeys each year impact more than 230,000 North Carolina residents to un-checked odor and manure, which has proven to cause illness and reduce property values. Recently Wagner and his Editor Bill Church won the 2023 Victor K. McElheny Award for local and regional science journalism from this series.

In this 180^th episode of “E&P Reports," we speak with two reporters covering beats that exist today, thanks to the funding managed by Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). Appearing are the Nashville Tennessean’s first reporter to be focused solely on First Amendment issues, Angele Latham and the Raleigh News and Observer's new climate change and environment reporter Adam Wagner. Explaining how JFP was able to help create these and other new local journalism initiatives is executive director Rusty Coats.

On February 21, 2023, six news publishing companies: The Baltimore Banner, Block Club Chicago, The Colorado Sun, the Daily Memphian, Long Beach Post and Lookout Local/Lookout Santa Cruz, announced they were forming an organization they collectively called the Alliance for Sustainable Local News (ASLN).

Their industry press release stated these six publishers all shared a “belief in the power of local news to make communities and people’s lives better.” These six have also “found common ground in the successful building of new high-quality, trustworthy, non-partisan news organizations, large enough to serve their communities’ primary news needs.” And “share fundamental values in the greater movement to revive, reinvent and renew the kind of local news journalism communities all across North America deserve.”

Over the last two decades, ASLN founding member, author and industry analyst Ken Doctor has been known not to “pull punches” regarding his opinions about how hedge funds and large corporations have been hurting the industry. When announcing the formation of the ASLN, Doctor stated, “It’s no longer a question of searching for models that might replace dailies whose owners have disinvested. Our members are doing that — and becoming the primary, go-to news sources for their communities.”

However, even though the new ASLN members claim they share “key in-common characteristics,” such as being mission-driven and business-driven in “believing sustainable local news of scale must establish itself largely on earned revenue,” there are several dissimilarities within this group of six. For example, three operate as non-profits, and one recently purchased a community, print-based newspaper group. Finally, one functions as a public-benefit corporation.

As far as the actual company leaders who started the ASLN, three come from a background of senior-level leadership in legacy media companies. Two come from legacy media senior editorial posts. And one came to the news publishing industry from a human resources and municipality public relations career.

However, even though each of these news publishing platforms and their leaders have different origins, these six have developed a strong bond, believing that they may have found a collective way to blend their ideas into a news publishing business sustainability “secret sauce.”

In this 179th episode of “E&P Reports,” we chat with five of the six news publishers who have banded together to form the Alliance for Sustainable Local News. This diverse group believes they collectively care about building a genuine, sustainable local news publishing business model. Speaking with host and E&P publisher Mike Blinder are Imtiaz Patel, CEO of the Baltimore Banner; Larry Ryckman, editor and president of The Colorado Sun; Eric Barnes, CEO of the Daily Memphian; David Sommers, CEO and publisher of the Long Beach Post and Ken Doctor, CEO of Lookout Local/Lookout Santa Cruz.

Guest: Eric Barnes, The Daily Memphian

What are some of the things to consider when starting a local newspaper? How can you be nonprofit and still operate like a for-profit newspaper? How did you attract subscribers in a competitive market? What went better than you expected and what didn't go as well? What have you learned about finding the best revenue mix? What should someone thinking about starting a local newspaper know before they get started?

In this episode of News Take, News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with Eric Barnes, CEO of The Daily Memphian, a nonprofit local newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, about his experience over the last four years launching a nonprofit local newspaper. Eric walks takes us from the very initial discussions and fundraising steps, to deciding whether to publish a print edition or be a purely a digital news publication, to how they decided what to charge for subscriptions and how they structure their organization to allow them to employ 40 newsroom staff (Hint: It's not on pure philanthropy!) He shares everything from how they took cues from the community to chart a practical course for advertising, fundraising, and reporting; to why they don't do sponsored content and scaled back on podcasts; to how they found a balance that is working for them. This must-listen primer on launching a nonprofit digital news publication is full of practical tips and takeaways for anyone wanting to run a news publishing business!

Doug Phares is a passionate business consultant who helps executives find ways to get past all the hurdles and challenges that slow us down. From small-scale work like examining product bundling to assisting decision-makers in developing 3-year plans, Phares has seen it all over the course of his career.

In his news media career, Phares was most recently the CEO of the Sandusky Newspaper Group (SNG), a media holding company operating in Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Before that, he was Boone Newspapers's group president and managed Copley properties. 

Today, Phares is managing director of Silverwind Enterprises, a Florida-based firm that provides executive-level business services. He's also the board chair of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches, an organization with 3,000-plus international members comprised of independent business owners and non-profit career centers such as colleges and universities, military bases, workforce development offices and state Departments of Labor in North America.

In this 165^th episode of “E&P Reports," we review this year's contributions to Editor & Publisher Magazine from consultant Dough Phares's "The Corner Office, his monthly advice column for c-suite executives. Topics we cover include how to better onboard and retain quality talent,  increasing productivity with what he calls a "Big Mac Presentation," and how to bolster sales by "Getting to the no," increasing a manager's self-awareness by asking, "Are you managing or doing?" And there's much more.

There’s mounting pressure on tech titans Google and Facebook to pay local news media to carry their news online. Google has already done deals with some for its News Showcase, but other big names in news are still trying to get the platforms to pay - and the government’s hinting it could force the issue soon.

On January 28^th, 2022, The Dallas Morning News reported on the purchase of a local, suburban metroplex group of weekly newspapers, stating, "Instead of a trip to Hawaii to celebrate 25 years together, Rick and Elizabeth Rogers bought a community newspaper company.” That company is Star Local Media, a community publishing group based in the affluent northeast suburb of Plano, Texas, that prints 14 community newspapers across cities in Denton, Collin, and Dallas counties, with some titles more than 100 years old.

Rick Rogers is not unknown to most in the news publishing business, with his most recent job as Chief Revenue Officer at TownNews. His previous life offered 25 years of editorial, publishing and management experience with corporate roles at ACM and Gatehouse Media in Missouri and Texas.

Rick and his wife Elizabeth have resided for the past 11 years in Frisco — a market served by Star Local Media with the Frisco Enterprise, making them both quite familiar with the communities they serve.

In this 150^th episode of "E&P Reports," we go one-on-one with a longtime industry veteran and recent CRO of TownNews. Rick Rogers' journey from serving media companies as a vendor to becoming owner/ publisher of the Dallas suburban weekly newspaper group, Star Local Media, is highlighted. He talks frankly about why he chose to invest in local media, how he and his wife/ partner Elizabeth are facing the challenges of news publishing in today’s challenging marketplace and how his 1^st quarter P & L fared.

 

Jennifer Kho loves that Chicago is a “two-newspaper town.” She’s the new executive editor at one of those two newspapers, the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kho was E&P Publisher Mike Blinder’s guest on this 148th episode of E&P Reports vodcast. Prior to being named executive editor, Kho was the managing editor at HuffPost and, before that, managing editor at The Guardian (US). While at HuffPost, she became the director for strategic innovation and created an innovation team. She was laid off by the digital news outlet and spent approximately 14 months looking for a job and bridging the employment gap by offering consultative services.

Kho hadn’t even fully moved from Los Angeles to Chicago when the Chicago Sun-Times’ newsroom faced the monumental and solemn challenge of reporting on the July 4th mass shooting in Highland Park. That day, a single shooter, with the aid of high-capacity weapons, murdered seven people and injured dozens, terrorizing and traumatizing the community.

Under new ownership, Stuff has stopped farming its stuff out on Facebook and it's hiring several senior journalists. Another part of the mission to win the trust and respect of readers is a rejigged website free of tabloid-style stuff that used to clog up the homepage. Mediawatch asks editor Mark Stevens where has all the clickbait gone - and why?