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Illustration by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
“Membership” is a hot topic at journalism discussions and conferences around the world, yet membership in news is not a new idea. We look at how public broadcasters – some of the most experienced membership practitioners in journalism – are adapting as listener behaviors and needs change.
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Illustration by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
We compiled data on the ways that a sample of 50 public radio stations present membership on their sites. We found that most audience asks are financial first, though a few stations are beginning to host more participatory ways that community members can contribute to journalists’ reporting.
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
We’re looking for a few beat reporters with some tolerance for failure to join our experiment in “networked reporting.” In this concept paper we explain what we mean by that. You’ll be part of a learning community with other reporters feeling their way to a membership strategy for beat coverage. Curious? Read on...
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
Membership programs, like journalism business models today, come in many shapes and sizes. In the first of two posts exploring the continuum of membership relative to news organizations’ revenue, we look at sites where membership makes up less than half of revenue but is still an important organizational and community endeavor.
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
What sets apart organizations that depend on (or aim to rely on) members for most of their revenue? In continuing to explore the variety of forms that robust membership takes in the news industry, we examine such sites. Teaser: organizational culture is a major differentiator.
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
We published a new “Guide to Audience Revenue and Engagement” with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. It’s an extended argument for why the future of news will be supported by direct audience revenue cultivated by high levels of engagement -- and how publications can get there. You, too, can contribute.
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
“There are no get-sustainable-quick schemes,” News Revenue Hub’s CTO Tristan Loper said recently. And no news subsidy system is perfect. Here we share some membership limitations and cautionary tales.
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Illustrations by Joost de Haas & Leon Postma, De Correspondent
Leaders within membership in news want more solidarity, success stories, and tactical ideas around a few core themes. We’re creating a professional community of publishers who will learn alongside one another over the next year.
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
Scholars have given careful thought to the relationship between journalists and the people on the receiving end of their work: the audience, the public. Here, we review what this literature might teach us now, especially as journalist + audience interactions evolve.
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Illustrations by Leon Postma, De Correspondent
Our research approach for more audience-engaged design: 1. Listen to members around the world. 2. Map their needs. 3. Turn those needs into practical questions for news sites. 4. See and share what comes out of sites’ own brainstorms. Question, encourage, celebrate.
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