Journalism’s traditional financial models are dying. Could churches, environmental movements, and open source communities hold clues to its survival?

Members often contribute to organizations in ways that are not easily quantifiable, and most participatory contributions are often hard to distill into a single line item. Is it possible to measure the value of participation and, more importantly, is it something we should even be measuring in the first place?

If you don't have processes for ongoing, visible, and participatory ways to involve members from the start, you are setting the stage for their disappointment. News entrepreneurs from around the world share how they make space for their members to vote, test, and weigh in regularly.

For those eager to shift the news paradigm, Join the Beat collaborations with community members show how networked reporting opens up a “really big group of sources,” as De Correspondent migration reporter Maite Vermeulen said. Read more about starting engagement well before publishing and promotion with audience-oriented discovery and research.

The Correspondent put forward a model for more inclusive journalism by putting people at the center and consistently communicating. Read how the project’s success in crowdfunding $2.6MM reflects three years of diligent planning and purposefulness. It also reflects cohesive design elements; Dutch “proof”; and a clear value proposition.

The people formerly known as the audience tell us they’re motivated to learn, contribute expertise, be heard, be granted transparency, express support for a cause, and meet people with shared values. You can learn from news organizations around the world about how they responsibly, enthusiastically allow community members past the gatekeeper and make coverage that saves and generates money.

The focus of newsroom business model innovation has largely shifted from advertisers to audience members. Heather Bryant looks at what it will take for newsrooms to create pathways to membership for low and no income audiences: people who have been historically excluded from mutually beneficial relationships with newsrooms.

“Low-income people do spend money. If they're not spending money on your product, that is about your product. It's not about them,” said Sarah Alvarez of Outlier Media. Read on about why we need stronger collaborations between news organizations and community members to redefine what is and isn’t considered “newsworthy,” learn what makes for exploitive or respectful depictions, and do damage control.

We’re launching a global fund to help identify and share best practices for supporting and sustaining independent journalism in the 21st century. If you and your members have insights to uncover about participation path design, inclusion and equity, organizational listening, membership tools and tech, and related themes, we hope you’ll indicate your interest.

Media organisations the world over consider engagement a central tenet of their work — but what that looks like varies widely. We examine the continuum of practices aiming to promote deeply participatory levels of engagement, and the challenges of inviting members into collaborative decision-making and co-production.