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The Membership Puzzle Project

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Featured
What a failed media startup can teach us about involving readers in reporting
Apr 4, 2018
What a failed media startup can teach us about involving readers in reporting
Apr 4, 2018

When OpenFile said it wanted to give readers more editorial control, the media community called it revolutionary. When the project closed two years later, they called it a failure. Somewhere in the middle is a valuable lesson about what it takes to put readers at the center of a news site.

Read More →
Apr 4, 2018
On-air, online, and on demand: The changing face of public radio membership
Mar 22, 2018
On-air, online, and on demand: The changing face of public radio membership
Mar 22, 2018

“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.

Read More →
Mar 22, 2018
Cut through the static with our database of 50 public radio sites and their membership models
Mar 22, 2018
Cut through the static with our database of 50 public radio sites and their membership models
Mar 22, 2018

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.

Read More →
Mar 22, 2018
Introducing Join the Beat, a force multiplier for beat reporting
Mar 7, 2018
Introducing Join the Beat, a force multiplier for beat reporting
Mar 7, 2018

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...

Read More →
Mar 7, 2018
Why newsrooms pursue membership when it's a fraction of their revenue
Feb 22, 2018
Why newsrooms pursue membership when it's a fraction of their revenue
Feb 22, 2018

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.

Read More →
Feb 22, 2018
Lessons from majority member-funded sites & being clear about who sites serve
Feb 22, 2018
Lessons from majority member-funded sites & being clear about who sites serve
Feb 22, 2018

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.

Read More →
Feb 22, 2018
Our guide to the future of audience-funded journalism & how you can add to it
Feb 8, 2018
Our guide to the future of audience-funded journalism & how you can add to it
Feb 8, 2018

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.

Read More →
Feb 8, 2018
When membership might not be your publication’s best path forward
Jan 17, 2018
When membership might not be your publication’s best path forward
Jan 17, 2018

“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.

Read More →
Jan 17, 2018
Drumroll, please: We’re launching a research affiliate program to connect & study publishers
Dec 12, 2017
Drumroll, please: We’re launching a research affiliate program to connect & study publishers
Dec 12, 2017

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.

Read More →
Dec 12, 2017
Must read literature on membership in news
Nov 29, 2017
Must read literature on membership in news
Nov 29, 2017

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.

Read More →
Nov 29, 2017
Featured
What a failed media startup can teach us about involving readers in reporting
Apr 4, 2018
What a failed media startup can teach us about involving readers in reporting
Apr 4, 2018

When OpenFile said it wanted to give readers more editorial control, the media community called it revolutionary. When the project closed two years later, they called it a failure. Somewhere in the middle is a valuable lesson about what it takes to put readers at the center of a news site.

Read More →
Apr 4, 2018
On-air, online, and on demand: The changing face of public radio membership
Mar 22, 2018
On-air, online, and on demand: The changing face of public radio membership
Mar 22, 2018

“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.

Read More →
Mar 22, 2018
Cut through the static with our database of 50 public radio sites and their membership models
Mar 22, 2018
Cut through the static with our database of 50 public radio sites and their membership models
Mar 22, 2018

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.

Read More →
Mar 22, 2018
Introducing Join the Beat, a force multiplier for beat reporting
Mar 7, 2018
Introducing Join the Beat, a force multiplier for beat reporting
Mar 7, 2018

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...

Read More →
Mar 7, 2018
Why newsrooms pursue membership when it's a fraction of their revenue
Feb 22, 2018
Why newsrooms pursue membership when it's a fraction of their revenue
Feb 22, 2018

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.

Read More →
Feb 22, 2018
Lessons from majority member-funded sites & being clear about who sites serve
Feb 22, 2018
Lessons from majority member-funded sites & being clear about who sites serve
Feb 22, 2018

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.

Read More →
Feb 22, 2018
Our guide to the future of audience-funded journalism & how you can add to it
Feb 8, 2018
Our guide to the future of audience-funded journalism & how you can add to it
Feb 8, 2018

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.

Read More →
Feb 8, 2018
When membership might not be your publication’s best path forward
Jan 17, 2018
When membership might not be your publication’s best path forward
Jan 17, 2018

“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.

Read More →
Jan 17, 2018
Drumroll, please: We’re launching a research affiliate program to connect & study publishers
Dec 12, 2017
Drumroll, please: We’re launching a research affiliate program to connect & study publishers
Dec 12, 2017

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.

Read More →
Dec 12, 2017
Must read literature on membership in news
Nov 29, 2017
Must read literature on membership in news
Nov 29, 2017

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.

Read More →
Nov 29, 2017

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