Toolbox Management & Financing

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Mapping the World's Digital Media Ecosystem: The Quest for Sustainability

James Breiner

In: What is Sustainable Journalism? Integrating the Environmental, Social, and Economic Challenges of Journalism

Peter Berglez; Ulrika Olausson; Mart Ots (eds.)

New York et al.: Peter Lang (2018), pp. 257-276

"Over the past years, a range of different databases have been constructed, and research efforts have been made to find the key to making digital news ventures successful. Many of them have searched for best practices, or a secret recipe for a business model that would make the news business economi ... more

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Digital Monetization for Publishers: New Ways to Capture Consumer Revenue

Ryan Nakashima, Anne Cai

Associated Press (AP) (2018), 20 pp.

"Newspapers have come a long way since youngsters hawked the latest edition on street corners or metal boxes collected coins from anonymous visitors sucked in by a juicy headline. Today’s publishers need to be much more savvy about distribution, getting their arms around who their customers are, w ... more

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Nuevos modelos radiofónicos: Las redes de podcast en Argentina: Producción, distribución y comercialización de la radio on demand

Agustín Eduardo Espada

Question, volume 1, issue 59, e081 (2018), 20 pp.

"El movimiento podcaster está formado por una amplia variedad de participantes: pequeños, medianos, independientes, corporativos, fugaces, históricos. Este artículo propone la descripción de cuatro casos caracterizados como “redes de podcast”. Estos proyectos fueron diseñados para y subsis ... more

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DIV-A: Diversity Accelerator. A Practical Guide to Setting Up a Digital, Diverse, Media Business

Council of Europe (2018), 51 pp.

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VTDigger: A Rising Star in Nonprofit News

Tim Griggs

Institute for Nonprofit News;Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (2018), 35 pp.

Google Scholar (9)

WorldCat (10)

La presse en ligne en Afrique francophone: Dynamiques et défis d'une filière en construction

Sokhna Fatou Seck-Sarr

Paris: L'Harmattan (2017), 235 pp.

"L’auteure considère que des stratégies d’acteurs sont observables au coeur de la filière en construction de l’information en ligne et qu’il existe une redéfinition des rôles autour de la production, de la diffusion et de la consommation de l’information en ligne. L’ouvrage envisage ... more

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Punto de inflexión: Impacto, amenazas y sustentabilidad. Estudio de emprendedores de medios digitales latinoamericanos
Top Insights

SembraMedia;Omidyar Network (2017), 68 pp.

"Este estudio es el primer estudio exhaustivo sobre el impacto que tienen emprendedores de medios digitales, los riesgos a los que se enfrentan, y si ha surgido un modelo de negocio viable para el periodismo digital independiente y de calidad. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, SembraMedia, con ... more

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Inflection Point: Impact, Threats, and Sustainability. A Study of Latin American Digital Media Entrepreneurs
Inspiring Practice

Janine Warner, Mijal Lastrebner, Dulce Ramos, Jordy Meléndez, Ernesto Aroche, Mauricio Jaramillo, Sérgio Lüdtke, María Eugenia Álvarez et al.

SembraMedia;Omidyar Network (2017), 68 pp.

"The main finding of this study is that digital media entrepreneurs are deeply transforming the way that journalism is conducted and consumed in Latin America. They are not just producing news — they are generators of change, promoting better laws, defending human rights, exposing corruption, and ... fighting abuses of power. They are driven to produce independent news in countries that are highly politically polarized — and some of them are paying a high price for it [...] Nearly half the journalists interviewed for this study reported threats and physical attacks in response to their coverage. More than 20% of the founders and directors we interviewed admitted that they avoided covering certain topics, people, and institutions because of threats and intimidation. Others face punitive lawsuits, cyber-attacks, never-ending audits, and the loss of advertising revenues in retaliation for their coverage. Digital natives in Latin America have an even more important role to play than their counterparts in the over-saturated media markets of the developed world. News ownership is highly concentrated in these countries, and government advertising is frequently used to reward compliant media outlets. Even in the face of these legal, financial, and physical threats, entrepreneurial journalists are building sustainable businesses around quality journalism. The advent of social media and easy-to-use web design tools has made it possible to launch a digital media venture almost entirely on sweat equity. More than 70% of the ventures in this study started with less than $10,000, and more than 10% of those now bring in at least a half million dollars a year in revenues. After analyzing data on traffic, finances, revenue sources, staffing, and years in business, we identified four distinct tiers of business development. Diversified revenue was key to success, especially in the mid tiers, and we found more than 15 distinct revenue sources, including events, training, membership, crowdfunding, and native advertising. More than 65% reported they were earning revenue in at least three ways. In the top tier, where audiences reach more than 20 million visits per month, advertising is the top revenue source, but not the only one. In the mid ranges, there is no dominant business model and diversified revenue sources that combine advertising with audience-driven sources, such as events and crowdfunding, are crucial for sustainability. When we analyzed the lower tiers, we found lots of opportunities for improvement. Despite their dedication to quality journalism, more than 30% brought in less than $10,000 in total revenues in 2016. Broadly speaking, we found two paths to growing these businesses: building audience to drive traffic and advertising, or leveraging the loyalty of the audience to inspire micro-donations and the 15 other ways they are making money." (Executive summary, pages 6-8) more

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The State of Technology in Global Newsrooms

International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) (2017), 76 pp.

"The State of Technology in Global Newsrooms is the first-ever survey on the adoption of digital technologies in news media worldwide. The International Center for Journalists, working with Georgetown University, conducted the study in 12 languages, and received more than 2,700 responses from journa ... more

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Transforming Media: Neue Geschäftsmodelle in der digitalen Welt

Markus Kaiser, Stefan Sutor (eds.)

München: Hooffacker (2017), 192 pp.

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Digital Journalism Start-ups in India

Arijit Sen, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2016), 48 pp.

"In this report, we analyse six examples of digital journalism start-ups developing new editorial priorities, distribution strategies, and funding models for an increasingly digital Indian media environment. After years of slow growth, internet use and digital advertising has grown very rapidly in I ... more

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Publishing for Peanuts: Innovation and the Journalism Start-Up

J. J. Robinson, Kristen Grennan, Anya Schiffrin

Columbia University, School of International and Political Affairs;Open Society Foundation (2015), 200 pp.

"Our remit was to look for innovative media outlets that are producing high-quality news, that are technologically innovative and that might actually survive financially. Accordingly, we spent three months interviewing media innovators around the world and reading what others have written on the sub ... ject. This report is divided into seven sections: 1) this introduction, 2) our main findings, 3) two sets of recommendations, one for the media development community and another set for people starting a media outlet, 4) an “Innovation Index” listing practices that we found around the world, 5) a description of our methodology, 6) a review of practitioner reports we read, 7) write-ups describing 35 media outlets, based on interviews we conducted [...] We were inspired and encouraged by what we saw. All over the world, independent media outlets are innovating and overcoming obstacles. Globally, start-ups are demonstrating the drive to take risks for the sake of a good idea. The challenges facing these outlets—and the innovations employed to tackle them—broadly fall into four categories: editorial, business, distribution and security. Operating with agility, media start-ups are finding creative ways to gather and disseminate information. In India, Gram Vaani uses a mobile phone social network to connect the rural poor and circumvent legislative prohibitions on radio broadcasting. In Zimbabwe, The Source survives in the repressive media climate by focusing on business journalism. Oxpeckers in South Africa uses geomapping to report on rhino poaching. Crikey in Australia has built a successful business model based on soliciting tips and scandal from the same audience it reports on and Kenya’s African SkyCAM deploys drones to avoid negotiating with police for access to disaster zones [...] Instead of finding a clear model for what works, we found confirmation of many things we knew or suspected. Independent media outlets vary in size, ambition and model. Few have fully succeeded, while many do one thing well, which typically reflects the founder’s particular strength—usually in journalism or technology [...] Most media outlets we found are small, run by a few full-time staff supplemented by volunteers and freelancers, and supported by a combination of grants, donations and haphazard business endeavors. The leaders at most organizations we interviewed were motivated by a desire to produce high-quality journalism rather than meet particular financial or audience goals." (Executive summary, page 5-7) more

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Chasing Sustainability on the Net: International Research on 69 Journalistic Pure Players and Their Business Models
Inspiring Practice

Esa Sirkkunen, Clare Cook, Risto Kunelius (eds.)

Tampere: Tampere Research Centre for Journalism, Media and Communication (2012), 125 pp.

"The SuBMoJour study has mapped journalistic startups in nine countries. It has created an online database detailing the business models of journalistic startups that are deemed sustainable (www.SuBMoJour.net) and this accompanying narrative report. The study supports research to date that online en ... more

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The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism

Bill Grueskin, Ava Seave, Lucas Graves

New York: Columbia Journalism School, Tow Center for Digital Journalism (2011), 146 pp.

"While this report will examine some traditional, or “legacy,” business models for media, our focus is on the economic issues that news organizations—large and small, old and new—face with their digital ventures. This report focuses on news organizations that do original journalism, defined ... more

Punto de inflexión: Impacto, amenazas y sustentabilidad. Estudio de emprendedores de medios digitales latinoamericanos Top Insights

Inflection Point: Impact, Threats, and Sustainability. A Study of Latin American Digital Media Entrepreneurs Inspiring Practice

Chasing Sustainability on the Net: International Research on 69 Journalistic Pure Players and Their Business Models Inspiring Practice

Punto de inflexión: Impacto, amenazas y sustentabilidad. Estudio de emprendedores de medios digitales latinoamericanos
Top Insights

Inflection Point: Impact, Threats, and Sustainability. A Study of Latin American Digital Media Entrepreneurs
Inspiring Practice

Chasing Sustainability on the Net: International Research on 69 Journalistic Pure Players and Their Business Models
Inspiring Practice