The transformation of media and lessons for the non-profit world
Written by Aron Kirschner on Friday, April 10th, 2009
Filed under News, Synthesis
Much has been written in the last several months regarding the state of peril that surrounds the print media industry, particularly newspapers. The death of traditional media has been heralded for years, with technological changes decreasing both circulation and advertising. However, America’s economic crisis has greatly accentuated these effects, lowering the rates that advertisers are willing to pay, and increasing the difficulty of raising capital or courting potential buyers for failing newspapers. Publicly traded American newspapers have lost over forty percent of their market value within the last three years, and a number of high profile newspapers have gone out of business with others suffering from cash flow issues and imminent demise. The Rocky Mountain News published its final edition in February, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was forced to discontinue its print edition, and several large newspapers including the San Francisco chronicle and the Chicago Sun-Times have been put on endangered lists.
A number of publications and high profile authors have written on the topic, offering suggestions and wisdom to publishers in dire straits. The Atlantic suggests that a post-print Times would mix original reporting with aggregation from other sources. The New Yorker gives praise to new media sources, profiling alternative up-and-comers such as The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo. Though many might consider these sources partial, they have broken important stories and produced reporting available only online through an array of crowd-sourced correspondents. Clay Shirky wrote an influential piece last month deliberating over what he calls the “unthinkable.” Shirky offers the suggestion, “now is the time for experiments” and that “the collection of new experiments that do work might give us the journalism we need”.
Much more can be written about the state of traditional media, the hurdles it must overcome, and the myriad of potential solutions. But, the more interesting issue at hand for many members of the non-profit community is 1. What are the direct consequences for the not-for-profit world? And, 2. What are the important lessons that non-profit leaders can take away from the rapid decline of print media?
The New Yorker, Shirky, and a number of other voices argue that the survivors within the print industry will not be without support from the nonprofit sector. In fact, some newspapers are converting to nonprofit business models, which might require grants, endowments, or donations in place of revenue streams. The Christian Science Monitor (a newspaper that recently shuttered its printing presses) describes a number of new non-profit journalism ventures, such as The Voice of San Diego. Reuters reports that two weeks ago US Senator Benjamin Cardin introduced legislation allowing newspapers to become non-profits if they so choose. Funders that believe in the importance of newspapers might be needed to step in as key sources of funding to save major publishers.
For non-profits, the unexpectedly rapid decline of newspapers only re-emphasizes the need to adapt to a changing era. Allison Fine offered this advice in Beth Kanter’s Philanthropy 2.0 study:
Keep doing what works but know and plan like it isn’t going to work forever. In fact, you should plan that this is the last year you’ll be able to do what you’ve done before successfully. You don’t want to get caught totally off guard like newspapers that thought they had much longer to transition from old to new than they really did.
Non-profits and funders will need to be nimble as they realize what does and does not work. They will also need to be more much more open-minded and flexible in adopting new methods, implementing new ideas, and conducting experiments with new technology, and possibly new business models. Although it is difficult to tell what the future might hold for the non-profit world, if newspapers are any kind of leading indicator, the US’s economic climate in combination with preexisting trends will have a similar impact. The social sector simply needs to be prepared.
Are there other lessons that the non-profit world should take from the transformation and decline of traditional media?
5 Comments to The transformation of media and lessons for the non-profit world
Kos in his inimitable style has said this about turning newspapers into non-profits:
“Well, if the point of bringing in non-profits is to rescue the bloated carcasses that pass as “newspapers” these days, then sure. It’s unworkable. But as I’ve already argued, why should newspapers cover sports when that’s already capably covered in umpteen other outlets? Do they need to pay for David Broder’s column? Do they need AP wire? Do they need a style or celebrity or business sections? A theater or architecture critic? Of course not. And once you pare a news operation down to its proper niche, the size of the operation can be much smaller, like Voice of San Diego.”
April 10, 2009
Allison Fine’s advice seems to me to be a clear call to start experimenting with social media so non-profit leaders know what to do when traditional media has died out.
April 15, 2009
I agree. The question for nonprofits isn’t an either/or when it comes to social media. It’s a YES/AND. The amount of time and resources and change needed to engage in experiments is in the organization’s control. The best way to begin is with small, low risk experiments. Not to engage means playing a game of catch up later or maybe worse.
So, how do you begin the process of change?
April 15, 2009
I think that newspapers and non-profits have one big thing in common: At their best, they are mission-driven organizations. Certainly the big newspaper families (the Bancrofts, the Sulzbergers, the Chandlers, etc.) made a lot of money from their media empires over the years, but they also remained remarkably dedicated, for decades, to particular missions and world views. I am wondering whether the future of newspapers might not just be paper-less, but might also entail a move back to their mission-centered origins. Newspapers need to figure out if and why they still need to exist before they figure out how to continue to exist (social media, new technology, new business models, etc.) Strategy has to come first, tools second.
May 31, 2009
After reading this post, shoot over to the Chronicle for Philanthropy site to read Sean Stannard-Stockton’s post titled, “Philanthropy’s Information Revolution.”
Not sure his phrase, “The Googlization of Philanthropy” has staying power, but his points are strong and implications important.
“Googlization focuses on enabling collaboration and participation by unbundling the process of creating information from its distribution. Since philanthropy is improved exponentially as more information is shared about which social-benefit efforts work — and which ones fail — this is a big moment for philanthropy.
Philanthropy is unlike industries in which the Internet has destroyed business models that relied on the information producer’s maintaining control of distribution. The very technology that is killing newspapers and record companies will revolutionize philanthropy for the better.”
April 10, 2009