We have JJIE.org and Rep J; NPR now has Argo
Anyone who has been following this PJNet.org site knows about my Representative Journalism concept, which caught the attention of Ruth Ann Harnisch. In time, the Harnisch Foundation provided a substantial gift to start the Center for Sustainable Journalism to test the Rep J idea, which is all about community-supported niche journalism.
Our first topic-centered project is the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, JJIE.org. It is a trial run to see if the community of people concerned about juvenile justice will support our professional journalism with citizen media content — and eventually financial support.
I often said in the past, that public radio and TV would be the perfect place to try Representative Journalism, niche journalism. I even made the pitch once to Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS. You can can listen to it here starting at about the 5:30 minute mark of this video:
Today NPR has launched its Argo Network. Paid Content writes in part:
The Argo Network goes live officially today: twelve sites hosted by 14 stations, each zeroing in on a topic of specific interest to that community relevance—local music in Philly, education and technology in the Bay Area, climate change on Cape Cod, New York state politics, the military in San Diego…
NPR wants to show that with the right resources, stations can create beats of value to the community and in turn increase their own audience and value by using the internet as a platform for original content.
Sounds familiar and feels nice to see an idea begin to blossom. You can see a full list of the participating NPR affiliated stations and the topics they are covering.
