Representative Journalism

At just about the time as I am writing this, Bonnie Obremski, our first Representative Journalism fellow, is arriving in Northfield, Minnesota. Once she settles in, she will be filing in-depth stories for the Locally Grown blog run by Ross Currier, Tracy Davis and Griff Wigley.
Of course, Bill Densmore, who is giving logistics support, Chris [...]

Now that we have our Northfield, Minnesota Community Reporting Fellowship posted at JournalismJobs.com, I am sure more people will be interested in knowing more about us. There are really three five parts to us now. The three of us who are overseeing the daily workings of the trial, our national advisory board, andour funding partner, [...]

Want the freedom to do high quality, ethically sound journalism in an inviting atmosphere; then this one-year fellowship might be perfect for you. Please spread the word, this will be a dream assignment for the right person.
Help chart the future of local news and community. Apply for a Representative Journalism Fellowship. Leonard [...]

 This from the State of the News Media 2008 report produced by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Important issues get little attention as reporting resouces shrink:
…consider the list of the domestic issues that each filled less than a single percent of the newshole: education, race, religion, transportation, the legal system, housing, drug trafficking, gun control, [...]

Chris Densmore, Chris Peck and I spent a big part of yesterday with our Northfield, Minnesota collaborators at Locally Grown, where the first Representative Journalismexperiment will take place. What a great group of people they are: Griff Wigley, Tracy Davis and Ross Currier. You can see and hear us on a podcast from the [...]

Things are moving forward for our Representative Journalism trial project in Northfield, Minnesota. First big news is a job opening. As you will see, it is a temporary, part-time gig, but could grow into something more permanent — but we can’t make any promises. Here is the job description, spread the word:
Northfield, Minnesota has [...]

The New York Times has an article today on how Consumer Reports online survives from paid subscriptions, while the prevailing wisdom is that people will not pay for online information. Here is an excerpt:
For a decade, however, Consumer Reports has charged Internet readers the same price as print subscribers, currently $26 a year (or $5.99 for a [...]

At my sister site, PJNet.org, I have been running a series of videos on the future of journalism. Today I decided to run one of the videos here instead because it plays into the Representative Journalism concept so well. At ConvergeSouth 2007 I did an interview with Anton Zuiker of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of [...]

I have touted the idea of hiring super journalists, who provide so much good and new information that they create value for their Representative Journalism communities. However, these excellent reporters will need excellent editors — and often they will need excellent editors who understand the issue or discipline underlying each Representative Journalism community. If the [...]

The New York Times has a story about the nonprofit St. Petersburg Times, with this key excerpt:
 “We don’t put out a newspaper to make money,” says Paul C. Tash, the chief executive of the Times Publishing Company, which oversees the paper. “We make money so we can put out a great newspaper.”
Still the St. Petersburg Times [...]