[MGP-Forum Announce] Is it better to build, not buy, metro news organizat...

[Markkarlin at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/28/2006 9:14:15 AM Central Standard Time,  
steve at coanews.org writes:

I think  building new community news organizations is usually the way  
to go,  but it
depends on the situation.  But I think it is important that  they be 
non-profit
incorporated, as we have seen what has happened to  for-profit  
alternative daily
newspapers - they have been bought  up by one corporation, and in many  
cases that
corporation has  removed the unprofitable local content that was once   
available.

Being non-profit also means that one person or group of  people won't  
be creating a
community website in order to create a  golden egg for later in life =  
selling out when
the time is  right.

Sustainable long term community media should be non-profit and  independent.

-I do still respect community media projects that are  for-profit (I  
think coastsider.com
falls in this category), but I  do not think it is the long term  
solution to our
privatized media  system.

Just my two cents,
Steve

Quoting Bill Densmore  <densmore at densmoreassociates.com>:


Steve and I have discussed this and I think there are room for both  models.
 
The reality is if you look at non-profit media, it also too often  fails.  
Look at what happened to non-profit FM classical stations.   Look at what 
happened to the fight over Pacifica.
 
I've also been witness to many non-profit boards in advocacy areas fight  
over whether they were going to go centrist or be more aggressive -- and this  
split the boards apart.
 
Also, non-profit media is still responsible to funders. If a major funder  
indicates that they don't like the direction that the non-profit media project  
is going, they can pull the rug out from under the project.  In short, the  
same issues of compromise occur in non-profits as in for-profits, only they are  
a bit different in terms of why they occur.
 
I will rest my case with what has happened to NPR and PBS in America.   Yes, 
there is a government component to those two entities, but the issue  extends 
far beyond that and includes their major non-government funders.
 
Non-profit status is no guarantee of purity or sustainability.  You  still h
ave to kow tow to funders, who although they don't make a profit, are  still 
stakeholders, even if not shareholders.
 
There's also the issue that there is limited non-profit money.   Utlimately, 
the new media is going to have to prove its value in the  marketplace. It is 
going to have to be desired by people.  They are going  to have to monetize it 
one way or the other.
 
Mark Karlin
Editor and Publisher
BuzzFlash.com
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