Creating Community With Journalism

Journalism is changing. Every week, another group of newspapers goes out of print. As hard as it is to swallow for many, especially old school journalists, the mentality of the journalists must adapt if they want to survive in this ever-changing world.

Ben Ilfield, COO of the Sacramento Press saw the need to make a change, and has some incredible success. Ironically, the strategies and methods used by this new, strictly online community newspaper contradict everything that conventional journalists both agree with and conform to.

When the local news conglomerate decided to drop their local offices to save funding, and focus only on ‘big news,’ Ilfield saw an incredible need for localized, community news source. So, he turned to the community.

Over the past year, The Sacramento Press has been created and run mainly with the help of community journalists. Citizens of the community who are passionate about making their neighborhoods a better place contribute their time and energy on a regular basis to provide highly relevant content for local readers. As payment, they get to see their community improve and connect because of their writing.

The Sacramento Press provides tools for these amateur writers, such as photography workshops to help volunteers take compelling photos, writing classes, and even free copy editing.  This helps to encourage writers to provide the best possible content.

Beyond offering this great collection of tools, the Press empowers authors to publish their articles at any time on the website… and then encourages them to interact.  Often times, an article will create controversy or discussion.  Authors are encouraged to participate in the discussion (in a non-contentious manner). This allows them to better understand the interests and personalities of their audience, as well as explain things in the article that may have created confusion. In a nutshell, communicating with the readers rather opens up a whole new way to create a community within the community, creating loyalty and a sense of ownership of the project.

This mentality has helped the Sacramento Press grow hand over fist over their first year of publication.  They grow at a rate of nearly 50% per month, and that growth has been consistent.

They are now able to help other local publications grow in relevance, popularity and credibility. Obviously, the idea of creating a community to retake the local press is ingenious, and it can even be very profitable.  If you ask me, it’s time for journalists to look at making a change… especially if you are trying to create an community.

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