Local Journalism: @kdoctor breaks down the lessons from his local news start-up PLUS beabee a new platform to support membership for community news providers

Ken Doctor launched Lookout Santa Cruz 18 months. Surviving this long in the teeth of the pandemic is impressive. Much of the business isn't anything too experimental based primarily on advertising and circulation, or in this case membership. As he says, this is mostly about execution, which is what any business owner will tell you. They have had good luck with sponsored content, and they are starting to explore some philanthropic funding. It's well worth reading because he is clear about the challenge - being able to pay more journalists to cover the community by building a sustainable business.

The Local Media Association in the US interviewed an executive with a state public group about the local media landscape. One thing that she flags up is concern about subscription saturation. With media becoming unbundled, how many subscriptions will people carry?

To help support membership - the model that public media in the US uses - Journalism.co.uk has a review of beabee, a new platform to help small newsrooms build community around their work with the goal to convert those community members into paying members.

PLUS On the social media front, Social Media Today summarises a new report on the best times to post on various social media platforms. Facebook may be losing interest in podcasting. And the war in Ukraine drives record use of Reuters' video (with a good summary of their coverage efforts and the challenges of reporting there).

Ken Doctor: 18 months after launching a local news company (in an Alden market), here’s what I’ve learned | Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org

"The term 'news desert' has been a shorthand, but the real problem here and elsewhere is that this region lacked the number of journalists it needed to thoroughly inform the public."

Media transformation and opportunity: Q&A with new LMA board member Deanna Fox, SVP at Connecticut Public - Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation — localmedia.org

As a new board member for Local Media Association in 2022, we asked Deanna Fox, senior vice president, of underwriting, product and partnerships at Connecticut Public, five questions about the state of the industry and media transformation.

Introducing beabee: a platform to help community news outlets build membership models | Media news — www.journalism.co.uk

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, The Bristol Cable and CORRECTIV have come together to launch a trusted platform for the smallest newsrooms to monetise their loyal audience

New Report Provides Insight into Best Posting Times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn | Social Media Today — www.socialmediatoday.com

Social Media Today

Facebook is losing interest in its podcasting plans, new report claims – TechCrunch — techcrunch.com

Last April, Facebook announced a suite of new audio products, including new support for podcasts and a Clubhouse live audio competitor, which was an indication that it was taking the threat from other audio platforms more seriously. Now, barely a year after Facebook began its foray into podcasting and audio features, the company’s interest in […]

Global interest in Ukraine drives record usage of Reuters content — pressgazette.co.uk

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.