A User-First Framework for Sustaining Local News - Harvard ...

after 17 years, he stood to collect more than $75 million in stock options and other fees
by November 2011. 144
Three considerations stand out in evaluating whether a potential new venture might
make sense: (1) consistency with the organization’s values, (2) sufficient return on
investment and (3) relevance to the organization’s mission. The Post’s acquisition of
Kaplan provides an example of fit much closer on the first two criteria than the third.
Especially in tough economic times, compromising #3 can be appropriate as long as
there’s a match on #1 and #2.
Many new ventures have quite modest beginnings within news organizations,
ranging from a few thousand dollars for the sale of photographs at small papers to six
figure deals for book and speaker programs at larger operations.
In 2008, The Pocono Record generated about $3,200 from reprints of its photos,
probably a bit less this year. Still, according to editor Bill Watson: “That’s a big deal for a
little paper. Our librarian took it on as an in‐house entrepreneurial project. We even
have our photographers shoot people in the crowd at public stuff like festivals and
football games, then post them online as photo galleries. In addition to drawing lots of
hits online, we get some reprint traffic off them.” 145
The Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Ia., has taken the idea of re‐purposing photos one
step further, into book publishing, and has generated six figures in dollar sales with one
of its books and at least $50,000 with five others. 146
Todd Schurz, CEO of Schurz Communications, links new ventures to user interests.
At The South Bend Tribune, that means Notre Dame football. At the company’s Alaska TV
station, it means tourism and a new site called GoToAk.com, which sells day flights,
fishing trips and other services.
“Looking at their numbers,” Schurz says of his Alaska station, “they’re my shining
star for the year.” 147
News start‐ups are including the sort of side ventures that have been common in
professional information businesses and trade publications for decades: in‐depth
research and customized reports. GlobalPost, for example, has created a service that
collects several thousand dollars from clients with deep and specific interest in regions
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