Given the fact that many newspapers seem headed toward nonprofit status anyway, it's perhaps not surprising that someone would try to make it official. Legislation introduced this week by Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland would enable newspapers to establish themselves as tax-exempt nonprofits and qualify for significant expense savings courtesy of Uncle Sam. Under the Cardin measure, they wouldn't have to pay income taxes on income derived from advertising sales. That's a big difference from existing IRS regulations, which customarily extract federal income taxes on advertising revenue derived by nonprofits. (There are a number of exceptions to this, including one……Continue Reading Newspapers as non-profits? Tax savings but some big downsides
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Legislation would give newspapers a non-profit avenue
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ExecTweets tries to capitalize on Twitter
No one has quite figured out how to harness Twitter's popularity into a revenue stream. But the ad network, Federated Media, is about to try. The group has launched ExecTweets, a site sponsored by Microsoft, which aggregates "tweets" from business executives. Twitter users can reply directly from the site, recommend new executives to follow and other community-oriented features. You can read the blog post from Mashable here…….Continue Reading ExecTweets tries to capitalize on Twitter
Saving newspapers through ad optimization?
The Rubicon Project is currently the third-largest online advertising company, after Google and Yahoo!. The Los Angeles based company is now promising that their ad-optimization technology could increase online revenue for news outlets by 60 percent. Frank Addante, the company's founder, suggests that technology that can adapt ads to the particular article in more sophisticated ways will increase profits for news outlets, eventually making up for the loss of advertising on the print side. You can read the Los Angeles Times article in its entirety here…….Continue Reading Saving newspapers through ad optimization?
Mother Jones may be the model
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that non-profit magazine Mother Jones has recently been fielding phone calls about their funding and operations. The investigative news magazine takes in money from advertising and circulation, but half of its funding comes from contributions. In this climate, some are looking to this magazine as a model for others. You can read the article in the San Francisco Chronicle here…….Continue Reading Mother Jones may be the model
Carnegie: Challenges of foundation-funded journalism
The director of the Journalism Initiative at the Carnegie Corporation, Susan King, discusses the difficulties in foundation-funded journalism. She cites the different measures that foundations and journalism use for successful work as one example. Journalists typically view a story's success by the number of people who heard or read the story, while her foundation is more focused on engagement and impact. You can read the Nieman Journalism Lab summary on foundation based journalism, as well as the PDF of King's article …….Continue Reading Carnegie: Challenges of foundation-funded journalism
GlobalPost launches paid site
GlobalPost, an online site devoted to international reporting, is launching Passport, a section of the site available only for paid subscribers. The site currently offers international news articles for free, but Passport will offer participants access to the GlobalPost correspondents, including the ability to suggest stories and receive email alerts from the journalists. This is the third prong of the GlobalPost business strategy; its free content is supported by advertising and other media outlets who pay to use GlobalPost content. You can read the entire New York Times article here…….Continue Reading GlobalPost launches paid site
Citizens start their own news site
In a small Colorado town called Carbondale, residents lost their local paper at the end of 2008. Deprived of vital local happenings, a group of volunteers has started their own, non-profit newspaper. The team consists of seven volunteers with one editor, the only paid member of the staff. The news site relies on local advertisers for funding. Hyperlocal at its best! You can read the full Los Angeles Times article here…….Continue Reading Citizens start their own news site
Newssift, A search engine for business professionals
The Financial Times has launched a new, business-oriented search engine called Newssift. The engine will focus on relevant databases, international business news outlets, professional sites, and other relevant sources. The search engine will be free to users and will depend on ad revenue for funding. Robin Johnson, CEO of Financial Times Search, says the company could begin charging for the service at a later date. You can read the story in its entirety on the Editors' Weblog. Postscript: As of February 23, 2010, Newssift was removed from the FT website…….Continue Reading Newssift, A search engine for business professionals
A start-up seeks to franchise news Web sites
Some veterans of the digital news industry are iseeking financial backing for their start-up, currently called Prism. The company's goal is to provide a platform for interested groups–from civic leaders to former journalists–to publish a news Web sites that can offer coverage equivalent to a daily newspaper. Prism will operate on a for-profit, franchise model, and is designed to help franchisees compete in large markets with a combination of original content and news aggregation. You can read the full article about Prism at the Portfolio website…….Continue Reading A start-up seeks to franchise news Web sites