Comments on: Using AP fees wisely

By: Stephen Larson

Stephen Larson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:57:09 +0000

Woops, you’re right about Knight funding for-profits, I got that wrong.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:07:50 +0000

The News Challenge actually funds for-profit ventures. The caveat is that whatever they produce has to be open source (there's more in the FAQs). I still think this idea has a lot of merit and, if a newspaper were actually willing to take the dare, I'd be more than happy to help them smooth the rough edges of the competition.

By: Stephen Larson

Stephen Larson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:02:35 +0000

@Daniel KnightNews Challenge is a non-profit that requires the funded entity be non-profit also. I don’t think many newspapers are non-profit, which I guess is my point. Newspapers that provide the funding you suggest would want to make a profit.

One point I totally agree with is that AP content “offer[s] little value online” and a link to that content is probably more than enough for national news on a local newspaper website (if it belongs there at all).

I don’t know much money dropping the online license to AP content will generate as I think the online license is a small add on to the print license. The online license used to be free with the print license.

A license to AP content for print is, I believe, the main reason newspapers get AP content.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:13:06 +0000

@Stephen I think there are varying degrees of ownership that could exist with this suggestion. To my understanding, there are two ways a venture fund would try to turn a profit on a startup. One, they'd build the company's value with the intent of trying to get it bought by a larger firm. Two, the startup would have a business model, go for an IPO, and then the venture firm would make a profit off the stock. What I'm suggesting in this post, though, is a little bit different. I'm not sure how much money most newspapers spend on AP, but I'm pretty darn sure that it would be better spend on funding creativity. I envision having a contest, a la the Knight News Challenge, where the money is seeded based on the merit of the idea.

By: Stephen Larson

Stephen Larson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:49:40 +0000

You suggest that newspapers “fund” local news startups but then say if things work out for the startup, the newspaper should then buy them.

Doesn’t funding a startup imply ownership?

As I understand it, the way it works is someone funds a startup then SELLS the startup if it works out.

Maybe I’m missing something.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:51:41 +0000

Totally agree that newspapers aren’t ballsy enough to do it on their own, while most of them have yet to realise the potential of the internet, linking etc.

Once more newspapers start to struggle they’ll start cutting the contract quickly, realising AP syndication is overpriced and often irrelevant.

Good idea…

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:47:59 +0000

Right. It would provide nutrients for the old growth forest Steven Johnson talks about and save local journalism. We just need someone with clout to challenge a newspaper to do it, because most aren't ballsy enough to do it on their own.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:12:50 +0000

Nice post and makes a lot of sense. For the last couple years I haven’t really understood why papers continue their AP subscriptions. It seems as though many do it because “all the others do.”

If only a portion of the money put forward for tech startups were made available for news innovation I think some tremendous things could be accomplished in a very short time.