What strategies are non-profit media organizations using to become financially viable? Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president of Knight Foundation, talks about the successes of non-profits, the role of foundations in the media and “citizen journalists.” The interview, conducted by Michelle Foster, was done for the newest edition of “Empowering Independent Media,” a publication produced by the National Endowment for Democracy’s Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA).

Knightblog is publishing excerpts in two parts. The first is here.  The second follows:

Michelle Foster: There have been attempts at hybrid commercial/donor-funded news outlets; how sustainable is this approach? Can these media “graduate” to self-sustainability?

Eric Newton: No model is automatically better or worse than any other…In the United States in recent years, there has been a proliferation of nonprofit digital news sites, such as the Texas Tribune, MinnPost and the Bay Citizen. These work in media rich environments where there are commercial media ready to pay in partnerships for news, and where the community is ready to donate. In other parts of the United States, citizen journalism models seem to work better where there is no existing media and where there is a tradition of volunteerism. In the U.S., there’s a new emphasis on collaboration and news sharing between former competitors because of the 15,000 journalists who were downsized since the recession…The only real mistake these days is to not try something new.

Michelle Foster: Is it likely that your organization, or other foundations, will play a larger role in providing operating funds or other direct support to independent media?

Eric Newton: Yes, in the right circumstances and within limits. On a local level, community foundations are providing more ongoing support to community media in the United States. We’ve helped facilitate that through our Knight Community Information Challenge, which matches community foundation funds. On a national level, some of the leading foundations are doing more ongoing support in some of the topic areas where coverage has been cut back, such as education, environment, and public affairs. But, and this is a large concern, we need to be careful. The primary relationship here should be between the news organization and the community it serves.  Foundations only give away a dollar or two of every 10 dollars given away in the United States. Most of the money is given away by individuals. News organizations should connect with their communities…

Michelle Foster: As citizen journalists play an increasingly important role in delivering news, what do you anticipate in terms of the future? Can news outlets powered by citizen journalists become self-sustaining?

Eric Newton: Citizen media can work well. In Deerfield, New Hampshire, the local friends of the library organization noticed that few people wanted to run for local office. They took it upon themselves to change their model of volunteering—and to start volunteering as writers for a new web publication called the Deerfield Forum. The Forum required only $25,000 to establish, which came from a micro-granting program that we supported called New Voices. Six years later, the Forum is still going strong, there are many candidates for public office and voter turnout is up…The New Voices web site is showing that citizen journalism is possible in many different parts of the world as well.

The first edition of “Empowering Independent Media” can be found here. Eric Newton is a member of CIMA’s Advisory Council.