Across the country, non-profit news sites are springing up to fill the void left by struggling newspapers and other traditional media, Rob Gurwitt reports at Stateline.org. They’re as different as the places they cover, but all face the same question: Can they figure out a way to sustain themselves financially in the long term?
Gurwitt talks to editors, publishers and staffers at several sites, including The Mirror, and finds a variety of approaches, from NPR-style corporate underwriting to fundraising “roasts” featuring political luminaries. In the end, says Eric Newton of the Knight Foundation, a major supporter of non-profit news ventures, the key is for the news organizations to “connect with their communities.”