Media Business Research
Broadband Everywhere
March 5, 2019, 11:26 amJim Cashel
Internet access is coming to the other half of the planet through rapid expansion of broadband technologies. Media organizations that recognize the speed and reach of this expansion will enjoy major new and positive opportunities. In this paper, Shorenstein Fellow Jim Cashel reviews the expanding network of broadband access, and makes recommendations for media companies adapting to this new global reality.
Email for Newsrooms: A Research Summary
January 16, 2019, 11:17 amAfter nearly a decade of decrying email as a rusty old relic of the early internet days, journalists and media outlets are coming to rely more and more on the email newsletter as the backbone of their audience engagement and growth strategies. Over the last year, the Single Subject News Project, part of the News Business Models team at the Shorenstein Center, has been looking at how small nonprofit newsrooms are using email, and specifically email newsletters.
The Brain Trust Initiative
December 19, 2018, 2:33 pmBy George Twumasi, Fall 2018 Joan Shorenstein Fellow
The Brain Trust Initiative is a vision to unleash the power of digital media as a force for change across sub-saharan Africa. Abstract: Media in sub-Saharan Africa is at a crossroads. Journalism as a change agent within sub-Saharan Africa has…
Facebook Friends? The Impact of Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm Changes on Nonprofit Publishers
October 26, 2018, 9:12 amAndrew Gruen, Research Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Principal Consultant, Working Paper; and Aisha Townes, Data Science Consultant to the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
Abstract: This paper analyzes the changes in traffic from Facebook to non- profit news organizations before and after the major change to the Facebook News Feed in January 2018, implemented in response to the controversy over fake news dissemination from Russian…
Business Models for Local News: A Field Scan
September 6, 2018, 9:55 amBy Elizabeth Hansen, Emily Roseman and Matthew Spector of the Shorenstein Center; and Joseph Lichterman of the Lenfest Institute
The views expressed in Shorenstein Center Discussion Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Harvard Kennedy School or of Harvard University. Discussion Papers have not undergone formal review and approval. Such papers are included in…
Funding Journalism, Finding Innovation: Success Stories and Ideas for Creative, Sustainable Partnerships
June 20, 2018, 9:00 amReported and edited by: Dwight Knell, former consultant, Shorenstein Center; Nina Sachdev, Communications Director, Media Impact Funders; Jessica Clark, Research Director, Media Impact Funders
Co-published by the Shorenstein Center and Media Impact Funders. Image credit: South Kern Sol, a youth media hub funded by The California Endowment. Introduction There has been perhaps no other moment in history so volatile and uncertain—yet full…
Funding the News: Foundations and Nonprofit Media
June 18, 2018, 5:45 amBy Matthew Nisbet, Professor, John Wihbey, Assistant Professor, Silje Kristiansen, Post-doctoral Associate & Aleszu Bajak, Lecturer at Northeastern University
Working paper co-published by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Northeastern University’s School of Journalism. This research was supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Barr Foundation with special…
Playbook for Launching a Local, Nonprofit News Outlet
June 12, 2018, 8:15 amBy Adam Fisher, MPP student, Harvard Kennedy School and Adam B. Giorgi, MPP student, Harvard Kennedy School
This playbook was written as part of a policy analysis exercise (PAE), an academic project where Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) students develop solutions for a public or nonprofit sector policy or management issue presented by a client organization. News Revenue…
In the Shadow of Kerner: Fifty Years Later, Newsroom Diversity and Equity Stall
May 22, 2018, 5:45 amBy Farai Chideya, Joan Shorenstein Fellow, Spring 2017, and Program Officer, Ford Foundation
Introduction The staffing of the American news media has never fully reflected the diversity of the nation. For most of the country’s history, Latino and non-white journalists were not welcomed in white-run newsrooms and, through their own news outlets, produced…
VTDigger: A Rising Star In Nonprofit News
May 21, 2018, 8:45 amBy Tim Griggs for the Institute for Nonprofit News
A case study presented by the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and the Single Subject News Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. This report was produced with the generous support of the John S. and…
