I saw a lot of things on my first trip to Nashville: biking bridal showers, tractor-pulled bridal showers, hot-tub-party-bus bridal showers.
But on Friday, in a chilly convention center, I heard something I’ve been thinking for a long time now. The business narrative of local news is one of failure, said Michele McLellan, but there are “pockets of success.”
McLellan has been tracking the births and lives of local news startups since 2008 with Michele’s List. In Nashville, at the Local Independent Online News Publishers’ annual conference, she told us that since 2008, she’s tracked 26 for-profit local online news sites starting each year, and that four out of five of them have made it for five years.
On the day after learning of more layoffs at the Tampa Bay Times, which Poynter owns and with whom I've been working on an obit experiment, McLellan’s data felt encouraging. It doesn’t fix those layoffs, or the many, many others that have devastated local newsrooms for years.
But there are pockets of success.
I’ve seen them in covering how local newspapers are transforming for digital with subscription growth, smarter use of social media and cool projects that can reach readers and grow revenue. I’ve also seen them in the growth of independent local online sites that are well-established, just getting started and starting to expand.
I didn’t get to talk to McLellan in person in Nashville, but did send her an email with a few follow-up questions.
I asked what she’s most excited about now in local news:
“I am excited about the progress that born-on-the-web news organizations are making, both the nonprofits and the for-profits. Both segments have stabilized considerably in the past decade in terms of their revenue. New ones can take advantage of support systems and peer learning that were not available 10 years ago. There are a lot of challenges but these publishers are very driven to produce good journalism and they should see more public support as traditional sources recede and the attacks on the press unfortunately sharpen.”
And her biggest worry?
“...That fake news propagandists will invade local news deserts before legitimate startups can get there.”
I heard about several cool projects from local newsrooms in Nashville. You can read about one of them – local coverage of esports – today.
Also, it wasn’t all bachelorette-spotting last weekend. I did trek to the Grand Ole Opry to see the Dolly Parton exhibit, which was a rhinestoned, hair-sprayed and magical pocket of success, too.
From the exhibit 'Dolly: My Opry Memories.' (Photo by Kristen Hare)
While you’re here:
That’s it for me! See you next week!
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