by Deborah Potter.
Most established news organizations have fretted for years about how to remain economically viable in the face of the advertising implosion that has drastically cut their revenue. Newsroom start-ups don’t have the same worries; they have concerns of their own, trying to raise revenue from scratch. Many are following a “membership model” that they hope will lead to financial sustainability. There’s no one template but what most of these efforts have in common is a commitment to turning readers into members, based on trust.
At The Bristol Cable, a small local news outlet in Bristol, England, co-founder Adam Cantwell-Corn says the key is to “get people involved at the earliest stage possible, building a relationship and trust.” He spent a full year mapping and connecting with organizations all over town, listening to their views, before launching the Cable in print and online in October, 2014. “We paid respect to them and the networks they’ve established,” Cantwell-Corn said.
The Cable’s founders placed particular emphasis on hearing from diverse communities, as one of the paper’s goals was to feature voices not regularly heard. “If you see your community [covered], you trust the purveyor of information more. Third-party validation is important for trust, influence and communication.”
Early on, the Cable crowdfunded a series of workshops on journalism to enlist its first 300 members; there are now 2,000. Members pay the equivalent of $1.30 a month minimum (most pay about $4) to support the Cable’s work and they have a voice in how the newsroom is run. Members elect the board of directors, who serve as advisers to and ambassadors for the newsroom; they decide what types of advertising the Cable should accept; and they set budget priorities. Members and experts are invited to meet monthly at different locations around the city to discuss stories the newsroom is covering.
Adam Cantwell-Corn
“It’s important to have a presence, a physical face” for the community, Cantwell-Corn said. “An important part of trust is knowing who these [Bristol Cable] people are, so we keep an open door.”
The paper has evolved from an all-volunteer production and now employs a paid staff of 10, including some part-timers. To recruit and train contributors, who are also paid, the Cable offers a free journalism course, taught in 10 sessions over five months. Participants team up with a mentor and work on projects for publication. The most recent “Media Lab” had 175 applicants for a dozen slots. At the 2018 annual meeting, when members set the Cable’s No. 1 budget priority, they chose investing more time in training community journalists. “It shows our value,” Cantwell-Corn said. “We open pathways to journalism.”
As committed as the Cable is to the membership model, Cantwell-Corn admits it’s not financially viable yet. Foundation funding, including more than $250,000 from the Omidyar Network, has been essential to its survival. “It’s a big task to grow membership,” he said. “If people trust and value the news, they will pay. We have people who are interested. Our task is to make them see the value.”
