Supported by a $2.5 Million Knight Foundation Investment to Accelerate Digital Growth for Publishers
NEW YORK, November 19, 2024 – The Local Media Consortium (LMC) and the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) today announced an expansion of their Digital on Demand Services (DODS) program, an initiative designed to support local newsrooms with accessible content, training, and development resources to foster sustainable digital growth. By leveraging each organization’s strengths—LMC’s expertise in digital business and RJI’s content creation and curation skills—this partnership aims to equip publishers with the tools necessary to thrive in an increasingly digital environment.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has provided a $2.5 million investment to further extend the DODS program’s reach and impact. This support will enable the launch of an Online Marketplace featuring a concierge help desk for publishers, an RJI Learning Center with curated content, training, and best practices, and expanded access to on-demand development and technical consulting resources from LMC.
Many local newsrooms do not have the technical resources needed to address the pace of change and complexities needed to accelerate their digital businesses. A 2022 survey of LMC members found 64% of local media companies have less than three internal digital development resources, and more than one-third (36%) have no internal digital development resources at all.
Launched in 2022 with funds for a pilot from the Google News Initiative, DODS provides local media companies with lower-cost access to developers and technical consulting services. The pilot project has helped provide local publishers with fractional services to tackle more than 50 digital projects from launching a newsletter program to redesigning their website and implementing analytics tools. DODS has received positive feedback from local media companies, as well as requests for expansion.
“We are so grateful to have support from the Knight Foundation and RJI to continue offering this vital digital resource to help local media companies access the technical resources they need to grow their businesses,” said Fran Wills, CEO of the LMC. “The LMC’s digital business and technical expertise, combined with RJI’s content creation and curation skills, is ideal to lead this project.”
RJI will lead the buildout of the platform’s Learning Center to provide guidance and curated content to educate publishers on digital topics. Learnings will be shared through webinars, online training curriculum, case studies, and peer-to-peer collaboration to expand program impact.
“This grant creates a new way for community news organizations to acquire the knowledge, skills and resources to not only survive but thrive in the digital world,” said Randy Picht, executive director of RJI. “It’s not enough to build great tools and programs — they need to be accessible, and that’s where this collaborative effort comes in.”
Funds from Knight Foundation will primarily be used for staffing, the buildout of the marketplace platform, and to help subsidize digital services for small and medium publishers. A portion of the funds will also be used to implement a pilot program to help independent newsrooms that are run by and/or primarily service communities of color to optimize their digital strategy and infrastructure.
“We’re proud to support this partnership between the Local Media Consortium and the Reynolds Journalism Institute,” said Duc Luu, Director of Sustainability Initiatives for Journalism at Knight Foundation. “Through expanded access to essential digital tools and expertise, this program empowers local newsrooms to strengthen their digital presence, engage audiences more effectively, and build sustainable business models that support healthy information ecosystems and vibrant communities.”
Knight Foundation investment will help fund the DODS project through 2027, with a goal to help grow DODS publisher project volume to 300 projects annually by year three. The vision is that DODS will become a one-stop shop for local media to find the most relevant content, consulting resources, and technical implementation services to advance their digital business.
“DODS has been a valuable extension of our limited tech resources, offering a level of expertise and efficiency we couldn’t have managed on our own,” said Bruce Potter, publisher, Inside NoVa. “Their team provides fast and effective solutions that keep our operations running smoothly whenever we face digital challenges. In short, partnering with DODS has been a valuable resource for our business.”
About the Local Media Consortium The Local Media Consortium delivers more than $50M in annual economic value through digital partnerships and strategic initiatives on behalf of more than 150 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 5,000 newspaper, radio, TV and online-only news outlets. By harnessing the combined volume and scale of its members, the LMC reduces costs and increases revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Meta, Monster, and others. The aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 200 million unique monthly visitors, and its member companies serve more than nine billion pageviews to consumers. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com
About RJI
The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) works with the news industry, professors, students and others to make sure journalism has a long and bright future. As a “think-and-do” tank that opened its doors in 2008, RJI uses its guaranteed funding to work exclusively to strengthen journalism in the service of democracy. It’s part of the Missouri School of Journalism.
About the Knight Foundation
The Knight Foundation are social investors who support a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and in the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. KF.org
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