Beyond the Paywall: What it really takes to overhaul a news website

Drumroll …

The recipients of the 2022 Sustainable Publishing Solutions grant were announced today by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation! 🎉

Twenty-five newsrooms — including local nonprofits, bilingual organizations and newsrooms serving marginalized groups — were awarded $20,000 one-time grants to adopt, manage or upgrade the digital publishing solution of their choice.

Since 2020, the program has given out $1.5 million in investments to 75 newsrooms.

We are so proud to have partnered with the Knight Foundation over the last three years to manage the application process and assemble the panel of outside reviewers for this exciting initiative.

Thank you to this year’s review panel, which included Feli Carrique, Executive Director at the News Product Alliance, Tyler Fisher, Deputy Director of Technology at News Catalyst, Michael Grant, Founder of Get Current Studio, Elizabeth Hansen, Founder of the Local News Trust, Chloe Kizer, Product and Data Manager at Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, Larry Lee, President and Publisher at The Sacramento Observer, Shirley Qiu, News Analytics Editor at The Washington Post and Meta Stange, NewsMatch Program Manager at the Institute for Nonprofit News.

And now on to our latest case study (a playbook on redesigning your website!) and a new Hub job announcement.

Stacy Fernández
Marketing & Communications Manager

Written by Lizzy Hardison

Overhauling your website is one of the most significant projects you can undertake as a news organization. Whether you’re pursuing a cosmetic redesign or changing your name and identity, few initiatives will have a bigger impact on the way your readers experience your work and perceive your brand.

These projects can be stressful, time-intensive and expensive. But they can also help clarify your unique value as an organization and optimize your site for audience engagement and revenue growth.

This guide includes insights from News Revenue Hub staff members and clients who have managed newsroom rebrands. Our aim is to help you define priorities, balance competing demands among stakeholders, and preserve critical technology so that you can grow your audience and steward your volunteer donor base through this exciting transition.

We’re excited to announce that the American Journalism Project has partnered with the News Revenue Hub to support the launch of the Ohio Local News Initiative, a nonprofit startup that will grow into a statewide network of independent newsrooms across Ohio, starting in Cleveland.

Led by Lila Mills, long-time community builder, journalist, and local Clevelander, the inaugural newsroom is set to launch in the fall. The team will produce daily high-quality journalism that centers community voices and empowers residents to help set the agenda for newsgathering.

The Hub will take a two-fold approach to this partnership: the first work begins before launch to help the Cleveland leadership team develop their vision and strategy. Once the full team is in place, we’ll train them on audience and membership best practices and continue our signature one-on-one support through and beyond site launch.

“Partnering from the very beginning can accelerate newsroom launches and help them avoid common mistakes we’ve seen at other organizations,” Walter-Brown said. “We learn something valuable each time we help launch a news outlet and look forward to carrying that knowledge forward to the next newsroom.”

Read the full announcement

Do you have strong data analysis skills?

Apply to work with us as a contract data analyst! You would help with our audience and donor analysis efforts across dozens of newsrooms. This work will be on a project-by-project basis, initially requiring 10-20 hours a month.

This role is right for you if you have experience in statistics and advanced data analysis, including regression analysis and compound growth calculations.

Apply!

Our job board is sponsored by The Diversity Pledge Institute, which helps newsrooms achieve outstanding results in diversity, inclusion and retention. Need help finding the right candidates? Contact DPI today.

Job listings accompanied by the 💸 emoji offer salary transparency — a necessary step towards salary equity.

• Ohio Local News Initiative is hiring an Audience Editor and several other editing and reporter jobs. [Cleveland, OH] 💸
• The News Revenue Hub is hiring a Data Analyst. [Remote] 💸
• THE CITY is hiring an Associate Director of Development for Individual Giving. [New York City, NY] 💸
• CalMatters is hiring an Engagement Manager. [Greater Sacramento Area, CA] 💸
• The Trace is hiring a Community Engagement Reporter. [Philadelphia, PA] 💸
• El Paso Matters is hiring a Higher Education Reporter. [El Paso, TX] 💸
• Carolina Public Press is hiring both an Editor and Executive Director. [Anywhere in North Carolina] 💸

Sidenote: It is amazing to see that all of the above newsrooms include salary in their job descriptions. Yay for moving towards more transparent and equitable hiring practices!