Nonprofit Newspapers Fill a Gap Left by For-profit Journalists

The Christian Science Monitor reported on February 12, 2008, about how nonprofit newspapers are filling a gap left by for-profit newspaper outfits.  Here is an excerpt from the story:

It provides "the best coverage of city politics that we've had in years," raves Dean Nelson, a journalism professor at San Diego's Point Loma Nazarene University.

The success of the tightly focused Voice, which relies on donors, offers a ray of hope for a troubled industry. Plagued by shrinking circulations and advertising, newspapers are shedding staff and downsizing their offerings. Even the pages have gotten smaller.

By contrast, several nonprofit newspapers – though rare and often tiny – have sprung up in recent years both online and in print, funded largely by foundations and individual donors.

The strategy of nonprofits like the Voice "may be one of the ways to preserve the integrity of journalism," says Mr. Nelson.

For the full article, see "Nonprofit Journalism on the Rise" in the February 12, 2008, Christian Science Monitor.