New Business Models

The ongoing goal of the New Business Models for News project is to inform the discussion about the future of news with business specifics — experience, facts and figures. After months of research and analysis, we have created business models that we believe demonstrate there is a sustainable future for local news.

For the purpose of our models we utilized data from a top-25 metro market and hypothesized that the sole daily newspaper had ceased publication. We began with the assumption that there will continue to be a market demand for quality journalism and that the market will find a way to meet that demand. So, what will fill the void?

We posit that no single company or product will replace the metro daily newspaper. Instead, an ecosystem made up of many players operating under many models and motives will emerge. In that context, we created models for hyperlocal sites serving different sized towns or neighborhoods, a metro-wide New News Organization (NNO), and a company that would supply the supporting infrastructure – or Framework – that the new news ecosystem will likely need. We also researched and modeled a not-for-profit local news organization that could be supported by public funding.

Although these genericized models are backed up by extensive, well-documented research, they are but one possible view of the future. They represent a stake in the ground. Clearly, our models cannot address the specifics of every individual local market. That’s why we invite you to download our spreadsheets and plug in your own assumptions. You can make changes to all fields highlighted in green: raise or lower advertising rates, increase or decrease staff, revise whatever you like. When you open the individual models, please look at the bottom of the spreadsheet and click through all the sections to see more detail. (Note: Changing data in fields not highlighted in green will break the formulas.)

Here are the latest versions of the New Business Models For News, which have been revised based on feedback received at a number of presentations and workshops.
(Models updated February 17, 2010)

Hyperlocal and Ecosystem Framework Models
Hyperlocal sites are the building blocks of the new news ecosystem. In these models, we break out financials for sites serving smaller markets (20k, 35k, 60k) — towns, neighborhoods or areas of interest — within our sample top-25 metro market (pop. 5 million). We model the hyperlocal sites both as stand-alone entities and also as part of a larger sales, support, and technology infrastructure that we believe is necessary to optimize businesses within the ecosystem. We project that an organization that enables advertising networks and provides other services to support the local news ecosystem is both a sustainable business (we model it here as the “Framework”) and will make individual hyperlocal news organizations more profitable.

• Download the Hyperlocal Site Model
Google Docs Spreadsheet (To make changes, click File>>Make a copy or File>>Export.)
Excel Spreadsheet
Business Plan Summary

• Download the Integrated Hyperlocal-Framework Model
Google Docs Spreadsheet (To make changes, click File>>Make a copy or File>>Export.)
Excel Spreadsheet
Business Plan Summary

Click here to leave your comments or contact us at newbiznews09@gmail.com

New News Organization Models
In the absence of a metro daily newspaper, this model envisions a new, metro-wide news organization serving a market of 5 million people that operates on a smaller scale, yet still provides wide local coverage. The NNO will produce original beat and investigative reporting and will also work collaboratively with other sites as well as individuals in the ecosystem to add value. Although advertising remains the key source of revenue, new business-to-consumer and business-to-business revenue opportunities will also be developed. In addition, since many current news organizations are exploring subscription, metering or micro-payment options, we also developed a New News Organization model that includes a paid content component.

• Download the New News Organization Model
Google Docs Spreadsheet (To make changes, click File>>Make a copy or File>>Export.)
Excel Spreadsheet
Business Plan Summary

• Download the New News Organization (Paid Content) Model
Google Docs Spreadsheet (To make changes, click File>>Make a copy or File>>Export.)
Excel Spreadsheet
Business Plan Summary

Click here to leave your comments or contact us at newbiznews09@gmail.com

Not-for-Profit News Organization Model
Given the number of promising not-for-profit local news organizations that have launched throughout the US recently, it is likely that publicly supported journalism will play a role in the new news ecosystem. We conducted research within our sample metro market and created a model based on the estimated funds that could reasonably be generated in support of an NFP news organization.

• Download the Not-for-Profit Model
Google Docs Spreadsheet (To make changes, click File>>Make a copy or File>>Export.)
Excel Spreadsheet

Click here to leave your comments or contact us at newbiznews09@gmail.com

69 Responses to “New Business Models”

  1. The Models: Not-for-Profit News  | News Innovation

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] Click here to see the other models. [...]

  2. The Models: New News Organization | News Innovation

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] Click here to see the other models. [...]

  3. The Models: Hyperlocals & the Framework | News Innovation

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] Click here to see the other models. [...]

  4. FOCAS: Live from Aspen | News Innovation

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] Click here to dig into the models that we’re presenting. [...]

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    17. Aug, 2009

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  7. News Innovation |  New Business Models « Netcrema - creme de la social news via digg + delicious + stumpleupon + reddit

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] News Innovation |  New Business Modelsnewsinnovation.com [...]

  8. New business models for journalism - CUNY | Online Journalism Blog

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] students at CUNY have delivered their much-awaited New Business Models for journalism - four in total, that aim to answer “What happens to journalism in a top-25 metro market if [...]

  9. Twitted by NigelBarlow

    17. Aug, 2009

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  10. Twitted by my_chelle

    17. Aug, 2009

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  11. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!)

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  12. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | facternet:

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  13. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | My Blog Channel

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  14. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | Anthonyrobinson.info

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  15. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | Spin Valley Post

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  16. The Far Edge » Blog Archive » Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!)

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  17. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) -> ApaRece

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  18. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | GossipTrendz.com

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  19. CUNY’s verdict on non-profit news: No reprieve from selling advertising » Nieman Journalism Lab

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] Jarvis and his team at CUNY have developed financial models for three different types of news organizations that could serve a metro area of 5 million people [...]

  20. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | The Daily Tech Log

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  21. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | The IT Chronicle

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  22. GameChangers » Blog Archive » Why I’m Bullish on Journalism Majors (and You Should Be, Too)

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] 5.  They’re entrepreneurial.   An entrepreneur sees opportunity where others do not.  Something in these Journalism majors relishes the wave of negative news coming from the marketplace, because it means they can position themselves at the bottom of the market to ride it up. [...]

  23. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | Techdare

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  24. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | Technology

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  25. High Ed Cafe» Blog Archive » New Business Models for Journalism-CUNY Provides Plenty of Numbers

    17. Aug, 2009

    [...] students at CUNY have delivered their much-awaited New Business Models for journalism - four in total, that aim to answer “What happens to journalism in a top-25 metro market if a [...]

  26. Forward Looking Presentation on a New News Model | Gizmotastic

    18. Aug, 2009

    [...] gave a presentation at the Aspen Institute’s Forum on Communication and Society on the 17th on a new model to save local newsrooms. His concept is to transition from local newspapers to a network of [...]

  27. Military Editors » Blog Archive » Life Without the Installation Paper

    18. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  28. Knight Foundation Blog » Watch the 2009 Forum on Communications and Society

    18. Aug, 2009

    [...] The first day of the forum included a presentation of the City University of New York’s revenue models for local news organizations, as well as a discussion of the forthcoming report from the Knight Commission on the Information [...]

  29. Advertising in a Sustainable Not-for-Profit Model | News Innovation

    18. Aug, 2009

    [...] been getting a lot of great feedback to our models, both online and out in Aspen, since we made them public yesterday. Some of the best comments have [...]

  30. New business models for journalism – CUNY provides plenty of numbers » Breaking News Update

    18. Aug, 2009

    [...] students at CUNY have delivered their much-awaited New Business Models for journalism - four in total, that aim to answer “What happens to journalism in a top-25 metro market if [...]

  31. Jeff Jarvis Tries To Save Local News (With Spreadsheets!) | Posts MarketPlace

    19. Aug, 2009

    [...] blogger, and CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis has a few ideas for how to replace the local newspaper with new business models for news at the hyperlocal level. He just gave a presentation at an Aspen Institute forum on journalism [...]

  32. Nuovi Modelli di Business per l'Editoria On Line.

    19. Aug, 2009

    [...] articolo sui nuovi modelli di Business per l’editoria on line. Condividi [...]

  33. News Innovation |  New Business Models – The 5th Estate: Citizen News

    19. Aug, 2009

    [...] News Innovation |  New Business Models. [...]

  34. The Aspen Presentation Archive | News Innovation

    22. Aug, 2009

    [...] Here, thanks to GroundReport’s Rachel Sterne, is the archive of the presentation we made at the Aspen Institute on Monday; it starts a few minutes in. (View all the new business models.) [...]

  35. Links de 23/08/2009

    23. Aug, 2009

    [...] Compartilhou News Innovation |  New Business Models [...]

  36. links for 2009-08-24 « burningCat

    24. Aug, 2009

    [...] News Innovation |  New Business Models We have developed four business models for a new news ecosystem. The question we attempt to answer: What happens to journalism in a top-25 metro market if a newspaper fades away. Can journalism be sustained? And how? (tags: business internet media research advertising innovation startup models economics) [...]

  37. New business models for journalism – CUNY provides plenty of numbers 

    24. Aug, 2009

    [...] students at CUNY have delivered their much-awaited New Business Models for journalism - four in total, that aim to answer “What happens to journalism in a top-25 metro market if [...]

  38. Four researched business models for news… « Paul M. Watson

    26. Aug, 2009

    [...] 3:36 pm on August 26, 2009 Permalink | Reply Tags: media (51), web (561) Four researched business models for news. Hyperlocal, Ecosystem Framework, New News Organization and Not-for-Profit News Organization. § [...]

  39. Nye medie-forretninger « Ny Journalistik

    28. Aug, 2009

    [...] Jeff  Jarvis har CUNY Graduate School of Journalism på City University offentliggjort en række nye forretningsmodeller for fremtidens medievirksomheder, når avisen ikke længere er der som det store økonomiske [...]

  40. What's the economic value of a journalist? | TheMarketFarm.com

    09. Sep, 2009

    [...] declining economic value of their journalists. For example: Effect of mass layoffs at newspapers New news models Bloodletting in the newsroom Layoff [...]

  41. Revolutions in the media economy (1) – the context of crisis | David Campbell -- Photography, Multimedia, Politics

    14. Sep, 2009

    [...] search for new business models for news is occupying the minds of people much more knowledgeable than me. However, from reading recent [...]

  42. newslife site » Aspen FOCAS Reminds ‘Information Also Wants to Be Expensive’

    17. Sep, 2009

    [...] City University of New York, presented the case for ad support, based on preliminary findings of a foundation-funded study titled “New Business Models for News.” CUNY set up a hypothetical case of a network of 99 blogs covering targeted audiences of tens of [...]

  43. The Survey Results | News Innovation

    17. Sep, 2009

    [...] foundation of the business models we built this summer was data culled from an online survey we conducted of web entrepreneurs. We [...]

  44. Is journalism an industry? « BuzzMachine

    18. Sep, 2009

    [...] return again to the NewBizNews Project, where we modeled a sustainable economy of news at between 10-15% of a metro paper’s revenue – about as [...]

  45. Is journalism an industry? | News Innovation

    18. Sep, 2009

    [...] return again to the NewBizNews Project, where we modeled a sustainable economy of news at between 10-15% of a metro paper’s revenue – about as [...]

  46. 09.22.09. « journalism.

    21. Sep, 2009

    [...] “New Business Models for News,” from the CUNY journalism graduate program, suggests a plethora of other options, among them networking content — exploring unique beats to add value through specialization, allowing for writers with authority on certain subjects to be able to capitalize on their expertise. [...]

  47. Is journalism an industry? « CoMuNiCa2 – Danilo Mora

    22. Sep, 2009

    [...] return again to the NewBizNews Project, where we modeled a sustainable economy of news at between 10-15% of a metro paper’s revenue – about as much as [...]

  48. Counting on Membership, Redrawing our Not-for-Profit Model | News Innovation

    23. Sep, 2009

    [...] to add your own assumptions to our models? Go right ahead! And, please, shoot them back to [...]

  49. The X Prizes for news (and media) | News Innovation

    25. Sep, 2009

    [...] Engagement. In our most recent phase of the New Business Models for News at CUNY (funded by Knight), we used the sinfully low industry standard for engagement with [...]

  50. The X Prizes for news (and media) « BuzzMachine

    25. Sep, 2009

    [...] Engagement. In our most recent phase of the New Business Models for News at CUNY (funded by Knight), we used the sinfully low industry standard for engagement with [...]

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