Team looking for 'workable solutions to help save community journalism' asks publishers to fill out a five-minute survey

A group of journalism researchers, newspaper-association directors and journalists are in search of new business models for weekly newspapers, and they need weekly publishers to fill out a five-minute survey on the subject. Those who do it by Jan. 23 can enter a drawing to win a $100 gift card.

“We know there will not be a one-size-fits all solution, which is why it’s critical that we hear from as many publishers as possible to know what can work and what can’t,” says Teri Finneman, a University of Kansas journalism professor who is leading the research. “We have a stellar team that knows community journalism working on this project and hope we can make a difference.”

The work is funded with a $5,000 grant from the SNPA Foundation. It includes the South Dakota Newspaper Association, the Kansas Press Association and journalism researchers at the University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota and the University of Tennessee.

Finneman, who studied how the pandemic affected community journalism in the Midwest, said the upheaval forced the long-festering issue of the industry’s business-model problem. “The time for talk is up. It’s time for action,” she said. “We believe it’s critical to have academia and the industry working together to come up with some workable solutions to help save community journalism.”