Janice Rombeck
Editor/Publisher
How do online community news publishers measure success? Usually by the numbers.
NeighborWebSJ, which covers San Jose, Calif., averages about 2,000 visitors with 6,000 page views a month. The readers stay more than two minutes (way above industry standards), and 40 percent of the 800 e-blast recipients open the online newsletter (also above industry standards.)
The numbers aren’t huge. But add them to a modest but growing social-network fan base and they’re not bad for a two-year startup without an extensive marketing effort. It’s still a long way for NWSJ to meet industry standards of hundreds of thousands of visitors and revenue that pays the bills.
But here’s another way to measure success:
A story about a neighborhood’s efforts to wipe out graffiti, clean up litter and build a community of volunteers caught the attention of USA Today Weekend Magazine, sponsors of a Make a Difference Day contest. USA Today staff encouraged the group to enter the contest. They did and won $10,000 for future projects.
That wouldn’t have happened without NWSJ’s commitment to covering communities that don’t make headlines in mainstream media unless there is a gang-related crime. To a longtime community journalist like me, the Make a Difference Day story is a true measure of success.
In the two years since NWSJ received a New Voices grant, the online news site is making an impact in the community.
- NeighborWebSJ is still the only South (San Francisco) Bay website focused on community news, civic engagement and neighborhoods.
- NWSJ’s partnership with KQED radio has widened its exposure and connections to other local news websites, making way for story collaborations.
- NWSJ’s internship program with San Jose State University not only increased content on NWSJ but also introduced the students to a world beyond the campus. Two of the interns will continue to freelance for NWSJ this summer.
- NWSJ was the only media outlet to provide detailed coverage of San Jose’s budget cuts to neighborhoods and publish information about all 17 San Jose City Council candidates vying or five open seats. Just as important are the stories that reflect the fabric of San Jose and its residents that we get only because we know our community.
New alliances and collaborations are continuing to emerge that promise to increase traffic and content contributions. And dare I say maybe revenue?
- A partnership with the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits will shine a spotlight on the work of local nonprofit groups that will promote NeighborWebSJ to the thousands of supporters on their email lists. It also opens the door to selling them ads or story sponsorships.
- In the fall, NWSJ and Gateway California, a nonprofit connecting journalists with immigrants, will offer a workshop to neighborhood leaders in immigrant communities. Funded by a Knight Foundation grant, the training is aimed at sharpening the communications skills of potential NWSJ contributors.
- A collaboration of neighborhood groups has chosen NWSJ to be a portal for members to seek information about civic engagement and neighborhood-improvement projects. This has enormous potential to broaden the interest in NWSJ and increase traffic.
- Emerging also are connections with real-estate professionals who are pointing their clients toward unique local content about their neighborhoods and neighborhood business-district leaders who see NeighborWebSJ as a way to drive customers to their mom-and-pop businesses.
My philosophy of Build It and They Will Come has not yet brought me money. But even in Silicon Valley where venture capitalists abound, it was an overly ambitious goal to build a website, attract an audience and become financially successful in two years. But I believe it will happen. NWSJ may never become a profitable business, but it will continue to grow and connect and serve a readership of community activists.
For me, personally, the New Voices grant allowed me to be a journalist. At a time when most of my former newspaper colleagues are working as public-relations officers and public-information specialists, I consider it a privilege being able to cover the community I love and provide a service to the residents of San Jose.
If I hadn’t received the New Voices grant, after my second layoff in two years, I might have gotten a real job with a steady salary and benefits. But I may not have been any more financially secure in the long run – layoffs are still happening. And I wouldn’t have been able to do what I love. Do what you love and the money will follow. I still believe this is true.
A steady job at a nonprofit or even at City Hall also would not have allowed me to enter the world of online community journalism and its connections with J-Lab, Block by Block, Poynter, Knight Digital Media Center and Bay Area media independents. With these local-news sites becoming the new landscape of journalism, I believe collaboration will lead us to a business model that may not make us rich, but will provide enough for us to continue our missions with pride and dignity. I feel lucky to be part of that world.
So how do we independent community journalists measures success? For me, it’s what I hear more often now when I introduce myself. “NeighborWeb? Oh, yeah. I read that site. I like it.”
