By Nathan Alderman, J-Lab Online Editor
The people of Bakersfield, Calif., have found a new voice in their local media. Combining the resources of traditional media with the efforts of citizen reporters, the Northwest Voice allows Bakersfield residents to publish their own community news in print and online.
The Bakersfield Californian newspaper tapped Mary Lou Fulton, a veteran of the Los Angeles Times, America Online and washingtonpost.com, as publisher for its NorthwestVoice.com, which launched online in early May 2004. The first print edition appeared later that month.
Fulton said she was moved to create the site after observing that many readers are turning away from newspapers because the coverage doesn’t reflect ordinary citizens’ lives and concerns. Fulton and her team decided to kick down the barriers between readers and the newspaper, allowing citizens to write about news that mattered to them. “If it’s local and it’s legal, we’ll take it,” Fulton explained at a panel at the 2004 UNITY convention in Washington, D.C. (Her full remarks are here.
The site marks one of the first forays of a traditional news organization into a citizen-produced site, although its parent deliberately keeps itself at arm’s length.
“We are no longer in a one-size-fits-all world in which a single daily newspaper will meet all the needs of everyone in our community,” Fulton said. “We feel the best way for us to grow market share is through a family of independently operated products with their own brands and identities targeted to specific audiences.”
A custom-built, $25,000 content management system allows Northwest Voice readers to submit stories and photos for publication online. An editor checks the stories for spelling and grammar. The only other paid employees, according to Fulton, are an ad manager and a part-time graphic artist.
Among the citizen reporters filing stories on a daily basis, six regular columnists cover beats designed to match the main interests of the community, from cars to outdoor life to horseback riding. Writers are notified by e-mail when their stories get published and if their submissions aren’t accepted.
A print edition helps expand the Northwest Voice’s potential audience and draws new contributors for the site. The print edition is published every other Thursday and sent to the 23,000 households in Bakersfield. The custom content engine is designed to prepare stories submitted online for the presses.
The Northwest Voice publishes everything from Iranian stew recipes to a detailed analysis of how the No Child Left Behind Act affects local schools. Photographs are the site’s most popular form of content, and as of November 2004, nearly 65 percent of NorthwestVoice.com contributors were women.
Bargain-priced ads, as low as $48 for a coupon or directory listing, help to pay for the Web and print editions and allow smaller local businesses to advertise in the community.
Despite very little publicity in the pages of the Californian, NorthwestVoice.com’s ad revenues continue to grow. As of November, Fulton said the new publication is “close to profitability.”
And there is considerable positive feedback from the Northwest Voice’s readers-turned-reporters.
“I can’t recall another project I’ve worked on where I get calls every time the print edition comes out,” Fulton told her UNITY audience. “People are saying, ‘Thank you.’ I rarely hear that.”
