Conflicting reports came out of San Francisco over the weekend regarding the future of the Bay Area News Project, the non-profit local news station housed in the city's public broadcasting network KQED and bankrolled by Warren Hellman.

According to B-Net, the much reported multi-media deal combining the reporting expertise of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and the radio and television capabilities of KQED finally collapsed after negotiations stalled. B-Net's David Weir alleged that infighting over resources and leadership at KQED and the GSJ's lack of clout in San Francisco made an already complicated merger just too difficult - leading Hellman to withdraw his $5 million contribution.

However, Neil Henry, Dean of the GSJ, was quick to refute those reports: "The Bay Area News Project is alive and well and ready to start business. The first board meeting will be conducted next week. We have secured an outstanding CEO and an extraordinary editor in chief whose names will be announced later this month. The only change since our announcement in September is that KQED will not play a role as a founding partner, but we look forward to its active participation."
Conflicting reports came out of San Francisco over the weekend regarding the future of the Bay Area News Project, the non-profit local news station housed in the city's public broadcasting network KQED and bankrolled by Warren Hellman.

According to B-Net, the much reported multi-media deal combining the reporting expertise of UC-Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and the radio and television capabilities of KQED finally collapsed after negotiations stalled. B-Net's David Weir alleged that infighting over resources and leadership at KQED and the GSJ's lack of clout in San Francisco made an already complicated merger just too difficult - leading Hellman to withdraw his $5 million contribution.

However, Neil Henry, Dean of the GSJ, was quick to refute those reports: "The Bay Area News Project is alive and well and ready to start business. The first board meeting will be conducted next week. We have secured an outstanding CEO and an extraordinary editor in chief whose names will be announced later this month. The only change since our announcement in September is that KQED will not play a role as a founding partner, but we look forward to its active participation."

MediaBistro indicates that the project is indeed moving ahead, pointing to a recently posted VP of Product Development & Technology position on Monster.com, which seems to suggest the news project is still hiring.

With the San Francisco Chronicle slashing their newsroom by a quarter and even threatening to shut down over union disputes earlier this year, this is a particularly critical time for the industry in the Bay Area. Faced with the prospects of becoming another Seattle - a city without a major print newspaper - Hellman and other like-minded philanthropists began exploring the option of a non-profit model (link), funded by their own capital, as well as the contributions of readers, membership revenue, and ad sales. For the fiscal year of 2009, the non-profit KQED took in $59.8 million, with individuals and families contributing almost $28 million.

The Bay Area is already home to several other non-profit news organizations. The New York Times - once linked as a possible print partner for the news project - has since expanded its coverage of the Bay Area as the Chronicle has downsized.

Given all the controversy in a highly visible market like San Francisco, it will be interesting to see what the ambitious Bay Area News Project does - or doesn't do - for the non-profit model of newspapers.

Sources:

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=175991

http://www.mediabistro.com/baynewser/on/bay_area_news_project_looking_fo...

http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=85605665&from=indeed

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/09/21/dail...
Conflicting reports came out of San Francisco over the weekend regarding the future of the Bay Area News Project, the non-profit local news station housed in the city's public broadcasting network KQED and bankrolled by Warren Hellman.

According to B-Net, the much reported multi-media deal combining the reporting expertise of UC-Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and the radio and television capabilities of KQED finally collapsed after negotiations stalled. B-Net's David Weir alleged that infighting over resources and leadership at KQED and the GSJ's lack of clout in San Francisco made an already complicated merger just too difficult - leading Hellman to withdraw his $5 million contribution.

However, Neil Henry, Dean of the GSJ, was quick to refute those reports: "The Bay Area News Project is alive and well and ready to start business. The first board meeting will be conducted next week. We have secured an outstanding CEO and an extraordinary editor in chief whose names will be announced later this month. The only change since our announcement in September is that KQED will not play a role as a founding partner, but we look forward to its active participation."

MediaBistro indicates that the project is indeed moving ahead, pointing to a recently posted VP of Product Development & Technology position on Monster.com, which seems to suggest the news project is still hiring.

With the San Francisco Chronicle slashing their newsroom by a quarter and even threatening to shut down over union disputes earlier this year, this is a particularly critical time for the industry in the Bay Area. Faced with the prospects of becoming another Seattle - a city without a major print newspaper - Hellman and other like-minded philanthropists began exploring the option of a non-profit model (link), funded by their own capital, as well as the contributions of readers, membership revenue, and ad sales. For the fiscal year of 2009, the non-profit KQED took in $59.8 million, with individuals and families contributing almost $28 million.

The Bay Area is already home to several other non-profit news organizations. The New York Times - once linked as a possible print partner for the news project - has since expanded its coverage of the Bay Area as the Chronicle has downsized.

Given all the controversy in a highly visible market like San Francisco, it will be interesting to see what the ambitious Bay Area News Project does - or doesn't do - for the non-profit model of newspapers.

Sources:

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=175991

http://www.mediabistro.com/baynewser/on/bay_area_news_project_looking_fo...

http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=85605665&from=indeed

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/09/21/dail...
MediaBistro indicates that the project is indeed moving ahead, pointing to a VP of Product Development & Technology position recently posted on Monster.com, which seems to suggest the news project is still hiring.

With the San Francisco Chronicle slashing their newsroom by a quarter and even threatening to shut down over union disputes earlier this year, this is a particularly critical time for the industry in the Bay Area. Faced with the prospects of becoming another Seattle - a city without a major print newspaper - Hellman and other like-minded philanthropists began exploring the option of a non-profit model, funded by their own capital, as well as the contributions of readers, membership revenue, and ad sales. For the fiscal year of 2009, the non-profit KQED took in $59.8 million, with individuals and families contributing almost $28 million.

The Bay Area is already home to several other non-profit news organizations. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times - once linked as a possible print partner for the news project - have since expanded their coverage of the Bay Area as the Chronicle has downsized.

Given all the controversy in a highly visible market like San Francisco, it will be interesting to see what the ambitious Bay Area News Project does - or doesn't do - for the non-profit model of newspapers.

Sources: Poynter, B-Net, San Francisco Business Journal, MediaBistro