New nonprofit California Watch under investor pressure

Posted by Nestor Bailly on November 18, 2009 at 2:30 PM

California Watch is a nonprofit news organization based in Sacremento that supports local investigative journalism and will provide stories to news publishers when it is launched in December by the Center for Investigative Reporting. CW is the largest investigative team in California and is dedicated to serving the state's public through accountability reporting.

However, unilke ProPublica's 'steal our stories' and the Texas Tribune's 'hopeless' charging for stories, California Watch is seemingly wholeheartedly adopting the 'syndication-fee model'. Having gained significant leverage even before its launch by getting front page stories published across the state, CW intends to find a business model that works.

In an interview with Nieman Journalism Labs, CIR executive director Robert Rosenthal said simply of CW's stories, "our goal is not to give it away."

California Watch is under high pressure from its funders to turn in revenues, or at least to stay above the red, once it is launched. The startup has secured $3.7 million in funding from Knight, Hewlett and Irvine, each of which want CW to secure revenues through royalties from published stories (approximated between 25-40% of total revenue from the story) and advertisements.

Some strategies being considered are traditional nonprofit moves adapted to the digital word. Pursuing smaller donors, fostering facebook and twitter communities, and asking for public donations after presenting their reporting as a public good are all being considered as sustainable models, Rosenthal said.

Recently, California Watch and KQED Public Radio announced a partnership for editorial collaboration. CW reports will be aired over 28 stations, reaching some 600,000 listeners.

We will have to wait and see whether this new nonprofit can survive and thrive with its new business models, it certainly is already making quite a name for itself.

Sources: Nieman Journalism Labs, CIR