User login

Around the Web

A day in the life at the Hood County News

Link
Commanding the tide: More thoughts on paywalls

Link
Another competitor for ad dollars

Link

Subscribe to our weekly updates

Keep up with the latest in community news

What's new at the Digital Initiative

Blog post from Tommy Thomason

Tackling the paywall debate for community newspapers

Someone asked last week for a summary of online articles about the pros and cons of paywalls. Nothing is more relevant right now in Texas community journalism: Are our newspapers going to charge for access to their websites, or should they remain free in hopes that they will generate additional advertising revenue? There is no easy answer to this.

Blog post from Tommy Thomason

Tale of dueling editors is a reminder of the early days of Texas community journalism

We do love to moan about the pressures of the news business.

Come to one of our workshops, or maybe to a TPA meeting, and you'll hear lots of talk about the problems of life in a newsroom.

Most of them deal with stress and time and money. And listen long enough, and you'll hear some whines about the good old days when life was simpler.

Blog post from Tommy Thomason

New program will give you a writing coach for a day

Writing is a skill, and improving writing is like improving any other skill.

Blog post from Andrew Chavez

When measuring site traffic, one number isn't enough

Media managers have long had access to simple statistics about their product's consumption. Newspaper publishers, for example, have relatively easy access to circulation figures. But more detailed information about consumption habits traditionally has only been available via extensive research, often from outside providers.

Ask an expert from Chip Stewart

Is a school district allowed/required to release information about student transfers?

Yes, a school district is allowed, and very likely should be required under the Public Information Act, to release information about student transfers as long as it does not release information with individually identifiable information about students.

Blog post from Tommy Thomason

Pew Report is good news and bad news for community journalism

William Durant didn't like automobiles.

Ask an expert from Andrew Chavez

How can I integrate someone else's Twitter posts into my site?

If you're wanting to integrate someone else's Tweets into your website there are a couple of options, some of which are quite easy and others that will require some technical know-how. Here are 5 easy options:

Ask an expert from Steve Buttry

Should community newspapers consider going nonprofit?

I think it's clear that non-profit options are going to be part of at least the short-term future of community media (I'd be suspicious of anyone who purports to predict the long-term future). We have seen a recent proliferation of journalism supported by philanthropy and/or public donations -- mostly, if not entirely, on a metro or state or national basis in projects such as MinnPost, the St.