Giving Compass' Take:

• In this story from The Whole Story, Julia Hotz describes six areas in which journalism made progress during 2018.

• Hotz describes the negative impact of ad-based journalism on society, and explains how crowd-funded membership greatly reduces the negative effects. Could donors help fund journalism to reduce the cost and increase participation in crowd-funded membership? How would donors use an evidence-based model to select the publications they fund, and would it be possible to make this sort of funding sustainable?

• To learn about building a movement for trusted, nonprofit journalism, click here.

2018 was the year a record 94 journalists were killed worldwide, with the U.S. among journalism’s top five deadliest countries. It was the year we learned how newsroom employment dropped 23% in a decade, and — relatedly — the year social media surpassed newspapers as Americans’ primary news source. And after the “enemy of the people” fell under fire from ordinary Tweet-ers and high offices alike, perhaps journalists began questioning themselves in 2018.

Behind trending headlines of media crises and flagrant assassinations of its character, here are 6 ways the industry has responded to its own problems:

  1. Journalists are embracing “complexity” in their reporting process.
  2. Newsrooms are actively engaging with the communities they are covering.
  3. Newsrooms are forming collaboratives with one another.
  4. News outlets are adapting their language and coverage to ensure accuracy and transparency in their reporting.
  5. News platforms are replacing ad-driven revenue with crowdfunded membership.
  6. Newsrooms are showing how solutions journalism sells.

Read the full article about journalism by Julia Hotz at The Whole Story