links for 2011-09-09

The news industry, particularly in developed countries, has an R&D problem: It needs an infusion of innovation, and yet many news organizations lack the wherewithal to accomplish that in an era of diminishing resources and growing competition. This paper explores one potential solution—the open innovation model, articulated by Chesbrough (2003, 2006) and popularized in the technology sector. This theory suggests that a company can more readily innovate by opening up its R&D processes to enhance the flow of knowledge to and from the firm.

But the idea of public subsidies for journalism is seen as antithetical to the very foundation of the U.S.; it is virtually excluded from discussion, through comparisons with state media in authoritarian regimes. The claims against such public funding are never properly investigated, therefore – but there are obvious differences. Dictators funding public media will end up with state-controlled media, obviously – but democracies funding public media do not need to follow the same lines.

Here’s a simple way to figure out how many people are willing to pay for your news.

Thurman said: “Successful hyperlocal media is often issue-focused, dynamic, personal, informal and low-tech. These are qualities the web does far better than TV. What’s more, we found that the established commercial local media provider we studied wasn’t enabling community participation or meeting audience interests as well as many independent hyperlocal bloggers have done.”