Lorie Hearn, the founder, executive director and editor of inewsource, wrote Tuesday for Nieman Report about the challenges that come with starting a nonprofit news site. Investigative reporting is tough, Hearn wrote.
But if you think being an investigative reporter is hard work, try finding the business model to support it. We journalists think we’re above talking about money, let alone asking for it. We’re too self-righteous for that. At least, I thought I was. Well, the cold hard facts about the future of accountability journalism lie in cold hard cash.
The biggest mistake I made in founding a journalism nonprofit was thinking that good work will automatically attract funding.
