Illinois newspapers were so understaffed that most couldn't spare reporters to cover the state capitol, so the Illinois Press Foundation launched a collaboration to help papers team up to share coverage and content. Four months later, Capital News Illinois is doing well: "nearly 300 papers around Illinois have already reprinted its content, and several editors say its coverage has become an invaluable fixture in their papers," Mari Cohen reports for the Columbia Journalism Review.
The program's success "suggests that in the face of existential threats to the news industry, turning to collaboration—and away from traditional notions of competition—can pay off for local news," Cohen reports.
It is also a hopeful sign for political journalism in Illinois. A Pew Research Center study found that Illinois went from 12 full-time statehouse reporters in 2009 to five in 2014, the sharpest such decline in the nation. That was especially troublesome in a state known for political corruption. The lack of reputable coverage was compounded when partisan outlets tried to fill the void and provide biased coverage to Illinois newspapers. "Capitol News aims to offer a rigorous nonpartisan option," Cohen reports.
CNI, which has three reporters and a full-time intern, "roughly double the number of full-time print newspaper reporters working at the statehouse," Cohen reports. The project receives funding from the McCormick Foundation and the IPA. All CNI content is free to IPA members.
from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2Q80JyP Four months in, Illinois capitol coverage project is booming - Entrepreneur Generations
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