The editorial team at the Daily News is moving on to launch a new, for-profit local news venture.
Over the past four years, the staff, volunteers and supporters of Chi-Town Daily News have built an impressive thing -- a new kind of news organization that works aggressively to hold public officials accountable to voters and empowers members of long-ignored communities to tell their neighborhood's stories.
We've been privileged to work with a fantastic group of foundations and other supporters, including the Knight Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Abra Prentice Foundation, and others too numerous to name here. Their advice and financial support have been instrumental to all that we've achieved, and we owe them a heartfelt thanks.
We've concluded that, as a nonprofit, we cannot raise the money we need to build a truly robust local news organization that provides comprehensive local coverage.
The Daily News needs $1 million to $2 million per year to do a great job of covering a city as sprawling and complex as Chicago. And despite hundreds of phone calls and letters to foundations, corporations and individual donors over the past four years, we've never come close to that.
Last year, we raised about $300,000. This year, due to the economic downturn, it was unclear whether we would be able to maintain that level of revenue, let alone move quickly to expand our coverage.
So, after much soul-searching, we've decided to turn our efforts toward a business model that will support the kind of vibrant public affairs coverage that Chicago deserves. Ultimately, we believe we will be able to fulfill the same mission we set out to accomplish with the Daily News, though with a new name, a new company, and a different business structure.
We've got some angel funders lined up, and will be recruiting additional investors over the next few weeks. I'll be announcing more details about the new venture shortly.
Meanwhile, we are talking with local nonprofits that have expressed an interest in acquiring the website and neighborhood reporting program. We expect to quickly place that program with an organization that will be committed to citizen journalism and great local news coverage, and one with the resources to make the program even bigger and better.
In the interim, we'll continue to update ChiTownDailyNews.org with the work of our existing volunteers, and with content from our partnership with Loyola University's City News reporting class.
UPDATE: I just posted a Q&A that has more detail about our plans for various parts of our operations.
Discuss
PAUL BERNSTEIN, 09-12-2009
The technology you have in place would clearly appeal to aggressive, "with-it" Not For Profit Entities in the Chicago area. AND, those NFP's could provide loads and loads of focused, very important information, with their existing staff who would be more then happy to contribute their knowledge and current information into the mix, without being compensated for same.
It would be interesting to know what other NFPs you have been working with, to see if additional networking might save and salvage the very significant, web-based resources, you have in place.
Although I personally have a huge interest and some history with the online world and technology, frankly, I have not heard one-word about your networking with others to see if assistance and some collaborative effort might be in the works or possible.
We are VERY sorry to see you go, but understand the climate we are all living in these days.
Paul Bernstein,
Attorney at Law
LOU GRANT, 09-11-2009
I should say there was an implied idea on another web site, not an allegation. This shouldn't be a concern. Geoff's honor shouldn't be questioned.
LOU GRANT, 09-11-2009
Geoff is getting dumped on a lot today. Let's start with this fact, Public Media is a 501(c)3 and he did not loot it as at least one poster on another board has alleged. PM received about $700K in grants over a three year period. It's annual report to the IRS is available on-line. People who do that sort of thing, loot charities, wear special orange clothes with big numbers on the back and the letters DOC on them. Those clothes won't look good on Geoff, so let's stop being silly.
Geoff was an entrepreneur. Looked at as a going concern, $700K is about $233K a year. For most of that time Geoff had phones, salaries, office rent, benefits, hosting costs...
While running a business on $233K a year sounds easy, it isn't. I know because I've done it too.
Among others, I've joined the critique of the CTDN. That's what I was brought on board to do, critique media operations. But in addition, Geoff started an entrepreneurial venture into an area that has eaten larger companies. As a group we've learned things about the terrain. CTDN didn't survive. Or at least, not as a 501c3. But the lessons are already being put to use in places like ChicagoNow.
The community is richer for what happened. Geoff is still a young guy and I expect this isn't the last we've heard of him either.
GEOFF DOUGHERTY, 09-11-2009
Michel:
We are not using donated money to launch the new venture. That would be illegal. As a nonprofit, Chi-Town is audited every year by outside accountants, and they would pick that up even if they had their eyes closed.
The new company is likely to assume some liabilities that Chi-Town has, including any outstanding obligations under grant contracts. So, in English: The new company will do that work.
We did lay off the staff yesterday. We expect to rehire them at the new company shortly.
MICHEL MARIZCO, 09-11-2009
Wow, there is so much left out of this story.
This story linked below says you laid off your entire staff. Is that not true or are you simply being evasive.
Will you have to give back any of the $95,000 grant you received last November?
Are you using donated moneys to launch this new business venture?
http://chicago.decider.com/articles/chitown-daily-news-lays-off-reporters-employees,32787/
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