Newscloud 2008 Grant Knight Presidential Writeup

8/9/2019 Newscloud 2008 Grant Knight Presidential Writeup

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Presidential Recommendation

Journalism 2008-2279Page 1 of 4

Agenda Item for the December 8, 2008, Trustees MeetingJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation

TIDES CENTER

FUND: Journalism

PRIORITY AREA: Electronic and New Media

PRIOR CONTRIBUTIONS:

Date Amount2007 $2,032,000

2008 2,077,500Total $4,109,500

REQUESTED AMOUNT: $249,529 TOTAL COST: $249,529

RECOMMENDED AMOUNT: $249,529

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS: None.

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET: $69,801,594

PURPOSE OF GRANT: For NewsCloud to create and launch two social media publications onFacebook to test strategies that leverage social media environments to engage youth in news andinformation.______________________________________________________________________________

OPPORTUNITY: In an era of participatory media, news organizations need to find new ways toreach their audiences, particularly among the youth. While only 6 percent of young adults saythey regularly read or listen to the news (State of the News Media 2008), a full 85 percent ofcollege students say they use Facebook. This project tests strategies for leveraging the power ofsocial media to engage youth in communities of interest associated with news.

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND: Jeff Reifman is a former Microsoft and MSNCB.comdeveloper who started NewsCloud in 2006 as an open-source social media community focusedon news and information. NewsCloud was a finalist in the 2006 News Challenge grantcompetition, and as a result, we have been working with him to develop a project that advanced


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his 2006 proposal beyond a mere social networking site. Since his initial interaction with KnightFoundation in 2006, Reifman has developed a strong relationship with journalism program staff,which has been impressed by his tenacity, commitment to social media and community building,and technical expertise. The project is targeted, with clear and specific assessment metrics and

documented outcomes, and it is likely to produce valuable knowledge and insight about a keyquestion facing journalism.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES: This project will create two social media publications on Facebook,using NewsClouds open-source Facebook platform. Each is designed to assess the effectivenessof a different kind of community of interest, and a different approach to outreach andmarketing. The first is an issue-based publication focused on global warming andenvironmentalism; the project will employ a grassroots strategy to build community andaudience around environmental issues and activism. NewsClouds Jeff Reifman has effectivelydeveloped strategies to increase the likelihood of success. In particular, he has confirmed a

working partnership with Grist, one of the best-known and oldest online magazines devoted toenvironmental journalism. Grists demographic is similar to Facebooks, making it a highlyeffective and appropriate partner; the magazine has agreed to leverage its readership more than700,000 unique visitors a month to promote the NewsCloud project and drive traffic to the site.

The second proposed publication is a geographic publication focused on Minnesotacollege students; it will use a more traditional advertising/viral marketing approach. To ensureknowledge capture and replicability, a post-doctoral scholar from the University of Minnesotawill conduct original research on the project to identify effective strategies and map user interestand engagement.

Project Development Schedule

Month 1 Hire development, outreach staff, and design contractor Work with UMN research team to define application requirements and outreach

strategyo Develop grassroots strategy, including a prize catalog; inventory tracking; leader

board; and a point redemption systemo Develop interface to announce leaders, prizes, partners, etc.

Develop Global Warming publication from NewsCloud Facebook application code Begin recruiting partners

Month 2 Launch Global Warming publication, including street team initiative Continue marketing, support of Global Warming community Begin development of College News publication Continue recruiting partners for College News publication Continue development of overall code base, features, bug fixing in Global Warming

application

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Launch College News publication Ongoing feature development, bug fixing, support for each publication Continue marketing and PR efforts for each publication Support UMN researchers with their study work

Month 5-6 Ongoing feature development, bug fixing, support for each publication Continue marketing and PR efforts for each publication Solidify open source components and documentation of Facebook publication

applications Prepare technology post-mortem for Phase One SupportUMNresearcherswiththeirstudywork

Research Schedule

Months 1-3 Refine and agree on research questions Develop valid survey instruments, which involve brief literature review to inform valid

survey design and getting feedback from advisory group; pilot testing with small group ofcollege-age participants

Secure Institutional Review Board approval for work with human subjects (6 weekprocess; process goes much smoother if subjects are 18 years of age or older!)

Set up survey in Survey Monkey, etc.Month 4 & 5

Send recruiting email/message to publication users; survey incentive will help get ahigher response rate.

Recruit for focus groups ($50 incentive) Provide 3 week window for subjects to take the survey weekly reminders Analyze survey data trends/questions to follow-up on in focus groups Do data dump of internal statistical tracking inform focus group questions Conduct focus groups and transcribe data AFTER survey completion & look at site stats Analyze focus group data

Month 6 - 8 Review survey, focus group and internal site-tracking data analysis Write up report for publication on (1) what engages users; (2) what does this

engagement look like (3) How did the publication contribute to the mission of theorganization.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES: The two Facebook publications will create communities ofinterest that engage young adults with news and information. The project will track the evolutionof those communities to assess the impact of content types, outreach efforts, and marketingstrategies in order to inform news organizations about their relative impact and effectiveness.



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EVALUATION: The project will employ a mixed methods approach to data collection andanalysis; University of Minnesota researchers will collect quantitative data on usercharacteristics and interactions with the publication (e.g., frequency, duration, features utilized,and activities) as well as qualitative data on the users experience and perspectives to produce anaccurate and comprehensive account. The goal is to publish these findings, thereby contributingto a wider understanding of the project. Such publication in peer-reviewed journalism will

confirm the integrity of the research model.

RISK ASSESSMENT: Risk is moderate. Risk in achieving grant activities is low. Both Reifmanand UMN researcher Christine Greenhow have significant professional experience and a proventrack record in their respective areas of expertise. The biggest risk is the possibility that youthwill not be attrachted to these particular communities of interest an outcome that will informfuture efforts and serve an important purpose.

COMMUNICATIONS: The project budget includes funding to support advertising outreach and

viral marketing efforts for the College Students publication, as well as street team activities forthe Environmental/Global Warming project. NewsCloud and UMN will leverage their owncommunities and information systems to publicize the projects, as well as the viral marketingfeatures of the Facebook platform. Guerilla marketing/PR will include distribution of prizes, t-shirts, and stickers. Publication of the research in professional journals will disseminate theprojects findings.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends a one year, $249,529 grant. The firstpayment of $124,529 will be made upon approval and Knight Foundation receipt of a signedgrant agreement. The second and final payment of $124,529 will be made in Feb. 2009 after

receiving a satisfactory progress report. A final report will be due Oct. 2009. This grant will beadministered through the Tides Center in San Francisco. Tides Center is a public charity thatpartners with individuals or groups to provide back-office services, a legal framework andcapacity building support. Tides will provide administrative assistance for contracts, payments tograntees, payments to subcontractors, accounting requirements and other administration asnecessary. Tides will retain 6 percent of the grant amount as an administration fee.

Dianne Lynch, Knight Foundation consultantGary Kebbel, Journalism Program DirectorJessica Goldfin, Journalism Program Associate

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Newscloud 2008 Grant Knight Presidential Writeup