Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 13, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 11 We are large enough to have access to most of the Top Commercial Insurance Companies, yet small enough to provide the personalized service that you deserve! With offices in Whitinsville, Grafton, Shrewsbury and Westboro, look to us for all of your insurance needs. For all of your Commercial Insurance Needs KIMBERLY WALSH Manufacturing Insurance Specialist 508-266-6459 kwalsh@gaudette-insurance.com www.gaudette-insurance.com board of directors. Instead of relying on subscriptions or advertising for revenue, the Guardian is funded by donations from the chamber and other sponsors including Worcester insurer Fallon Health, Worcester State University, and Whitinsville-based UniBank. More than half of the funding comes from the chamber, Loew said. at money has gone to cover payments to its eight freelance writ- ers, as well as the salary for Charlene Aresenault, the nonprofit's full- time editor, Loew said. e Guardian received its 501(c) (3) status in January aer applying in December. Guardian hiccups e Guardian's launch by the Worcester chamber and its reliance on that organization for funding has created con- cerns about its own bias in the types of stories it covers, as well about coverage potentially being slanted to favor the powerful people at and around the chamber. Critics say a publication started and supported by city leadership creates an inherent conflict of interest. "When the organization is started by a chamber, which represents business- es, the chances of getting arm's length coverage on powerful institutions that are represented on the chamber is not very good," said Walter Robinson, editor-at-large at the Boston Globe, who has started two nonprofit news sites in Massachusetts Cara Berg Powers, a media professor at Clark University who was a nonprofit director for 12 years, pointed to aspects of the Guardian's launch in September, which included what she called messy hiccups. ese prob- lems included stating it was a 501(c)(3) on its website before receiving certification, listing then chamber vice president Alex Guardiola as the president, treasurer, clerk, and director of the Guardian in its first business entity filing, and copy- ing-and-pasting the majority of the Guardian's original "About" page from another nonprofit news site, the New Bedford Light. "I can't remember exactly what the kerfuffle was about, but it was nothing on the news side of things," Loew said of the plagiarized "About" page, which included statements on the Guardian's mission, values, and funding transparency. "Could we have spent a little bit more time mak- ing sure that they were different? I guess, but it's a basic page most organizations have on their websites." Since its earliest months, all three of those issues highlighted by Berg Powers have been fixed, with its 501(c)(3) certi- fication completed, its board of directors members now listed as the leaders in the Guardian's business entity filing, and its former "About" page replaced with a white paper. While the Guardian has made strides in establishing itself as an independent operation, chamber CEO Murray main- tains a seat on the board, which gives at least the appearance of influence over editorial direction. Nonprofit pitfalls Because nonprofit news relies on do- nors, concerns about conflicts of interest arise for their business models. e Institute of Nonprofit News offers standards for editorial quality, financial transparency, and operational independence to help nonprofit publications function ethically. e Guardian submitted its application for INN member- ship in 2023 and has not yet been approved, Loew said. e INN rejected about half the membership applications it received in 2023 for not meeting the organization's standards for editorial quality, financial transparency, and operational independence, according to INN's Chief Network Officer Jonathan Kealing. e number of nonprofit news orga- nizations across the country has doubled over the past six years, according to INN. In Massachusetts alone, 21 nonprofit outlets have INN membership. Berg Powers and Shaner are attempt- ing to get into the nonprofit news sector, as well. e two launched the Worcester Community Media Foundation as a 501(c)(3) in the fall, which is based at Rewind Video in Worcester, which is also run by Powers, Shaner, and a handful of others. WCMF provides mentorship and fellowship programs to local journalists. e ultimate goal is to launch new publications for the region, Berg Powers said. "e goal [of WCMF] is … certainly responding to some of the same needs that the Guardian's press releases have identified as part of national trends of reducing local ownership of local me- dia," said Berg Powers. e increase in non-traditional media models has provided a new model for individuals who want to start news outlets relying on social media followings instead of advertising. For Dan Kennedy, journalism professor at Northeastern University in Boston, this means more news outlets launching, even if many of them won't last long. "e future, I believe, will bring more devastation at the hands of corpo- rate-chain newspapers as well as more locally owned startups," said Kennedy. "ings may get worse before they get better, but at some point I hope there will be a tipping point at which new projects begin to outnumber chain newspapers that are shut down or hollowed out." Telegram is most subscribed-to local media outlet Traditional local media news organizations have struggled to replace the advertising and subscription revenue they lost starting more than two decades ago at the dawn of the internet era. This has led them to lay off staff and shrink the size of their news operations. Local markets once dominated by one or two general news organizations are now fractured among multiple players, some of which offer their news content for free. When polled online from March 8-14, 65% of WBJ readers said they have a paid subscription to a local media organization, with the plurality of those respondents saying they have more than one subscription. Which of these Massachusetts media organizations do you have a paid subscription to? Boston Globe Gardner News MassLive Metrowest Daily News Milford Daily News Sentinel & Enterprise Telegram & Gazette Worcester Sucks & I Love It I pay for a subscription to more than one of these. Other None of these 35% 11% 1% 19% 2% 24% 5% Tim Loew, board chair of the Worcester Guardian Dan Kennedy, journalism professor at Northeastern University W

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