International Journal on Media Management

ISSN: 1424-1277 (Print) 1424-1250 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hijm20

Creative Destruction: An Exploratory Study of How

Digitally Native News Nonprofits Are Innovating
Online Journalism Practices

Rebecca Coates Nee

To cite this article: Rebecca Coates Nee (2013) Creative Destruction: An Exploratory Study of
How Digitally Native News Nonprofits Are Innovating Online Journalism Practices, International
Journal on Media Management, 15:1, 3-22, DOI: 10.1080/14241277.2012.732153

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14241277.2012.732153

Published online: 08 Feb 2013.

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The International Journal on Media Management, 15:3–22, 2013
Copyright © Institute for Media and Communications Management
ISSN: 1424-1277 print/1424-1250 online
DOI: 10.1080/14241277.2012.732153

Creative Destruction: An Exploratory Study

of How Digitally Native News Nonprofits
Are Innovating Online Journalism Practices

REBECCA COATES NEE

San Diego State University, USA

As traditional news media struggle to adapt their practices to

discontinuous changes resulting from technological advances, a
digitally native nonprofit news model has emerged in the United
States. Framed by management theories of creative destruction and
disruptive innovation, this study explores how the journalists who
lead these small firms view digital and social media as opportu-
nities to revitalize public service reporting, re-create journalism
practices online, and encourage consumer participation in the
news-gathering process. Findings show online news entrepreneurs
are strategically using their digital-first platform to focus primarily
on their public service mission, engage consumers, publish infor-
mation through a variety of methods and formats, collaborate with
outside media, diversify revenue sources, and provide technology
training to journalists and the public.

Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that mainstream news media

organizations were ill prepared for the technological changes that took
place in the 21st century and the resulting shift in consumers’ information-
seeking habits (Beckett, 2008; Gillmor, 2006; Shirky, 2008; Smolkin, 2006).
Commercial interests often motivated early, fragmented attempts by the
American news industry to adapt to the digital age, and much of those efforts
simply normalized traditional practices onto the newer platforms
(Boczkowski, 2004; Deuze, 2003; Deuze, Bruns, & Neuberger, 2007;
Schultz, 2000). The changes technology has brought to legacy print and
broadcast news media can be characterized as discontinuous, a term Drucker

Address correspondence to Rebecca Coates Nee, San Diego State University, School of
Journalism & Media Studies, 5500 Campanile Drive, PSFA #338, San Diego, CA 92182. E-mail:
Rnee@mail.sdsu.edu

3
4 R. C. Nee

(1999) used to describe organizational change that is radical, fundamental,

and often marked by periods of disequilibrium.
Historically, advances in technology often have resulted in industry lead-
ers becoming displaced by smaller, newer firms that developed product and
process revolutions (Anderson & Tushman, 1991; Foster, 1986). Schumpeter
(1942/1975) described this phenomenon as “creative destruction,” a pro-
cess he saw as an inevitable and necessary part of a capitalist society.
Although the unstable global economy can be partially blamed for the loss
of advertising revenue experienced by mass media (Project for Excellence
in Journalism [PEJ], 2010), theories of organizational change suggest that
the failure to rapidly and innovatively respond to technological innovations
threatens more industry leaders than a recession (Anderson & Tushman,
1991).
While inertia often impedes rapid change in large companies, much of
the research surrounding journalism management in the digital age thus far
has focused on the diffusion of innovation within mass media organizations.
Van Weezel (2010) argued for more qualitative research to be conducted
on smaller, innovative firms that may shed light on the content of newer
strategies rather than analyzing the competitive process among large media
companies.
Using management theories of creative destruction and disruptive inno-
vation as foundational theoretical approaches, this article explores how
digitally native nonprofit news entrepreneurs in the United States are
attempting to reshape traditional news media practices, delivery methods,
and business models vis-à-vis digital technologies. Although these newcom-
ers do not threaten legacy mass media in an economic sense, their creative
uses of interactive technologies and perceptions of their role in digital media
environment may inform future research into how traditional practices of
journalism might be re-created to fit within emerging platforms while still
retaining the values and ethics of the profession.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical Approaches to Discontinuous Change
Schumpeter (1942/1975) observed that organizational change typically hap-
pens in one of two forms: incremental or discontinuous. The manner in
which industry leaders anticipate and adapt to this change is critical to their
future viability. Nadler and Tushman (1995) describe incremental change
as a steady pattern of adjustments, while discontinuous change is more
radical and fundamental, usually occurring in periods of disequilibrium.
Discontinuous change may be caused by several factors, including shifts
in the industry environment, the development of new technologies, and the
emergence of new competitors (Nadler & Tushman, 1995).
 Creative Destruction 5

According to Nadler and Tushman (1995), the impact of discontinuous

change can be “traumatic and painful” (p. 23) to employees, particularly
because they must learn new skills and unlearn old habits and ways of
working. Additional dimensions of change are either reactive or anticipa-
tory. Anticipatory change is forseen; reactive change results from unexpected
forces (Nadler & Tushman, 1995). If an organization is facing discontinuous,
reactive change, Nadler and Tushman suggest that managers must respond
by re-creating traditional practices in order to survive. The challenge for
industry leaders, however, is to craft long-term sustainable strategies for the
new environment while still delivering in the short term (Nadler & Tushman,
1995).
During a period of discontinuous change, industry leaders may be
threatened by entrepreneurs who run smaller, leaner operations. Innovative
newcomers ultimately may impact the practices and structures of existing
monopolies through a process Schumpeter (1942/1975) described as cre-
ative destruction. New goods and new methods of production are inherent
in capitalism, Schumpeter observed, but those changes often are introduced
through the entry of smaller firms and younger entrepreneurs into the
industry. Anderson and Tushman (1991) noted that the change that often
results from technological discontinuities might create greater upheaval than
economic recessions or a drop in demand. For managers of established
industries, past experiences can serve as learning traps during periods of
discontinuous change (Lant & Mezias, 1990). The key to success, according
to Shaw (1995), rests on the commitment and passion by the chief execu-
tive office (CEO) to build support for a corporate identity and to become
architect of a plan for the organization to succeed in the new landscape.
Christensen (1997) developed disruptive technology as a theoretical
framework that describes technology-induced changes to a business or ser-
vice that are so revolutionary and unexpected that they threaten the leaders
of an existing market. New technologies require new competencies, how-
ever, that could make some skills obsolete. Anderson and Tushman (1991)
characterized some discontinuous innovations as competence-destroying if
the learning curve is too steep: “mastery of the old technology does not
imply mastery of the new” (p. 28).
Christensen (2003) later replaced the word technology with innovation
after recognizing that technology does not disrupt, innovators do. A common
response among established organizations, however, is to view innovations
as more of a threat than opportunity (Anderson & Tushman, 1991). An inno-
vation that is disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers to
enter an industry that previously required a lot of money or specialized
skill (Christensen, 1997). Businesses that successfully innovate in a disrup-
tive environment often have lower gross margins, smaller target markets, and
simpler products and services than incumbents in an industry (Christensen,
1997).
6 R. C. Nee

News Industry Responses to Disruption

The sudden ubiquity of the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies can be char-
acterized as a discontinuous, rather than incremental, change for the news
industry. Numerous authors have written favorably about Internet technol-
ogy that allows the consumer to participate in the flow of information in a
horizontal fashion, rather than the traditional vertical or top-down approach
characteristic of the pre-digital age (Beckett, 2008; Gillmor, 2006; Reynolds,
2006; Shirky, 2008). Scholars and other observers, however, have criticized
the American newspaper industry for not quickly taking advantage of the
potential for two-way communication but instead normalizing traditional
practices of gatekeeping and agenda setting onto the new environment
(Beckett, 2008; Deuze, Bruns, & Neuberger, 2007; Skoler, 2009). Thus, the
initial response of newspapers to the discontinuous change presented by
digital media can be generally described as reactive rather than re-creative.
Newspapers also were ill prepared for the competition from Web-based
startups, ranging from Craigslist to Google, which siphoned away consumers’
attention and advertisers’ dollars (PEJ, 2008). The changes the Internet has
made on information delivery and consumer media habits, therefore, may
be classified as disruptive because anyone with Internet access can create
and post their own content on a mass scale (Shirky, 2008). A poll conducted
by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2010) also suggested that
consumers were increasingly interested in participating in their own content
creation online. Nearly 40% of those surveyed had commented on or dis-
seminated news online via postings on social media sites such as Facebook
and Twitter.
Gilbert (2006) studied newspaper organizations’ responses to digital
publishing from 1990 to 2001 and found the companies that most success-
fully made the transition created their Internet presence as a separate subunit
of the organization. The newspapers that framed digital technology as pro-
viding opportunities to communicate with the public in ways print did not
previously allow, by adding hyperlinks and multimedia, for example, were
more likely to innovate and succeed in the new landscape, Gilbert found.
After the newspaper industry began to suffer economically, however, due to
the U.S. recession and decline in advertising, most newspapers merged their
print and Web operations to cut costs. As late as 2006, many news organiza-
tions still viewed their online operations as a spin-off of their primary print
platform (PEJ, 2006).
State of the News Media reports, issued annually by the Pew Research
Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism to track the responses of
American news media to technological changes, have found that print and
broadcast organizations tended to be reluctant to view their website as a
service, not a product (PEJ, 2006). Despite a growing expectation by con-
sumers that news websites would provide all the information about a topic
available, news organizations maintained a walled-garden approach online,
 Creative Destruction 7

offering only information gathered internally by their own journalists, rather

than linking to additional material produced by competitors or other external
sources (PEJ, 2006). Although news organizations subsequently have begun
opening their websites by providing external links and user-generated con-
tent (PEJ, 2010), the shift from product to service has been gradual and
inconsistent.
Despite more recent efforts by news organizations to adopt a digital-
first mentality and increase consumer engagement through comments,
user-generated content, and social media (Edmonds, Guskin, Rosenstiel, &
Mitchell, 2012; Holcomb & Mitchell, 2011), one of the biggest challenges for
individual journalists has been rethinking the news producer–consumer rela-
tionship as collaborative rather than hierarchical (Deuze, 2004). Traditional
authoritarian roles of gatekeeping and agenda setting have been particu-
larly difficult to relinquish for journalists, who view their primary function as
providing information, not engaging in a more horizontal, dialogical con-
versation with the public (Weaver, Beam, Brownlee, Voakes, & Wilhoit,
2007).
Studies continue to show a pattern among individual journalists of
reasserting their authority and role as gatekeepers, separate from their audi-
ences (Robinson & DeShano, 2011; Singer, 2009; Singer, 2011). Singer’s
studies (2003, 2006, 2009) of how newspapers covered three American pres-
idential elections online found editors began to incorporate user-generated
content and other interactive elements on their websites in 2004 (i.e., pro-
viding outside links and postings from blogs), but then retrenched back into
their gatekeeping role in the 2008 election.
Because most American newspapers are privately owned by commer-
cial investors, not journalists, their investment in public service journalism
has been questioned by scholars who worry that decisions being made by
media managers are driven by economic motivations, not the public interest
(Gans, 2003; Hamilton, 2004; Meyer, 2004). During the first decade of the
21st century, American newspapers eliminated more than a third of their
newsroom staff in response to a 43% decline in advertising revenue (PEJ,
2010). The increase in economic pressures also has resulted in a decrease
of public affairs reporting on state and local governments (Edmonds et al.,
2012) and so-called watchdog or investigative journalism (PEJ, 2006). This
type of public-service reporting has been described as the primary mis-
sion and function of the news media in a democracy (Gans, 2003; Knight
Commission, 2009; Meyer, 2004). But declining profits and the need to invest
in newer technologies have meant that media managers often have had to
choose between training employees in newer digital skills or funding daily
journalism (PEJ, 2006).
As newspapers reduced their staff size and the journalists who remained
learned how to multitask across multiple platforms, some analysts questioned
whether the quality of reporting has suffered (Edmonds et al., 2012). The
8 R. C. Nee

2012 State of the News Media report concluded that the American newspaper
industry is “neither dying nor assured of a stable future” (Edmonds et al.,
para 1).
The cuts in both personnel and content of American newspapers have
become of concern to government officials, philanthropists, and mass com-
munication scholars. Although the U.S. government has no formal role
in funding or regulating the print industry, the Federal Communications
Commission, which oversees commercial and public broadcasting practices
in the United States, held hearings and issued a report on the future of
American journalism in response to what the FCC chairman termed “a
potential crisis for democracy” (FCC, 2010, p. 10). The nation’s leading phil-
anthropic funder of journalism projects, the Knight Foundation, also released
a report focusing on innovative ways to inform communities in a democ-
racy (Knight Commission, 2009), as did scholars Downie and Schudson
(2009). Each of these reports acknowledged the potentially promising role of
regional and local community investigative news sites that are increasingly
being launched online in the United States by entrepreneurial journalists as
noncommercial organizations. The U.S. tax code allows nonpartisan, edu-
cational institutions to incorporate as nonprofits, meaning their revenue is
not taxed and donations to them are tax deductible. Although some major
news organizations have operated as nonprofit educational institutions in the
United States, most notably the Christian Science Monitor, the Associated
Press wire service, and the Public Broadcasting System, the majority of print
and broadcast American media companies are commercial enterprises and
primarily funded by advertising (Akst, 2006).
The most viable of the digitally native American nonprofit websites have
diverse revenue structures in place that include funding from foundation
grants, large and small donations, corporate sponsorships, selling content to
other media, and providing services such as education and training (Remez,
2012). The Knight Foundation, a funder of many of these outlets, noted
that the nonprofits have the capacity to balance high-quality journalism with
business and technology skills (Knight Foundation, 2011). The FCC report
referred to these news websites as the “pipsqueaks” of nonprofit media
when compared to the “giants” of public broadcasting (Waldman, p. 198), but
pointed to the “exciting journalism innovation” (p. 191) happening among
the small online media outlets, despite their struggles to survive financially.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In light of the discontinuous changes resulting from disruptive Internet

technologies in traditional media, and the theoretical possibility of cre-
ative destruction by smaller newcomers, this study sought to explore how
these entrepreneurial journalists are developing practices of informing the
 Creative Destruction 9

public on a digital platform, without the backing of a printing press or

broadcast station. Because each of the journalists studied here previously
worked for traditional news media outlets, this article focuses on how these
entrepreneurs have re-created their practices and strategies to fit the digital
environment.

RQ1: In the view of the respondents, how has the digitally native platform
impacted their news outlet’s journalistic mission in a way different from
that of print or broadcast news organizations?
RQ2: Do the respondents see their roles as additive to traditional media
outlets or competitive?
RQ3: How do the respondents plan to sustain their news outlets, given
the disruptive economic environment, in a way that is different from
traditional media?
RQ4: How have the respondents appropriated traditional journalistic
competencies and practices to maximize the use of newer technologies?

METHODS

Although the digital landscape is peppered with startups loosely portraying

themselves as news sites, this study sought to explore the views and practices
of online journalists who were members of the Investigative News Network,
a consortium of nonprofit news outlets in North America that formed in
2009 and now has more than 60 members. Other operational definitions for
inclusion in this study were (1) independence in ownership from legacy or
traditional media and (2) a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan public
affairs reporting on the local, regional, or national level.

Data Collection
A multistage purposive snowball sampling was used to identify partici-
pants for the study (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Stebbins, 2001). Data were
collected through open-ended, semistructured interviews conducted indi-
vidually between the researcher and the managers of each organization
during late February and early March of 2011. Ten managers of nine dig-
itally native news outlets in the United States (see appendix for demographic
details) consented to participate in the study after being contacted by the
researcher through email. The interviews lasted between 35 and 80 min-
utes, with the average length being 58 minutes. Two of the interviews took
place in person (see appendix). The others were conducted via the digi-
tal calling platform Skype (Microsoft, Redman, WA) and recorded through
the Call Recorder (Ecamm Network, North Andover, MA) application for
Skype. Stebbins (2001) notes that a smaller sample of 10–12 is often used for
community-centered exploratory designs. The researcher found the sample
10 R. C. Nee

size to be sufficient in generating rich, qualitative data, particularly because

of the open-ended design of the interview protocol. The interview subjects
gave some variations in responses, but the repetitive nature of many of the
answers demonstrated sufficient commonalities to answer the research ques-
tions. Therefore, theoretical saturation was reached after the 10 interviews
because no new data appeared to be emerging (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).
The researcher and subjects exchanged follow-up emails to clarify
portions of the interviews and ensure validity. The researcher then tran-
scribed and coded the data, looking for common themes and subthemes
(Creswell, 1998). Throughout the data collection phase, the researcher
followed Creswell’s model for analyzing data by (a) reading through tran-
scriptions and notes, (b) making initial summaries, (c) obtaining feedback
from participants, and (d) reducing the data into codes or categories. The
researcher coded all significant passages in the transcripts by color, num-
ber, and letter. A different color was assigned to each research question.
Under each category, numbers were attached to each theme and letters
assigned to subthemes. Subthemes were created based on the researcher’s
initial impressions and field notes made after conducting and transcribing
the interviews.
Validity and reliability measures included member checking and peer
review of the coding scheme and interview instrument. Another peer
checked a random sample of 25% of the coded transcripts and agreed
with the researcher’s coding 96% of the time. The researcher also observed
secondary documents, such as content on the participants’ websites, social
media feeds, and online commenting community. The researcher found no
inconsistencies between any of the news outlets’ online practices and the
participants’ description of those practices.

Participant Characteristics
The participants’ titles were either editor, founder, CEO, or in some cases
a combination of all three. Before joining the nonprofit, all the participants
had worked as reporters or editors for commercial newspapers, with the
exception of source 5D, who came from television news. The news media
outlets sampled were all based in the United States but had geographically
diverse locations: Four were in the West, three in the Northeast, one in the
Southeast, and one in the Midwest. Six men and four women comprised
the sample (see appendix for details). The age of the news outlets ranged
from 6 years to 6 months; staff sized ranged from 24 full-time employees to
two. Five of the outlets primarily focus on covering local issues; the other
four also cover state and regional governments. To increase the likelihood
of candor, the participants’ names and organizations were kept confidential.
The sources are identified by a number (1–10); their organization code is a
letter (A-I).
 Creative Destruction 11

FINDINGS

Two submodels emerged among the outlets sampled for this study:
community-centric and content provider. The leaders of the community
centric models viewed their websites as information hubs and encouraged
comments and citizen participation. The content providers were all based on
university campuses, although only one was affiliated with the university in
a formal manner. The rest were given office space on campus in exchange
for providing some services, such as teaching or guest lecturing to journal-
ism classes. Although the content providers had their own websites, their
primary focus was on producing major investigative reports to be distributed
by legacy print and broadcast media outlets.

RQ1: Mission of Digital Outlet

Each respondent was asked to describe the mission of his or her organi-
zation. Participants were allowed to give more than one mission and often
did so. All 10 editors named primary missions that are historically consis-
tent with definitions of the role of the news media in American democracy
(Gans, 2003; Meyer, 2004), such as perform investigative reporting, expose
wrongdoing, and provide public information. Subthemes did emerge, how-
ever, that reflected the digital platform: fostering community engagement,
showing transparency in reporting, and providing computer training to the
public, students, and other journalists.
Engage the community. Though all the leaders of community-centric
organizations named public engagement as part of their mission, the lead-
ers of content providers did not. Some community-centric leaders tied
engagement to their business model:

Our goal is to engage people so well that we deserve support and to

do that mission so well that so that support comes. That’s why we call
our business team the engagement team, because that is the business
philosophy. (1A)

One source, 4C, referred to his news outlet as a “journalism-driven com-

munity.” He said the news stories that are posted begin the conversations
among community members who then participate through commenting on
stories. Two other sources stressed the importance of adding less serious
topics in addition to public affairs, such as arts, culture, and sports, to their
news site in order to be more engaging.
For some, part of the engagement strategy included incorporating a less
formal writing style than the traditional, inverted pyramid format. Source
1A said pursuing the mission “doesn’t have to be boring.” He accomplishes
this by adding trivia, humor, and some features on the site, and instructing
12 R. C. Nee

reporters to write in a more conversational and interpretive manner than the

more authoritarian, traditional print style:

Really breaking free of the journalism, what might be called the news
voice. And in allowing reporters to make conclusions about facts to allow
them to gather context as they gain authority in their beat and then
speak as authorities on the subject in their pieces. . . . We can’t just talk
like we’re robots; we have to be more approachable and accessible and
these are complex issues. (1A)

Education and training. The leaders of the content-provider news sites

were all based at universities. They perceived part of their mission to be
educating and training high school students, college journalism majors, other
reporters, and the general public on open records laws, data analysis, and
computer-assisted reporting. Some charged fees for this service; others had
plans to do so.

RQ2: Role Among Other Media

All participants viewed their role as additive to media outlets in their market
rather than competitive. Half of the respondents also said their job was to
use their digital platform to create new reporting practices. Three participants
described their role as providing in-depth analysis about local issues that
traditional media were ignoring.
Additive to local media. Although none of the participants viewed their
role as competing with (or potentially destroying) other print and broadcast
news media in their coverage area, two specifically referred to themselves
as future “big players” in their local media landscapes. Instead of ignoring
media competitors, however, all the leaders attempted to work with small
and large, commercial, public, and ethnic media in their markets. One of
the news outlets emailed subscribers a free daily report that summarized
the major stories in the region and provided links to those stories on other
media’s websites.
Most of the respondents said they were not trying to duplicate the efforts
of any other media outlet, commercial or public. Source 7F said she sees her
organization as filling a “significant void and not competing with other news
organizations.” Others had a similar position:

There are competitive sort of rivalries among journalists obviously. . . .

But we would like to be a multi, or device neutral content agency,
engagement agency based on our mission that helps partners of all
kinds achieve their goals as they relate to public information, public
affairs. (1A)
 Creative Destruction 13

We view our role as being additive to what’s out there and, in terms
of a lot of the smaller sized [news outlets], being kind of a supporter
and connector of the newer ecosystem. You know it’s a much more
decentralized ecosystem than what it used to be and we think we can
kind of play a role in bringing some of that together. (3B)

Create new reporting practices. The leaders of the community-centric

models were more likely to emphasize how their digital platform allows them
to experiment with reporting stories in a more interactive manner, specifi-
cally through social media, citizen blogs, and moderating an active but civil
commenting community on their news stories. Source 4C said he left his job
at a commercial metropolitan newspaper to start his news outlet because of
the advantages the Internet provided for immediacy and multimedia, aspects
that did not seem to interest his former editors.
Provide analysis. Some of the participants emphasized their role as one
of providing analysis or bigger-picture stories about issues affecting local
residents. Because of their focus on public affairs reporting, the journalists
in the sample did not attempt to cover every breaking news event in their
market. Most saw not having to chase ambulances or fire engines as freeing
from the confines of traditional news outlets.

I think the role we’re trying to serve if you look at it as an ecosystem, is

probably a step above the daily grind to try to provide analysis, under-
standing, and investigation into the daily news. So we’re not going to
be covering the house fire or the corner stabbing. . . . You don’t have to
have everything, it’s not your job to be absolute and complete; your job
is just to find really good stories. (2A)

Source 7F said her organization is able to provide more context and analysis
to stories because “we’re not in the daily journalism game.” She also empha-
sized her staff’s focus on data-driven journalism, which is a service they have
provided to smaller newspapers that don’t have the “investigative muscle” or
knowledge to conduct complex analyses. Source 1A noted that because the
Internet has enabled politicians and other newsmakers to reach the audience
directly, the new role of the media should be more interpretive than merely
an information bundler:

So in that world, if sources are going direct, our role is to make sense
of what they say and to find out things they don’t want to say. But
anybody who sees themselves as an intermediary or filter or simply a
distributor of what sources say, I think are going to be destroyed at some
point. (1A)
14 R. C. Nee

RQ3: Economic Sustainability

All the respondents placed a priority on raising funds and diversifying their
revenue sources, but this was not a task that most enjoyed. Many of the
journalists, particularly the managers of the smaller outlets, expressed frus-
tration about their lack of business training. The managers of the larger
outlets (1A, 3B) were able to delegate editorial functions to their staff
and focus primarily on the business aspects, but all the other participants
were simultaneously attempting to practice journalism and diversify funding
sources.
Many offered tiered membership programs, similar to public broadcast
stations, in which consumers donated money in exchange for some benefits.
All the respondents but one were charging their commercial media partners
for their content or had plans to do so, although they lamented that their
media partners were willing to pay only nominal amounts for their content.
Most of the outlets published paid advertising on their websites. Some of the
managers (1A, 2A) said they had established editorial guidelines for the type
of advertising, particularly political, that they would accept so they would
not give the appearance of violating the nonpartisan requirements of their
nonprofit tax status.
Other plans for creating income included hosting public informational
events in exchange for corporate sponsorships, and charging for digital edu-
cation and training programs for other journalists, students, and the public.
Three respondents saw potential revenue opportunities in providing data
analysis services for private and public organizations as a way to “subsidize”
their journalism.

RQ4: Digital Media Practices

All the participants used digital technologies to solicit comments and citizen
input. Most also incorporated multimedia (i.e., video, audio, and still photos)
and social media (i.e., Twitter and Facebook) into their practices or planned
to do so.
Citizen input. All data sources said they welcome comments on stories,
but each outlet had varying degrees of citizen participation on its website.
A secondary analysis of the websites showed the community-centric sites had
active commenting communities moderated by the journalists on staff, while
the content providers seldom had comments on news stories. One small out-
let, which covers state government, had successfully created a commenting
community that included the general public, lawmakers, and even the gov-
ernor and former governor. The editor of that outlet (8G) said she was able
to foster “a really clean public policy debate” by requiring full names and
approving all comments before they were posted.
 Creative Destruction 15

All the sources, however, said they are careful to distinguish between
opinion pieces that may be written by citizens and professionally produced
news content, especially since they struggled to differentiate themselves from
blogs:

And it’s much like a traditional news format we try to separate news that
we’re producing, the analysis and in-depth and video from commentary
and press releases so that people understand we’re not a blog. That’s
been a real uphill battle—the non-blog status. (8G)

Source 3B planned to add a contributed photography feature that would

allow people to send in photos or news tips from their cellular phones.
Outlet C had co-hosted public forums with other news media and live-
streamed the event on its website. People watching from home were able
to participate by making comments in a blog format moderated by one of
the editors (source 4C). Outlet A also had hosted face-to-face events where
community members listened to speakers or discussed public policy issues
(sources 1A, 2A).
Multimedia uses. All the participants said using multimedia in the form
of photographs, audio, slideshows, video, and interactive graphics was nec-
essary to tell stories effectively on a digital platform, but they carefully
allocated their resources in doing so. Among the outlets, eight were incor-
porating multimedia elements in varying degrees on their sites; the other
two (7F and 10I) were working on developing those capabilities. Rather
than hiring photographers or video-journalists, most of the outlets relied on
their reporters to take photos or video while they were covering the story.
“There’s no such thing anymore as a print journalist,” source 9H said. “We
all need to use the full range of tools available to communicate our findings
and share our stories with the public.”
Producing video, however, is a more labor-intensive undertaking than
shooting still photographs. While some of the outlets were experimenting
with video, most were choosing to let their broadcast media partners handle
audio and video for them. The participants also found that video does not
need to be packaged in a television-news style format to be effective online.
Sources 3B, 4C, and 8G said they posted raw video, with minor editing, to
help illustrate the story. Sometimes the video was tangential to the story; at
other times it might be the central element:

The trick with video that I think a lot of newspapers and news organi-
zations have discovered is that you know producing TV quality video is
harder than it looks. . . . I think there was a phase where people put a
lot of resources into it and then kind of stepped back and they were like,
well, is this really worth it? (3B)
16 R. C. Nee

One outlet regularly posted clips of legislative meetings in small segments

for people to view. Producing both video and written content was “a huge
amount of work,” the editor conceded, but her audience seemed to want the
different formats:

We know there are different kinds of learners out there; different peo-
ple absorb information different ways. So we want to provide as many
different options as we can. (8G)

All the respondents said figuring out the best place to put their limited
human resources was challenging when so many options exist for producing
multimedia reports online. Sources 4C and 6E said they only chose to use
multimedia if the extra elements added another dimension to the story.
Social media uses. As with multimedia adoption, the majority of the
respondents said social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook, had a role
in helping them spread their content, but they had differing views on the
best practices for utilizing the applications. Leaders of outlets A (1A, 2A)
and E (6E) focused the most heavily on using social media and viewed the
applications as important in helping them fulfill their mission of engaging the
public. Reporters working for outlet A, for example, regularly live-tweeted
from public meetings, solicited citizens’ questions for newsmakers through
social media, and asked their Facebook followers for public input on stories.
These managers viewed their social media activity not as an additional task,
but as an integral part of their role in creating a community and fostering
a conversation between journalists, labor leaders, politicians, advocates, and
activists.
Not all of the respondents embraced the two-way nature of social media,
however. Most of the content providers tended to view social media as a
distribution outlet and said they hadn’t yet made use of the applications as
interactive tools. Even some of the community-centric managers expressed
concerns about not having enough time to engage the public in social media
while simultaneously producing quality journalism. Source 3B said his outlet
had not yet begun to tap into the potential for social media to develop
community feedback, but he was not certain that practices like live tweeting
from a public meeting were good uses of a reporter’s resources.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

All the participants indicated that their digitally native platform gave them
more freedom to experiment with newer technologies in ways they could not
have done while working for traditional news outlets. This type of re-creation
of practices is necessary when an industry is dealing with discontinuous
 Creative Destruction 17

change (Nadler & Tushman, 1995; Schumpeter, 1945/1975). The true re-
creation of practices coming from these small firms, however, may not be in
their actual usages of the technologies but rather in the way they view their
role and mission as journalists. Instead of seeing themselves as authoritarian
gatekeepers and one-way purveyors of information, as shown in the litera-
ture review to often be the case among traditional journalists, they invited the
public and other media into their newsgathering and distribution processes.
They also carefully strategized which stories to cover and how to allocate
their human resources.
Schumpeter (1945/1975) and Christensen (1997) each theorized that
creative destruction in the wake of disruptive change in an industry most
often comes from smaller, leaner operations with targeted markets and
simpler products. All the journalism entrepreneurs interviewed for this
study described the importance of identifying what his or her organiza-
tion could do well and staying within that niche. Reporters cover specific
beats relating to the community and do not attempt to follow every story
or incorporate each aspect of multimedia or social media into their daily
practices.
Even though the participants were once veteran journalists working
for traditional media, their digitally native platform makes them newcomers
among legacy news organizations. This combination of veteran/newcomer
may be instructive for media managers who are dealing with rapid change.
Although newcomers often introduce competence-destroying products, vet-
eran firms are more likely to establish dominant designs that result from the
new innovation (Anderson & Tushman, 1991).
One key difference between the attitudes of the digitally native news
leaders and their counterparts in legacy media could be that the online jour-
nalists view digital technology as an opportunity, not a threat to which they
must adapt or react. As noted by Shaw (1995), the success of an organiza-
tion facing change largely depends on the passion and commitment of the
CEO. In the interviews for this study, the participants continued to stress
their passion for and commitment to quality digital journalism in the pub-
lic interest, despite their struggles to simultaneously practice the craft of
journalism and be business entrepreneurs. The fact that the CEOs of the
digitally native news outlets were professional journalists may differentiate
their motivation and commitment levels from corporate owners of commer-
cial media, most of whom have expertise in business but not journalism. All
the respondents talked about the importance of their public service mission,
while acknowledging that they were working with limited resources and did
not expect to get rich off their news outlet. Their motivation appeared to be
more consistent with providing a service than a product (PEJ, 2006). As a
result, each of the respondents for this study prioritized their staff and mon-
etary resources in accordance with their primary mission of public service
journalism.
18 R. C. Nee

Aside from being less expensive and more accessible to the public
than print or broadcast media, Internet platforms and social media offer
digital journalists the ability to present stories in multiple, sometimes infor-
mal, formats—including raw data and unedited video. The content providers
identified here are attempting to introduce new competencies of digital data
analysis, for example, to mainstream media by offering training sessions for
journalists. The community-centric models are using a combination of social
media, multimedia, and live blogging software and, in some cases, are fos-
tering the creation of online community forums to encourage engagement
and a dialogical relationship with the news consumer and newsmakers. The
respondents interviewed for this study see the public as a critical part of the
news-gathering process, not the end user of a static product. Their nonprofit
status allows them to be inclusive toward other media, as opposed to the
competitive nature of commercial news media (PEJ, 2008).
No evidence suggests that the digitally native nonprofit news outlets
are destroying traditional media, nor is that their goal. On the contrary, the
leaders of these outlets view traditional media as necessary partners to help
them distribute their content to a wider audience and therefore have a social
impact on their communities. As they receive more attention, however, the
creative practices, nontraditional approaches, and experiences of these dig-
itally native entrepreneurs may be instructive for researchers and industry
leaders studying the re-creation of journalistic practices in an increasingly
horizontal and online news environment.

Limitations and Future Research

Generalizations may be difficult to form from this study because the data
sources were selected from a purposive sample of a specific type of region-
ally focused nonprofit journalist; no national outlets were included in the
sample. What is true for them may not be true for all journalists, nonprofit
or commercial. Also, the digitally native news model is emerging; content,
delivery systems, and practices may vary based on the outlet’s community
and funding sources.
Internal validity is limited in this study because of the qualitative nature.
An additional limitations is that the target population is small, with fewer
than 60 news outlets meeting the operational definitions, and geographically
diverse. Therefore, some interviews were conducted over the telephone,
while some were in person.
Future research is needed to analyze the consumer’s response to these
newer practices that digital journalists are creating. Additional follow-up
research also should be conducted to examine whether traditional media
managers differ from these nonprofit entrepreneurs in their views regarding
digital reporting strategies, consumer engagement, and providing news as
more service than product.
 Creative Destruction 19

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks Dr. Jack McManus, Matthew Boyne, and Eric Brown for
their suggestions and contributions to this article. The author also appreciates
the valuable comments and feedback provided by the anonymous reviewers.

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APPENDIX: CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA SOURCES

Primary
Geographic
Name Outlet Age of Coverage Model
Code Code Gender Media Outlet Staff Size Focus Type

1∗∗ A M 6 years 14 FT, 1 PT Local Community

centric
2∗∗ A M 6 years 14 FT, 1 PT Local Community
centric
3 B M 1 year 24 FT Local Community
centric
4 C M 6 years 9 FT, 6 PT Local Community
centric
5∗ D F 2 years 2 FT State/regional/ Content
local provider
6 E M 2 years 2FT, 1 PT Local Community
centric
7 F F 1.5 years 3 FT, 1 PT Regional Content
provider
8 G F 1.5 years 2 FT State Community
centric
9 H M 2 years 2 FT State/regional Content
provider
10 I F 6 months 2FT, 1 PT State Content
provider
∗
Previous journalism experience was as a television news reporter; the rest of the sample had been print
reporters and editors.
∗∗
Interviews were conducted in person. The rest were conducted via Skype (Microsoft, Redman, WA)
and recorded through Call Recorder (Ecamm Network, North Andover, MA).