A keynote by Ulrike Langer at the Global Media Forum 2019

1.
Collaboration Innovation
How US and European start-ups enable
communities and support the media
Global Media Forum
May 28, 2019
Speaker: Ulrike Langer
Image: Collaboration by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

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Examples of traditional collaboration models:
Magnum: global photo agency, a cooperative of photo journalists co-
owned and managed by its members. Each photographer works
independently but photos are promoted collectively.
Associated Press (AP): independent, not-for-profit news
cooperative, HQ in New York with reporting teams in over 100
countries. Provides content and services to media companies and
brands.
Deca: global cooperative of magazine writers. Their cooperative
model is based on photo agencies like Magnum. Each journalist
reports and writes independently but stories are edited and
promoted collectively.
punkt um: collective of 7 journalists sharing office space in
Cologne. They work mostly independently on news stories but often
collaboratively on larger projects such as books or TV features. They
also offer journalism classes etc.
Journalistic collaboration is not a new concept

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New forms of collaboration:
•Interdisciplinary
•Connecting the media with non-media
•Continually engaging people
•Focusing on solutions for problems
while staying journalically neutral (≠
activism)

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Collaboration Innovation / Ulrike Langer
Collaboration is driven by need:
As many legacy newsrooms are struggling,
collaborative models are thriving.
The Center for Cooperative Media’s database lists
more than 100 finalized and ongoing projects.
database

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New forms of collaboration enable:
• Connecting journalists with audience /public
• Fact-checking
• Regaining trust in the media
• Pooling resources and sharing stories
• Empowering freelance journalists
• Strengthening reporting in “news deserts”

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What do new forms of collaboration look like?
Diverse and overwhelmingly female!

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Examples of
collaboration innovation

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Orb Media: Enabling global conversations
Photo: Ulrike Langer
• Mission Statement: Orb empowers people everywhere to
better align their personal daily decisions with their values
and objectives.
• Forging rigorous reporting on global issues – grounded in
original science and advanced data analytics
• Networks of global media partner and institutions (eg. World
Economic Forum)
• Facilitating global conversations between media, experts
and audiences
• 8 topic areas: Food, Water, Energy, Health, Education,
Environment, Trade and Governance as well as the United
Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
• Team of 10 staffers and up to 40 freelancers
Founder Molly Bingham

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Orb Media story examples
Orb Media

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Hearken: Listening to the audience
“Hearken” means “Listen”
Mission statement: Hearken helps news
organizations listen to the public as a story
develops from pitch to publication. This unique
model is called public-powered journalism.
Hearken

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Hearken: How does it work?
Idea grew out of “Curious
City” project of Chicago
public radio station WBEZ
Media partners can use:
Listening tools
Consulting services
Training classes
Annual Hearken awards
for best stories resulting
from listening to the
audience

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Hearken project examples
Stories inspired by listeners,
collaborative research,
audience engaged from
beginning to end

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Reveal (Center for Investigative Reporting)
Non-profit based in the SF Bay Area
Working with US media partners nationwide
Multimedia platform
Reveal

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Reveal story
examples

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The problem:
• 70 % of US local newspapers do not
report from the statehouse
• State politicians and administrations
are not being held accountable by the
press
The solution:
• Statehouse reporter schemes
• Illinois reporting service Capital News
Illinois nearly doubles the number of
statehouse journalists
• Similar initiatives exist in PA, OR, FL
Statehouse reporter schemes
Donation funded nonprofit news
service operated by the Illinois Press
Foundation
Provides coverage of state
government to newspapers
throughout Illinois
Background story on Nieman Lab

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Correctiv Investigations in the public interest
Mission statement: CORRECTIV is the first non-profit
newsroom in the German-speaking region. We’re
investigating injustice and abuses of power. We’re
promoting media literacy and are implementing
educational programs.
Based in Essen/Berlin
Based on ProPublica
model
Member of the
Global Investigative
Journalism Network
Team of about 25
reporters and
editors, publisher is
investigative
journalist David
Schraven

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Correctiv story examples
Correctiv

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Hostwriter Connecting freelance reporters worldwide
Couchsurfing plus professional connections for
journalists
Open network for to easy collaboration across
borders
Support for members of all career levels to raise
the quality of media coverage by providing local
contacts around the globe
Collaboration with other organizations, eg. with
Oikomedia through Tandem (long-term cultural
collaboration programme for European
journalists)
Hostwriter

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Lokalportal: Neighborhood network in North-Rhine Westphalia
Lokalportal
Based on the model of US network Nextdoor
Enables collaboration between journalists and the public on neighborhood level

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And now for the fun part:
Collaboration Innovation
- The Card Game
What are your collaborative ideas?

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Collaboration Innovation / Ulrike Langer
Do:
Gather ideas for collaborative projects in your group
Brainstorm quickly
Write note or sketch your ideas
Choose a presenter
Don’t:
Strive for perfection
Dismiss ideas too quickly
Game rules:
Choose one card from each category per group

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Your speaker and session host: Ulrike Langer
Freelance journalist
Specialized in media and marketing
innovations
Based in Seattle
Organizer of innovation tours in the US
for media executives
Main clients: B2B magazines, industry
organizations
Contact:
langer25@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/ulrikelanger/