Daniel Seed







Lean canvas planning in entrepreneurial hyperlocal media: A case study

Entrepreneurial journalism is dominated by start-up founders with significant experience as working journalists in large media outlets. There is a tendency to believe that high quality content is the primary determinant of growing large audiences and that revenue streams will follow closely behind. This paper aims to highlight the need for journalism start-ups, particularly in the hyperlocal sector, to be as cognisant of the business planning process as they are of creating journalistic content. This paper uses my own project, Stringer Press, as a case study. Stringer Press is a hyperlocal, social journalism project developed for the marginalised and disadvantaged communities of Logan, Queensland, which aims to empower and give voice to a culturally and linguistically diverse community. The project was shortlisted for a Walkley Foundation Innovation Grant in May 2017 and the Innovation Grant incubator process highlighted some of the most important business considerations in the start-up process.

Keywords: civic participation, hyperlocal journalism, Lean Canvas, local news, media business models, news media start-ups


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Note on the contributor

Daniel Seed is a journalist and the founder of Stringer Press. He was a 2017 finalist in the Walkley Foundation's Innovation Grants that support journalism start-ups in Australia.