Episode 42: What if we bought The News Tribune?
Channel 253
English - December 27, 2018 20:34 - 56 minutes - 77.8 MB - ★★★★★ - 11 ratingsSociety & Culture Government Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
On today’s episode we spoke with former News Tribune reporter Debbie Cafazzo and Matt Martinez, director of content for KNKX, about what it might look like if a local group of people banded together to...
On today’s episode we spoke with former News Tribune reporter Debbie Cafazzo and Matt Martinez, director of content for KNKX, about what it might look like if a local group of people banded together to buy our beloved (but suffering) hometown paper. We also discussed another option: starting a nonprofit, online-only news outlet that would be laser-focused on Pierce County news.
Martinez helped lead KNKX (formerly KPLU) as it raised $7 million to buy its independence from Pacific Lutheran University. Before taking a buyout in 2017, Cafazzo spent 24 years at the TNT.
For more background (and fun), I suggest reading the Credit Risk Monitor report on The McClatchy Company’s financial outlook, linked below. It paints a quick but illuminating picture of what’s going on with the TNT’s parent company and why there’s so much concern about continued cuts to our local newsroom.
Producer: Doug Mackey
Links:
Credit Risk Monitor: McClatchy continues to struggle in the newspaper industry
The Seattle Times: KPLU officially begins broadcasting as KNKX
The Seattle Times: Tacoma News Tribune to lay off dozens of printing employees
Nonprofit Quarterly: Where Local Media Falters, Community-Based Nonprofit Models Step In
Politico: This is How a Newspaper Dies
Poynter: As Wall Street sours on McClatchy, a longtime lender is now also buying up its stock
Sponsor
Citizen Tacoma is proudly sponsored by Pacific Lutheran University and Alaska Airlines