Jay-R: Many thanks for entering. I have two questions. The first relates to Civic Media's financial sustainability. Since your revenue would come from advertising by corporations that want to promote their CSR activities, I have to wonder: Who do you imagine the audience for this site will be, and why will corporations want to advertise to them? Are your readers potential consumers, investors, or employees who would be swayed by advertising from businesses about their good works? Is that audience large and wealthy enough to make would-be advertisers interested?
Second, I wonder about the quality of the journalism on your site. "Promoting causes" isn't necessarily the same thing as fair and accurate pursuit of an objective truth--a standard definition of journalism. It's not necessarily the same as providing citizens with urgent, relevant information of value.
My point is, I think the world of volunteerism, philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship can only benefit from hard-nosed, objective reporting that exposes its weaknesses as well as strengths. I'd encourage you to resist the urge to tell only good stories about these enterprises--which is the instinct and often the outcome when you "embed" reporters.
Thanks for the constructive criticism Keith. I take your point on the hard-nosed, objective aspect of telling the stories. Initially, we wanted Civic Media to cover two grounds--the "promoting causes" part (which is the main theme of this initiative), and the civic journalism aspect where we would partner with existing community papers (c/o the Philippine Press Institute (PPI)) to cover the news and current affairs.
Then, recently, a talk with Mr Jose Pavia, president of PPI, opened new realities for this initiative--where stories would be told as they are--and this has now become the primary service. The promotion of volunteerism, philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship now comes ancillary to the main objective.
In terms of financial sustainability, we're partnering with a social marketing firm which will handle the ads. The plan is to offer advertisers spots per article where they can post coupons or other advertising collaterals. As per the coupons, the visitors can download and print these and present to the establishments to avail of discounts or other promos. This is one way we will effectuate social marketing in Civic Media.
Civic Media's main target audience are corporate employees, executives and business people who have the spending power and hold time to surf the internet--especially during regular work days. The social marketing aspect will revolve around this phenomenon--employees spending nine hours a day/five days a week in the office who may find something benefitial with the promos found on the Civic Media website.
In addition, Civic Media will also follow the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) dynamics. 10 million Filipinos, roughly 12 percent of the population, works out of the country. Internet statistics state that more than half of Philippine news sites visitors come from outside the country. Civic Media aims to grab a huge chunk of the spending capabilities of the OFW by offering them news from their respective hometowns.
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Jay-R: Many thanks for entering. I have two questions. The first relates to Civic Media's financial sustainability. Since your revenue would come from advertising by corporations that want to promote their CSR activities, I have to wonder: Who do you imagine the audience for this site will be, and why will corporations want to advertise to them? Are your readers potential consumers, investors, or employees who would be swayed by advertising from businesses about their good works? Is that audience large and wealthy enough to make would-be advertisers interested?
Second, I wonder about the quality of the journalism on your site. "Promoting causes" isn't necessarily the same thing as fair and accurate pursuit of an objective truth--a standard definition of journalism. It's not necessarily the same as providing citizens with urgent, relevant information of value.
My point is, I think the world of volunteerism, philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship can only benefit from hard-nosed, objective reporting that exposes its weaknesses as well as strengths. I'd encourage you to resist the urge to tell only good stories about these enterprises--which is the instinct and often the outcome when you "embed" reporters.
Good luck,
Keith Hammonds
Thanks for the constructive criticism Keith. I take your point on the hard-nosed, objective aspect of telling the stories. Initially, we wanted Civic Media to cover two grounds--the "promoting causes" part (which is the main theme of this initiative), and the civic journalism aspect where we would partner with existing community papers (c/o the Philippine Press Institute (PPI)) to cover the news and current affairs.
Then, recently, a talk with Mr Jose Pavia, president of PPI, opened new realities for this initiative--where stories would be told as they are--and this has now become the primary service. The promotion of volunteerism, philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship now comes ancillary to the main objective.
In terms of financial sustainability, we're partnering with a social marketing firm which will handle the ads. The plan is to offer advertisers spots per article where they can post coupons or other advertising collaterals. As per the coupons, the visitors can download and print these and present to the establishments to avail of discounts or other promos. This is one way we will effectuate social marketing in Civic Media.
Civic Media's main target audience are corporate employees, executives and business people who have the spending power and hold time to surf the internet--especially during regular work days. The social marketing aspect will revolve around this phenomenon--employees spending nine hours a day/five days a week in the office who may find something benefitial with the promos found on the Civic Media website.
In addition, Civic Media will also follow the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) dynamics. 10 million Filipinos, roughly 12 percent of the population, works out of the country. Internet statistics state that more than half of Philippine news sites visitors come from outside the country. Civic Media aims to grab a huge chunk of the spending capabilities of the OFW by offering them news from their respective hometowns.
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