Jim Hummel Video Profile Piece From Rhode Island

Dear Sheila, I am fascinated by the piece you've done on Jim Hummel. It is amazing and inspiring to think that this talented -- and obviously passionately devoted-- journalist is willing to put everything on the line for the sake of his stories. While I do think there may be issues or conflicts between his desire to get corporate sponsors, and his desire to do stories that might make those sponsors nervous, I think his work is very worthy of support. I am going to watch the piece again, and then I'm going to his website to make a small donation. Having gone to school in Rhode Island, and being totally committed to seeing journalism thrive in the Internet age, I for one am willing to vote for the Jim Hummel model. I do wonder though about this: the stress level posed by this model. I cannot imagine too many journalists willing (or able) to shoulder all of this tremendous financial pressure, as well as the pressure of doing tough stories under deadline. Is it really a reasonable thing to expect our journalists to in effect make their own salaries year after year? I'd hate to have to tell my up and coming journalism students that's what they have to face. In the case of my students at SUNY Albany (where I teach in a program for economically disadvantaged students) I can see how poor students might say it was impossible to contemplate working the way Jim does.

Excellent work, much good luck to you as you proceed.

Claudia Ricci

Sheila, I found this compelling and enjoyed YOUR reporting in the piece. I have a broadcast journalist colleague, who, like Jim, operates a web news site, his is focused on health. The decrease in the cost of technology has been a blessing but the need to fund his work, through sponsorships and grants, is ongoing. Like Jim he has a spouse whose job has supported his ability to do what he loves and also have a strict editorial policy that separates his reporting from his sponsors. Like Jim he offers "news" that is no longer available by traditional media outlets. I would personally pay for this type of news but I know I'm in the minority. I would love to see some type of foundation established that provides the seed money and training for others to do these ventures as journalism that includes a code of ethics is disappearing at a time - as Jim says - when there is more corruption than ever. He's also dead on in building his "brand" to attract an audience, just providing news no longer works and the need for differentiation in a very crowded online world is going to be even more critical in the future, especially in attracting a younger audience that has never paid for news and may also have no idea what "real" journalism is or the value of it.

This is great work that provokes a lot of thought, thanks so much for sharing this!

Wow, Sheila...what groundbreaking, thought provoking content. I do wish Jim well, because he is right: local TV news is not fulfilling its duty to hold the powerful accountable. I really appreciate Jim's creative efforts to build his online brand and reputation in an honest, ethical way, and will be rooting him on from the sidelines.

Hey Sheila -

Finally watched the piece tonight. Looks very good; you're a good one man band (just like Jim!).

To the question would I pay for this type of news, I'm unsure. I think it's very useful and government accountability is very important, but I'm unsure of the long-term success and viability of such small operations.

Hummel is obviously an experienced, smart and talented reporter. But in some ways he's working on a shoe-string budget, with little staff and under constant deadline. It sounds similar to the local newsroom that Hummel left... While crime and accidents are the bread and butter of local TV news, there is something to be said about having a staff greater than one. Hummel is probably able to over-come the synergy lost from not being in a traditional newsroom (because he's plugged into the local area for so long, etc), but I wonder if he's under the same pressures, only now focused on a different type of content.

Back to the funding model - it's still very early in his project. I'm not against paying for news, I would just have to examine the product more closely to gauge how sustainable it would be.

All in all - it raises some interesting questions and serves as a pretty good microcosm on the industry.

You should be proud of the piece.

Ta,

JD

Unfortunately, we have all been trained to view the internet as we viewed network TV and radio - free to us, paid by ads. I don't see that changing soon. Anyone wishing to start almost any information service on the internet better have a good sponsor, or be able to generate tremendous ad traffic.

While I admire the work Jim is doing and I am hopeful the he will be able to continue doing it (with some financial support), I don't think this is a feasible business model for journalism on the whole. While he focuses on uncovering corruption, another blogger/journalist is focusing on health as another commenter mentioned above, and another may be covering political news. Now the consumer of this news has to seek out this information for themselves, from a variety or sources. Doesn't it make more sense, for the consumer, to have all of this news consolidated under one, or multiple larger organizations that distribute this news? In Jim's market, Providence/New Bedford, you already have three television stations with their own respective coverage on TV and the web. Now you're going to have multiple independent journalists sprouting websites covering the same territory? How many people are going to follow each of these independent journalists? The numbers are going to thin out even more if additional journalists were to adopt the same/similar strategy.

While Jim may succeed with his efforts, how many more journalists will be able to do the same with limited corporate sponsors, a competitive audience, and no larger media backing force. My hope (for the journalism industry) is that the local newspaper and tv news outlets will find a way to adapt to the new forms of media that people want. Few are doing it now, as the main focus is on the bottom line and management has lowered the quality of journalism by continually taking the cheap way out of situations that arise. There are plenty of people, like Jim, that are capable of producing quality news... it's time they get the opportunity to do so, with an organization that gives a damn about the product they put out. It's a shame that we are at the point where a journalist has made the decision that he'd rather risk himself alone, providing in-depth news to the community, than stay at a place that should be doing that already. Our current news organizations are failing us and I'm truly excited to see people like Mr. Hummel, that are committed to providing news and information into the future.

I found this piece to be very thought provoking on the future or news and I wish Jim the best.

Sheila:

A great story about a great reporter laboring in the jounalistic vineyard---growing his own grapes. Aside from the fascinating approach he has developed, he is also doing some extraordinary investigative work in Rhode Island. I hope he is successful because the state and the profession will continue to benefit from his labor of love in the fertile vineyards of Rhode Island.

Nice Work Sheila - You did a great job visually with the shooting and editing which complemented the subject matter/content. I for one, certainly walk away from this piece very interested to see how things go for Jim Hummel. I admire his entrepreneurial approach and find your nuts & bolts description of his strategy very informative.
Because the internet and specifically rich media/video is such a brave new world, it remains to be seen how the new business models will be truly different from TV or radio. I, like many, personally believe the Internet will eclipse TV as we know it and that ultimately the specfic content will separate the winners from the losers. That winning content model may be more rooted in local material while the traditional "local" channels still continue to blend regional news with national and international news. Your piece also highlights the importance of how everyone in this industry has to continue to adapt, learn, un-learn and re-learn to remain relevant. I hope Jim pulls it off, because if he does, it could serve as evidence of at least one successful business model in this fast evolving industry.

I viewed your piece on the Nieman Journalism Lab site and found it very interesting. Although I think there is an audience out there for Jim Hummel's brand of journalism, I'm not sure there is a large enough paying audience at the local level to support such reporting. I guess we'll find out... won't we.

I just watched it (and I looked at the site too)
Sheila!...
That is an excellent piece of work...really good. Relevant to today's reality in TV journalism...I'm watching it and thinking how many times I've heard the phrases "backpack journalist", "V-J", "a reporter doing it all" and I understood it conceptually...
With your capstone, you have synchronized real-world visuals to that concept. And the best thing to me is that your subject is not some "green" kid journalist, but a seasoned professional who is making "the new reality" work for him.
I thought that your story structure had flow, and a logical progression of facts and details.
I thought that technically, you delivered; your editing and especially your shooting were very good.
Great job Sheila-