twin cities media alliance annual onlinepdf 2009

8/8/2019 Twin Cities Media Alliance Annual OnlinePDF 2009

1/6

Twi Citie

Media AlliaceA n n u A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 9

l o c a l n e w s f o r g l o b a l c i t i z e n s

www.tcdailyplanet.net


2/6

At a Minnesota market, tales of a hidden Ethiopian war.

The headlines tell the story: in 2009,the Daily Planet published moreoriginal reporting and stories from our

neighborhood, community and ethnic

media par tners than ever before. We

focused on the issues and communities

that are under-covered by other media

from home foreclosures to light rails

impact on Central Corridor residents

and businesses.

When the recession forced our

community and ethnic media partnersto slash their editorial budgets, many

turned to us for ar ticles they could

republish. Daily Planet articles appeared

in La Prensa de Minnesota, the Minnesota

Spokesman-Recorder, the African News

Journal, Hmong Today, and many other

publications. In some cases, we even

shared our editorial budget with media

partners so that they could coverimportant stories.

As mainstream media cut their budgets

for arts reporting, our knowledgeable

writers made the Daily Planet a top local

venue for reviews and analysis of theater,

music, and dance. Our continually

updated event guide, Arts Orbit, high-

lighted both on the radar mainstream

events and under the radar lesser-

known events, and our arts section

grew into a go-to place for coverage

of the local ar ts scene from Tou Saiko

to Tchaikovsky. Its all tweeted via

@ArtsOrbit, which letoile magazine

named the best local Twitter account

of 2009.

Editor Mary Turck / Arts editor Jay Gabler

Twi Citie Daily Plaet editor report

Taking it to court in Minneapolis: Fight against foreclosure and eviction.

Somali hip-hop: Its a culture. Its a peoples life.


3/6

MISSIoN ANd VISIoN STATeMeNTS

Dierity ad otreach

From the beginning, bringing newvoices into the media mainstreamhas been at the core of our mission.

So is giving Twin Citizens from every

segment of our community access to

the media tools and training that they

need to have in order to participate

fully in the life of our community.

In 2009, community engagement

coordinator Lisa Peterson-de la Cueva

and her successor Ann Alquist fullled

that mission by reaching out to

neighborhood and community

organizations and recruiting participants

in our citizen journalism classes, media

skills workshops and weekly writers

groups. Classes ranged from Citizen

Journalism 101 and Reporting as a

Two-Way Street to Introduction to

Podcasting, Twitter as a News Tool, andAccessing Court Documents.

Our monthly brown bag lunch with

a journalist series gave community

members the opportunity for face-to-

face conversation with newsmakers

such as Laura Yuen of Minnesota Public

Radio, Joel Kramer of MinnPost, andJulio Ojeda-Zapata of the Saint Paul

Pioneer Press. And our fall media forum,held at the Hennepin County Library

in downtown Minneapolis, brought

together new media creators, activists,

bloggers and journalists to explore the

theme of Networking Across the New

Media Landscape.

Beyond covering under-served

communities, the Daily Planet gave

ethnic and immigrant communities

space to tell their own stories. We

published work by Deb Pleasants,

Nekessa Opoti, Ramla Bile, Diana Vang,

and Dwight Hobbes and many others,

and republished ar ticles from the

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, African

News Journal, Mshale, Hmong Todayand other media partners.

Mission: The Twi Citie Media Alliace brig together media profeioal adegaged commity member to improe the qality, accotability ad dierity ofthe local media, ad to eable commity member to play a more actie role i theemerging media environment.

Vision: We eiio a participatory democracy i which citize from all egmet ofociety ad epecially thoe who hae bee traditioally deied acce are able toe the media to hare iformatio, hold the powerfl accotable, bild commity,and work together for the common good.


4/6

1

The year ahead

Citizens in a democracy need morethan just information. They needtools that enable them to act on that

information. Our goal for 2010 is the

transformation of the Daily Planet from

a local news website to a community

resource that helps Twin Citizens share

information, make choices, organize and

connect to their communities. We even

have an interactive Daily Planet iPhone app.

We have added individual pages for all

81 Minneapolis neighborhoods and all 17

St. Paul neighborhoods. Visit any of thosepages, and you will see a description of the

neighborhood, a map of local businesses

and attractions, and thumbnail photos of

every registered user of the Daily Planet

who lives in the neighborhood or at

least those who have supplied their

addresses and photos.

We want you to be part of that picture.If you arent already a registered user,

please sign up. Our expanded member

proles help Daily Planet users learn

more about each other. If your favorite

attraction or business is missing from

our listings, its easy to add it.

The Twitter feeds that now accompanymany stories give Daily Planet users a

new way to connect with one another

and keeps our stories current with

up-to-the-moment discussion

about a topic.

Yo ca epect may more chage

in the year to come. Your support an

participation can make it all possible.

Executive Director: Jeremy Iggers


5/6

2008 2009*

Cotribtio $222,860 $172,123

ad grat

Program erice $414,591 $1,975

reee

Ietmet icome $837 $279

Other reee $0 $7,722

Total revenue $238,288 $182,099

2008 2009*

Program erice $167,450 $152,929

Maagemet ad $27,888 $36,185

geeral operatio

Fdraiig $11,822 $11,649

Total expenses $207,160 $200,763

ExPEnsEs

REvEnuE

Fiacial tatemet are

aailable for reiew i

the Twi Citie Media

Alliance ofce, containingall reqired diclore

and nancial statements.

In May, the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists named the Daily Planet

Best Independent News websitefor the second year in a row. Heres

what the SPJ judges said:

Daily Planet readership, measured by Google Analytics, increased by25 percent

in 2009 to 641,000 unique visitors. We published more articles than ever

before about 100 every week, including more original, professionally edited

news stories and reviews by citizen journalists than any other local news site

in the US.

The breadth and depth of this site is terric. It connects onmultiple fronts: reader engagement, neighborhood coverage,

local opinions, 24/7 updates and a strong commitment to a

diversity of voices. Tcdailyplanet.net really taps the power of

the medium to make the community part of the conversation...

Numbers and milestones

*Estimated. Final 2009 summary 990 statements will be available on the TCMA website at www.tcmediaalliance.org


6/6

Chair: Sheldon Mains, independenttechnology consultant

Vice chair: Barry Madore, web developer,Advantage Labs

Secretary: Pam Colby, executive director,Minneapolis Television Network

Treasurer: Troy Pieper, ARP! (Art Reviewand Preview)

Sarah Bauer, executive director, MinnesotaNews Council

Richard Broderick, professor, Anoka-RamseyCommunity College

Leola Johnson, professor, Macalester College

Howard Kling, director, Labor Education Ser vice,U of M

Ann Treacy, web consultant, TreacyInformation Services

Laura Waterman Wittstock, Wittstock &Associates, past president Migizi Communications

Staff: Mary Turck, editor, Twin CitiesDaily Planet

Jay Gabler, arts editor, Twin Cities Daily PlanetEmily Pearson Ryan and Luce Guillen-Givens,operations managers, Twin Cities Media Alliance

Jeremy Iggers, executive director,Twin CitiesMedia Alliance.

Ann Alquist, community outreach coordinator.Previously, Lisa Peterson-de la Cueva.

Thanks to...F.R. Bigelow Foundation The Minneapolis Foundation The Otto Bremer Foundation The Saint Paul Foundation The McCormick Foundation The McKnight Foundation The Still Aint Satised Foundation

In-kind contributionsAdvantage Labs Triangle Park Creative Hennepin County Public Library The Databank

Individual donorsKathleen C AndersonAnne AronsonTracy and Luke BablerMary Kay BaileyLeann Lisana andJoe Bartsh

Kristin Henning andTom Bar tel

Pearl L BergadKathrine A BlauveltPeg BouskaCarol J BouskaJohn and Marie BraunRich J Broderick

Mary McFarland andJames Brooks

Alan & Jill CarlsonMelisande CharlesSteve D ClemensJoel ClemmerTyler M CohenPam R ColbyBruce CorrieLeslie DavisRichard L Dechert

Martha DelaneyBrian DeVoreBeverly J FergusonHenry FischerDebra Fisher Goldstein

Paula L FlemingKathee ForanDaniel E FreeseLara Friedman-ShedlovJames FullerJames and Jean GablerDyane Y Gar veyWendy J GaskillBeth GauperPaul A GiljeCarl H GrifnSteven J GulittiKit Naylor and SusanThurston Hamersk

Stephanie HankersonDianne C HeinsSusan L HerridgeCurt HillstromJanet M HivelyJill Meyer and

Louise HotkaKate HoffGeorg and Wilma IggersElaine Wynne and

Larry Johnson

Nancy R JohnsonHoward L KlingNancy A KlockBarb KuceraGabriele Kushi

Emily P LalaAmy LangeKristal LeebrickAnnie Levenson-FalkPat LindquistLu J LippoldCatherine LundoffBarry R MadoreSheldon and

Beverly MainsPolly MannJohn and Connie MartyMaryn McKennaMaggie and Dennis

MontgomeryJill A NicholsonKelly M OBrienJoanna OConnellNancy B OlsenRandy R PeabodyLisa M PetersonTroy D PieperDeb PleasantsLisa PogoffDominic J Postiglione

William PriceBarbara E RayeJoann G RiceScott RussellLaurie Savran

Paul J SchadewaldDennis SchapiroNeala J SchleuningAndrea R SeebachDavid Weissbrodt and

Pat SchafferLara and DanFriedman-ShedlovAlan P ShilepskyDavid H SkarjuneNiki T StavrouMark S SulanderKaren (Kaia) O SvienAmanda L Tempel

Pat ThompsonElizabeth j TiselAnn T TreacyElaine TreacyMary TurckKate Hoff andBob WeidmanLuke WeisbergBarbra WienerShayna Berkowitz and

Phyllis Wiener

Linda J WinsorAdam Zielie

Twin Cities Media Alliance Board and Staff