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Sustainable Financing in Journalism: Do Niche Journalism and Crowdfunding Offer a Way Forward?

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Sustainable Financing in Journalism: Do Niche Journalism and Crowdfunding Offer a Way Forward? Sustainable Financing in Journalism: Do Niche Journalism and Crowdfunding Offer a Way Forward? Juhayna Walid Fathi Helmy A Thesis in The Department of Journalism Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Digital Innovation in Journalism Studies) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 2020 © Juhayna Walid Fathi Helmy, 2020 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Juhayna Walid Fathi Helmy Entitled: Sustainable Financing in Journalism: Do Niche Journalism and Crowdfunding Offer a Way Forward? and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Digital Innovation in Journalism Studies) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: David Secko _____________________________________________________Chair Elyse Amend ____________________________________________________ Examiner Andrea Hunter ___________________________________________________ Supervisor Approved by ______________________________________________________________ David Secko (Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director) _________2020 ____________________________________________ André G. Roy (Dean of Faculty) ABSTRACT Sustainable Financing in Journalism: Do Niche Journalism and Crowdfunding Offer a way Forward? Juhayna Walid Fathi Helmy This thesis examines financial sustainability in journalism through closely analyzing whether niche journalism is a type of journalism that can be supported by crowdfunding as a sustainable mean of financing. The focus of the research is the case of ZigZag, a US-based niche journalism podcast. Through this exemplar, I highlighted the themes of content, approach, diversified revenue streams, connections, and transparency as the factors that led to the podcast’s success. I analyzed these themes by placing them under the categories of niche journalism and financing to depict how both elements contributed to its success. This project provides a different perspective to the academic study of crowdfunding in journalism. There have been many studies that have analyzed different aspects of crowdfunding such as its categories, benefits, and drawbacks such as Aitamurto (2011, 2015), Carvajal, García-Avilés, and González (2012), Hunter (2016), Hunter & Bartolomeo (2018), Jian & Shin (2015), and Zaripova (2017), however, none have yet to examine whether there is a correlation between niche journalism and the financial sustainability of crowdfunding. This thesis adds to research in this area, by examining the potential correlation between niche journalism and the financial sustainability of crowdfunding. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to several individuals who have provided me with all the guidance and support needed to complete this thesis. First and foremost, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Andrea Hunter for her continuous support, patience, and immense knowledge. The door to her office was always open for me when I needed guidance or had a question. I could not have had a better supervisor and mentor for my MA research. I would like to pay my special regards to my committee member, Dr. Elyse Amend, who has not only given me invaluable insights, support, and guidance but also who inspired me to delve into this particular area of research after taking my very first MA class, JOUR 605, with her. I would like to thank Dr. Ingrid Bejerman for her continuous support and for connecting me with scholars and professionals to gain more insight into my area of research. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff of the journalism department for their encouragement and support as I went through the program. I would like to thank my friends for believing in me, encouraging me, and listening to my rants throughout this process. The person who has made pursuing this research and this MA degree possible, in the first place, is my mother. I am the first and thus far the only female member of my family to hold an MA degree and I owe this to her; she taught me the value of education ever since I spoke my first words. I am indebted to her for always believing in me, pushing me to dream big, challenging cultural constraints that control women, and most importantly for supporting me in traveling across the globe to pursue further studies. This thesis is dedicated to my mother for being my first and lifelong teacher. “Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” —Malala Yousafzai iv Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. vii List of Charts .............................................................................................................................. iii Chapter 1: Introduction and Background ...................................................................................1 Research Focus ................................................................................................................................... 5 Case Study: ZigZag Podcast ................................................................................................................. 6 Theoretical Approach ......................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 2: Literature Review ....................................................................................................11 Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 11 Crowdfunding and its Categories ...................................................................................................... 13 Relationship between Donors and Journalists in Crowdfunding....................................................... 15 Autonomy and the Audience Commodity......................................................................................... 17 Niche Journalism .............................................................................................................................. 18 Podcasts ........................................................................................................................................... 21 ZigZag ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Radiotopia ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Theoretical Framework: Structuration ............................................................................................. 31 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 3: Methodology...........................................................................................................36 Choice of Case Study......................................................................................................................... 36 Primary Data Set: Podcast Episodes, Original Websites, Tweets, and Online Reviews ..................... 40 Podcast Episodes ......................................................................................................................................... 40 Original Websites ........................................................................................................................................ 41 Tweets and Online Reviews ......................................................................................................................... 43 Thematic Analysis Inspired by Some Elements of Grounded Theory ................................................ 46 Chapter 4: Findings ...................................................................................................................51 Category: Niche Journalism .............................................................................................................. 51 Theme 1: Content ....................................................................................................................................... 51 A. Sub-theme Niche Content Aimed at Specific Audiences .................................................................. 51 B. Sub-theme: Content connecting to broader audiences ................................................................... 53 C. Sub-theme: Experimentation ......................................................................................................... 58 D. Sub-theme: Simplifying Complexity ................................................................................................ 59 Theme 2: Approach ..................................................................................................................................... 61 A. Sub-theme: Personal Storytelling and Factual Reporting in a Conversational Style .......................... 61 B. Sub-theme: Listener Engagement .................................................................................................
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