Building a future for sustainable news in Princeton at the Google News Initiative Local event

Planet Princeton is in Chicago this week attending the Google News Initiative Local summit.

More than 125 people from local media outlets across the United States and Canada are attending the event that includes training, networking, and discussions about sustaining and strengthening the local news ecosystem. Attendees include representatives from large metro daily newspapers, community news outlets, radio stations, tv stations, and about a dozen hyperlocal online sites like Planet Princeton.

Sessions so far have focused on analyzing data, building a subscriber base, email newsletters, ad revenue tools, and technology tools offered by Google to enhance reporting.

The event has provided me with useful information for making Planet Princeton more sustainable as a business, for using data resources to enhance stories, and serving the community better. I am looking forward to implementing what I have learned when I return home. I’m grateful to Google for the free training, and for covering the travel costs to attend this event.

Local news is the foundation for journalism in our country, and plays an important role in our democracy. It is great to see Google investing in supporting the local news ecosystem.

Planet Princeton. Local journalism that matters.

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