Abstract

CSJ-11-0038.0CC This case takes a hard look behind the scenes at starting a for-profit community news website. The Long Beach Post (LBPOST.com) was the brainchild of two young entrepreneurs in southern California, Shaun Lumachi and Robert Garcia, who launched it as a community service in early 2007. They quickly learned that without a business strategy, the well-intentioned news service would not survive. The case traces the first four years of LBPOST.com’s development, including website design, content, sales, advertising, and marketing. Lumachi, who soon finds himself running the operation, tries various approaches to diversify content, including a dedicated community sports site. He hires, and lets go, staff on both the editorial and the business side. The case leaves Lumachi deliberating on innovative ways to raise the revenues that remain stubbornly just beyond reach.

Students can discuss the variety of challenges facing a news start-up and debate the merits of a for-profit business model. They can assess how the founders divided up the multiple tasks of a new business, how they chose to allocate the too-few hours in the day, what it meant to solicit content from the community, and whether they hired the right people. They will have the chance to look at emerging online advertising sales models and debate the relative merits of each. Through case discussion, students will gain insight into the realities of journalism entrepreneurship, the competition in local media markets, and the options for community outreach.

This case can be used in a course about the business of media; online media; community news; or journalism entrepreneurship.