BringMeTheNews screenshot
BusinessJournalism: Business-media company, PR firm invest $1 million in Minn. news aggregator.
The aggregation site is BringMeTheNews, founded by Rick Kupchella, former anchor and investigative reporter in Minneapolis. He was profiled by Poynter in December 2009, only 12 weeks after the business had launched. At that time, the site employed 5 full-time and 4 part-time workers. The About Us page at BringMeTheNews showed four people, and I did not see a breakdown of news, technical and other groups among the employees.
Kupchella’s founder in the business was Don Smithmier of GoKartLabs.com). New investors are Dolan Media and Padilla Speer Beardsley.
Aggregation is a touchy subject with journalists. It can generate traffic and good story choice and story package can bring real value to readers, which means the come back to the site and become an appealing audience for advertisers. But some view it as assembly-line work. Some of that is snobbery.
An old newspaper equivalent is the rewrite desk. They would take various wire stories, notes from stringers or assorted other sources and craft a story quickly and typically without bylines. Working the rewrite desk was a respected and necessary job.
Compete says BringMeTheNews had 7,890 visitors in July.
Other stories on BringMeTheNews:
- Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal: Dolan Co., Padilla Speer Beardsley put $1M in BringMeTheNews
- paidContent: Minnesota Local News Startup BringMeTheNews Raises $1 Million
Related: How big would the newsroom be if starting fresh and Journalism startups: it’s a business, not a job