Our primary directive is to tell Calgary stories.
That said, the fundamental concern in journalism today is the ability to fund a media enterprise with adequate resources to tell stories. We want to be transparent about how we’re funding our operation, so we’ll share it with you here.
We have a two-pronged approach (seen below).
Right now, Patreon funds the journalism and accounts for 60 per cent of our monthly income. Advertising accounts for 40 per cent and covers our monthly operational costs.
Patreon
First off, we have a Patreon campaign.
Funds generated from Patreon members will be used directly on journalism endeavors. We will pay journalists (words, photos, video, graphics) for their work, and it may be used to pay for investigative aspects of that work (FOIPs, court checks and records, title searches, travel, etc).
Any money not used in each month will be set aside for two purposes: To eventually hire a full-time reporter (or more!) and to fund any capital investments (equipment) or for website / app development. It will all be used to create a better experience with better content – for you.
Advertising
We’re hoping to fund everything else (including journalism, too) with advertising to supplement the overall revenue.
We have three primary advertising options:
- Partner Content
- Floating display advertising
- Advertising in our newsletter
This funds overall operations for LiveWire Calgary.