Nonprofit News May Thrive in Comcast Takeover

Included in Comcast’s promises regarding its acquisition of NBC is a little-noticed plan that may stimulate the growth of nonprofit news organizations. Comcast is pledging to establish partnerships between news nonprofits and at least five of the 10 NBC television stations that are owned by NBC Universal. The partnerships will be modeled on an existing relationship between KNSD, the NBC-owned station in San Diego, and voiceofsandiego.org, an innovative news organization that relies on donations from foundations, corporations and readers. Comcast’s embrace of what it calls “hyperlocalism” may be an advantage to nonprofits that are gathering news in metropolitan areas. Independent newsrooms like voiceofsandiego.org have sprung up in several cities, and in some cases they have filled gaps left by downsized newspaper newsrooms. The partnership plan was outlined in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Dec. 23, the same day that Julius Genachowski, the commission chairman, indicated that he would support the combination of Comcast and NBC Universal as long as a number of conditions were attached.