Saving local journalism one movie at a time

I wrote a joke for my final presentation that wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a joke. “Sometimes to see a path to the future, we must look to the past.” Then, the punchline: a picture of a Blockbuster.

I’ve found myself returning to that silly little joke often in my work on Rewind Video Store and the Worcester Community Media Foundation. I think there’s a kernel of truth to it. What made the video store work are the things that local newsrooms need to figure out: how to create a membership base, how to build a community around your work, and how to offer something of practical value.

Six months ago, my team and I set out on the admittedly bizarre venture of opening a video store to fund a journalism nonprofit. Now, we have the video store open, a Patreon page for members, we’ve got some grant funding, and we are about halfway to sustainability. The Patreon membership system was a crucial step, and very much a product of what I’d learned in EJCP. Members get their own real-deal physical membership cards, name and everything. On the cards, it reads “Rewind Video Club: Supporting Real Local Journalism One Movie At A Time.”

In order to actually build the foundation, though, we’ve got work to do. There are so many programs we’d like to offer to pay, train and assist aspiring local journalists. Right now, we have to figure out how we’re going to pay for them, and make sure we can hang on to the video store and the crucial physical space it affords.

Below is a recording of my final EJCP presentation, put in a different context. For about three years now, I’ve been doing a Twitch stream with some local comedians and political observers called Worcestery Council Theatre 3000. It’s like Mystery Science Theatre 3000, but instead of movies it’s the Worcester City Council. It’s a fun time, and it has a small but very loyal audience. Here’s me giving the presentation to that audience.

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