Discussions bubbling up between nonprof news orgs, commercial TV affiliates

Nonprofit news entities are beginning to explore the possibilities of partnering with commercial broadcasters. NBC agreed to have at least five local affiliates collaborate with the nonprofs as part of its agreement with the FCC to merge with Comcast. Joe Bergantino, co-founder of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting in Boston, is in talks with several television outlets, including one commercial. "I think [the FCC order] sends a strong message that partnering with nonprofit investigative reporting centers makes a lot of sense for commercial news outlets," he tells TVNewsCheck.“It makes journalistic sense and it makes economic sense.” Thus far, nonprofit journalism entities, which are springing up to fill coverage holes left by dwindling newspaper staffs, have been collaborating with major metro newspapers, public TV stations (Current, March 30, 2009) and regional news networks.