Today’s (digital) world is much different from what it was, for example, twenty years ago. The circumstances in which the media, non-profit organizations and businesses operate today have changed, which inevitably affects the adjustment of their business and the way they function. Traditional ways of media development and the expectation that we only have to write stories, and that some big donor or state will give us the money to do it, are no longer enough for sustainability and survival.
The goal of this course is to help you start thinking about your community in the right way, as well as to provide you with basic and practical concepts for building and engaging that community.
The course is divided into five modules:
● Module 1 – In which you will get acquainted with the general overview of the course and the lecturers.
● Module 2 – Principles of community building, where we will explain at the general and at the strategic level how “community” differs from the “audience”, and why it is important for the media in the 21st century.
● Module 3 – Reader funnel, in which we will explain the steps you guide your target group through to the moment they become your supporters and part of your community.
● Module 4 – Reader profiles, during which you will learn how to understand this target group and adapt your approach to it.
● Module 5 – In which we will summarize what we have learned so far.
This course will also serve as a good addition to the course on monetization models for the media, especially bearing in mind that many media at the global level, but also regionally, have opted for monetization of the community as one of the ways to achieve sustainability.
It will take you about six hours to complete this course.
This online course has been produced within the ‘Media for All’ project, that is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and delivered by a consortium of organizations led by the British Council, in partnership with Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), INTRAC and Thomson Foundation (TF).
The project aim is to develop and strengthen the editorial independence and business operation of the media outlets across six countries in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) by providing grants and technical assistance to a range of media outlets.
