Episode 84: Larry Ryckman

Episode notes

Dan and Ellen talk to Larry Ryckman . Ryckman is editor of The Colorado Sun , the subject of a chapter that Dan wrote for our book, "What Works in Community News." The Sun was founded by journalists who worked at The Denver Post , which had been cut and cut and cut under the ownership of Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund that the Post staff called "vulture capitalists." The Sun was founded as a for-profit public benefit corporation. A PBC is a legal designation covering for-profit organizations that serve society in some way. Among other things, a PBC is under no fiduciary obligation to enrich its owners and may instead plow revenues back into the enterprise. And we've found that for-profit models are rare in the world of news startups. But that changed l ast year , when The Sun joined its nonprofit peers. Ryckman explains. Dan gives a listen to a New York Times podcast with Robert Putnam , the Harvard University political scientist who wrote "Bowling Alone" some years back. In a fascinating 40 minutes, Putnam talks about his work in trying to build social capital.