When Kurt Repanshek launched the Traveler back in August of 2005, it was primarily to find stories that he could pitch to magazines. But the magazine world took a nosedive, while at the same time readership on the Traveler continued to grow.
Today, between 2.5 and 3 million readers and listeners a year turn to the Traveler to learn more about the National Park System, both its wonders and how it’s being managed. Unfortunately, the Traveler hasn’t been financially sustainable, and can’t continue unless we can attract the funding necessary to employ a small staff, upgrade IT resources, and allow us to tackle the growing number of critical stories that fall by the wayside because more and more news organizations are paring back, or totally going out of business.
Rebecca Latson, the Traveler’s contributing photographer, and Lynn Riddick, who hosts many of the Traveler’s weekly podcast, discuss their participation in pulling together the Traveler’s editorial content, and how that’s given them greater appreciation of the value of having a news organization whose focus is solely on national parks and the National Park Service.
Comments
As I was listening to this podcast, it struck me that working with or merging with the NPCA might be the way to go. We could have National Parks Traveler powered by NPCA, or you could be their new news division. I wouldn't think the former is within their mission, but having a news division certainly could be. They have much deeper pockets than you, and they have a reputation that fits with yours. Too many commercial sponsors might be suspect, but certainly not a non-profit such as them. I suppose you have thought of this, but if not please do.
While I agree that some form of subscription plan may be a useful form of fundraising, The amount suggested seems quite high when I can get a subscription to the Wall Street Journal on sale for as low as $50 per year. It might be more helpfulto approach commercial advertisers who can pay higher advertising fees. Companies like LL Bean, Coleman, Columbia or PAtagonia might find this group of listeners to be a good audience for their products. While I understand the angle of Interior Federal Credit Union and the nonprofits associated with each National Park, this tells me that the target audience of this podcast is the employees of the parks. By targeting campers, RVers, hikers and other typical visitors of the parks by providing more visitor information, it may be possible to attract commercial advertisers that can keep it sustainable.
Brian, if you have any connections with those companies you mentioned, please let me know. We've tried them all and they've ignored the Traveler.