The Membership Puzzle Project, founded by NYU's Studio 20 programme and Dutch news organisation De Correspondent, is a year-long public research project running until May 2018, looking at what makes membership models in news work.

The project defines membership as a social contract between journalists and readers, where members not only support but also actively contribute knowledge or other services to a publication's mission.

Over the last six months, the project team has researched more than 100 news organisations with various membership models to see what they have in common and what makes them different.

In this week's podcast, we speak to Emily Goligoski, research director for The Membership Puzzle Project, about the expectations members have from an organisation they choose to support, advice for publications looking to adopt this model, and what news outlets can learn about membership from other public institutions.

Image credit: Leon Postma, De Correspondent / The Membership Puzzle Project

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