Archives: 2019

Christine SchmidtFebruary 25, 2019
“Philanthropy desperately needs to be more agile”: Molly de Aguiar on grantmaking with local and national media
“The right approach is almost always giving up the illusion of control funders think they have and trusting that people closest to the work know what’s best.”
Christine SchmidtFebruary 25, 2019
How Mississippi Today and WLBT balance data and broadcast needs while co-investigating stories
“If people have broadband and can access digital news — which is still not a given here in the state — thinking that news can come from a digital outlet is something new to a lot in the state.”
Ken DoctorFebruary 22, 2019
The New York Times’ Mark Thompson on how he’d run a local newspaper: “Where can we stand and fight?”
“I believe that if you’re producing journalism of value, there is no reason to expect that consumers wouldn’t be prepared, in some way, to support that — potentially to pay for it. And that’s probably, ultimately, true of regional and local journalism as well as national and international journalism.”
Ken DoctorFebruary 22, 2019
Newsonomics: Can The New York Times avoid a Trump Slump and sign up 10 million paying subscribers?
And what lessons can the rest of the industry draw from the Times’ outsized success?
Christine SchmidtFebruary 22, 2019
How Your Voice Ohio worked with Youngstown’s WFMJ to highlight solutions in the opioid crisis
“If it’s half of what we think it could be, then everyone here is going to reach more people with this subject of such critical importance here.”
Laura Hazard OwenFebruary 22, 2019
While YouTube and Facebook fumble, Pinterest is reducing health misinformation in ways that actually make sense
Plus: Big advertisers ban YouTube (not over vaccines), the National Cancer Institute wonders how to respond to health misinformation, and how to fill a data void.
Kelsey ArendtFebruary 21, 2019
Flipboard wants tighter abs, Pinterest wants good wine, and Linkedin wants to read about…shopping? Here are the kinds of content platform users seek (or avoid)
Also: Drudge Report readers are some of longform’s biggest fans, Instagram users are worried about their credit limit, and Facebook users would love more stories about pregnancy, please.
Christine SchmidtFebruary 21, 2019
How News 12 is working with ProPublica’s Documenting Hate database to track local hate crimes
“Getting things on air will reach the audience you’re looking to reach. Getting things online is important so people can find the work later.”
Laura Hazard OwenFebruary 21, 2019
The state of women in U.S. media in 2019: Still f’ing abysmal — especially at Reuters and the AP
“The media is in a state of great disruption, but despite all the change, one thing remains the same: fewer women report the news than men.”
Christine SchmidtFebruary 20, 2019
Local TV is still the most trusted source of news. So how do you collaborate with a station?
“The idea that you would collaborate with your competitor when you’re fighting for ratings is anathema to broadcasters.” But it may be a key part of how local news remains sustainable.
Christine SchmidtFebruary 20, 2019
How Tribune Publishing, The Guardian, and Slate tackled reader revenue by valuing their journalism more
Exclusive podcasts, tightened paywalls, and just plain asking each played a part.
Sarah SchmalbachFebruary 20, 2019
How the Lenfest Local Lab used texting to inform Philadelphians about election issues
Texting “seemed like a way to allow people to pare the constant stream of news down to just what mattered to them the most.”
Laura Hazard OwenFebruary 19, 2019
It’s time for a “radical shift in the balance of power between the platforms and the people,” the British parliament says
Facebook acts like “digital gangsters,” “Mark Zuckerberg has shown contempt” toward governments, and the company’s “deliberate” strategy was to send uninformed executives to answer Parliament’s questions.
Nicholas QuahFebruary 19, 2019
So is Spotify now the inevitable next King of Podcasts? Or will it struggle, like everyone else, to get past Apple?
Plus: The U.K. wants to open up funding for independent audio, Newt Gingrich gets his own World, and a new show about being a working mother.
Laura Hazard OwenFebruary 19, 2019
“Rebuilding a local news ecosystem”: Knight pledges $300 million to local news, free speech, and media literacy organizations
Among the grantees: The American Journalism Project gets $20 million, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press gets $10 million, and The News Literacy Project gets $5 million. And there’s more, lots more.
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