Useful insights for people advancing healthy, responsive and resilient journalism
Medill’s Local News report finds ongoing industry-wide issues — and a few bright spots
This week, the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University released its annual State of the Local News report. 127 local newspapers have closed in the last year, and 7,000 newspaper jobs were lost, according to the executive summary by Zach Metzger. But there are bright spots, writes Autumn Brewington, with an increase in 80 digital news sites and the growth of local news networks like Patch and Axios Local. She highlights 12 newsrooms that are growing despite the struggles in the industry overall.
Last year’s Medill report was criticized by Alice Dreger in the newsletter Local News Blues for incomplete and incorrect data. The Medill team is addressing this issue proactively, asking readers to flag suggested changes to this year’s report.
News in Focus Headlines, resources and events aligned with API's four areas of focus.
Civic Discourse & Democracy
>> Announcing election urgent care: Connecting U.S. journalists to tools and resources in the post-election period (Election SOS)
>> He runs Fox News’ decision desk. Here’s how he sees election night coming. (Politico)
The head of Fox News’s decision desk predicts that the presidential election will be called on Saturday, because that is when he expects Pennsylvania’s votes to be counted. Arnon Mishkin, who called Arizona for President Biden in 2020, is a consultant for the network, not a full-time employee.
Culture & Inclusion
>> After the Chicago Tribune didn’t replace retiring architecture critic Blair Kamin, he funded his own successor (Medill Local News Initiative)
In his last column, Blair Kamin wrote that “schlock developers and hack architects would welcome the lack of scrutiny” if The Tribune did not continue to have an architecture critic. Now, through a grant, Kamin sponsors a biweekly architecture column in the paper.
>> How one journalist reached remote Indonesian Indigenous communities with media literacy (Poynter)
>> The backfire effect—is fact-checking doing more harm than good? (Columbia Journalism Review)
The worry that fact-checking will “backfire” and cause people to double down on their incorrect beliefs has not been held up by recent studies, says Columbia professor Yamil Velez. But, she says, this only works with neutral, non-judgmental language.
>> How community engagement can and will keep the lights on! (America Amplified)
Newsrooms must focus on audience engagement, says API’s Letrell Crittenden — both to expand revenue and bring in new audiences. This work can also help deepen connections and build trust with local communities.
Join us for a conversation with Gillian White, chief revenue officer for Capital B, about how a small team can develop fundraising appeals that speak to a news organization’s mission and audience, tying fundraising asks to key events and news coverage, and focusing your efforts for end-of-year fundraising campaigns. Join us on Thursday, November 21 from 12 to 1pm CT.
>> Costco has a magazine and it’s thriving (The New York Times)
>> How The Courier Eco Latino is turning obituaries into opportunity (The Pivot Fund)
Readers of The Courier Eco Latino can pay for death notices, obituaries and memorials on a simple website, and then purchase flowers and other gifts through the platform. The platform is projected to generate more than $90,000 in annual revenue.
