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Citizen and community news

Conference room
Columns

Editorial boards that look nothing like their cities shouldn’t speak for them

Why do editorial boards look nothing like their communities? For decades, one organization has comprehensively tracked newsroom’s hiring, retention, and diversity efforts. The American Society of News Editors’ annual survey has always painted an occasionally hopeful but dim-in-aggregate picture of American newsrooms. Across the board, newsrooms often reflect the diversity of the country and their … Continued

Photo: Fausto Sandoval, Unsplash | https://unsplash.com/@eduusaez
Columns

Journalists are creators now, and that’s a good thing

Journalism’s hostility is understandable, but our denial is not.In 2009, the former editor-in-chief at Thomson Reuters, David Schlesinger, described journalism as one of the great self-declared professions. He wrote, “I am a journalist because I said I was one more than two decades ago and have spent the years since working on my abilities. I am not … Continued

How they lived
Columns

Launching a newsletter and thinking about analytics

It’s not just about clicks When we launched our obits newsletter, How They Lived, on December 8, I had one big concern: Would anyone read it? Honestly, I worry about that with everything I publish, but launching a new product so close to the holidays only amped up that worry. The beauty of making journalism … Continued

How an idea about local obits became a newsletter
Columns

How an idea about local obits became a newsletter

Take that thing you’ve been thinking about doing for awhile now and make it real. A few years ago, I had this idea. I wondered if local, reported obituaries could help local newsrooms build subscribers, and therefore help support the business itself while connecting them with their communities. I talked it out in hallways and … Continued

Photo: Clay Banks, Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@claybanks
Columns

Saving democracy is a slogan not a strategy

In the past four years, I’ve seen increasingly fervent articles, studies and op-eds declaring journalism’s essential role in a healthy democracy. As we’ve heard many times before, local news is critical to informing communities and promoting civic engagement. The very presence of a local news organization revives democracy, underpins democracy, sustains democracy, and yet these proclamations have been strikingly disconnected from reality.

In this photo from June 2020, Lincoln Rust, left, and Anthony Catteruccia (not shown) made this mural on the Wisconsin Veterans Museum following the George Floyd protests. | Photo: John Hart, State Journal
Columns

Narrative change: Designing conversations for an inclusive economy

The sustainability of local journalism is tied to the strength of local business and both have been rocked by a deadly pandemic and roused by nationwide rallies for racial equity. In developing blueprints for an equitable post-pandemic recovery, communities have a critical opportunity to address the role of local media in creating a more accurate … Continued

A WFAE public forum with Mayor Vi Lyles at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture
Columns

How to find diverse sources

A lot of the work has already been done The evidence is overwhelming that lack of diversity and inclusion in journalism not only perpetuates stereotypes and media distrust, but also limits which stories get told, how they are told, and whose voices are heard. Based on the pre-training survey responses, many reporters believe including diverse … Continued