Bilingual reporting and translation: President Trump’s zero tolerance policy on border immigration makes bilingual reporting important, writes Alice Driver.
“Because language enables reporting — and comprehension of complex subjects in the news — it is essential for local and national media outlets to have bilingual journalists,” she writes.
Shoeleather promotes local reporting: National database helps editors find local reporters.
They are “local, knowledgeable and ready to tell their community stories” says the website, and a way to avoid “parachute journalism.”
Hexing tax collectors: Sydney Smith offers a roundup of recent media corrections.
Historical facts, names and numbers trip journalists, including Romanian witches.
“Stories aren’t the only content that needs editing,” writes Smith. “Case in point, an NPR graphic on the midterm elections had numerous errors.”
Quoting too many men: London’s Financial Times is using a bot to warn its journalists against quoting too many men, writes Jim Waterson, forcing writers to look for women experts.
“The paper, which covers many male-dominated industries, is keen to attract more woman readers, with its research suggesting they are put off by articles that rely heavily on quotes from men,” he writes. Only 21 percent of people quoted in the newspaper were women.
A media business analysis: Rick Edmonds sees gains in broadcasting, weaker newspapers and digital sites.
“My version of a partial silver lining: the 22,000 professional journalists left at newspaper organizations (even after 33,000 such jobs have vanished) continue to find ways to do outstanding work,” he writes. “And will in 2019, too.”
American bias: David W. Moore explores American racism.
“It is in the realm of possibility, I think, to suggest that most of us, and maybe all of us, are afflicted to some degree with implicit bias — but the notion that we all share the same biases seems completely implausible,” he writes. There may be a dominant culture related to race, but there also are many subcultures that produce different feelings.
Conceptual scoops and wit: Essential to thinking in new ways about a familiar issue is wit, writes James Geary.
“Journalists need to be witty to bear witness to the connections others don’t see — or don’t want to see,” he writes, adding that as journalists come under attack, “we need to keep our wits about us.”:
Reporters making statements: CNN’s Jim Acosta lost press credentials after questions for Trump ended with a statement, note Al Tompkins and Kelly McBride.
“Ask tough questions, avoid making statements or arguing during a press event and report the news, don’t become the news,” they write.
Covering elections: The Reporters Committee For Freedom Of The Press offers an election legal guide.
“Generally, the First Amendment protects journalists’ right to gather news outside of polling places for the purpose of reporting on early election results,” says the exit polling guideline.
News media found more divisive than Trump: A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll compares President Trump with national news media, writes Steven Shepard.
Fifty-six percent say Trump divides the country, writes Shepard. “Even more voters, 64 percent, said the media have done more to divide the country….”
