Philanthropy for local news: The American Journalism Project aims to fill holes in media coverage with $46 million in venture philanthropy, writes Christine Schmidt.
Covering government, environment, education, social and criminal justice and public health seen as a public service.
New model for local news: Ken Doctor aims to launch Lookout next year.
“Overall, we believe the successful local news outlets of the 2020s will be the ones that authentically embed themselves into the life of the communities they serve,” he writes.
Journalists a rare sighting: The Pew Research Center finds 21 percent of Americans never spoke with a local journalist, writes Elizabeth Grieco.
Americans who have spoken with a journalist are a bit more likely than those who have not to say local news media do a very good job.
Journalists engaged in communities preferred: The Pew Research Center finds urban and rural residents want news from journalists personally engaged in their communities, writes Elizabeth Grieco.
Urban resident say journalists are more likely to cover their areas, and see certain local news topics as important for daily life. They also rely on online sources for local news. Rural dwellers less satisfied.
Public thinks local news thrives: Few pay for it, it’s free and TV is top source, writes Laura Hazard Owen, city Pew research.
Seventy-one percent of those surveyed believe their local news outlets are doing very or somewhat well financially, in part because TV is doing better than hard-hit newspapers.
Medill spotlights local news collapse: As newsroom jobs disappear, writes Mark Jacob, some areas of the country are virtually uncovered by journalism and plagues all news consumers with more superficiality and mistakes.
“Which means there’s plenty to read and view, but it might not tell us very much,” he writes on the local news crisis as part of the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Local news death spiral: Kyle Pope reports that job cuts at the New York Daily News signals need to avoid self-pity in journalism.
“This can’t be about us,” he writes. “It has to be about why the country should care if local news goes away, which is the trajectory we now find ourselves on. What are the effects on a democracy if local news is no longer in the picture?”
He adds: “If you’re in journalism and you can’t muster an answer to that question, you need to move on.”
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 