Local Owned Doesn’t Guarantee Local News


Article in Poynter by Jennifer Nehrer, 7/29/26

Headline:  “A community can have local newspapers and still lack local news”

Subhead:  “California’s local news landscape — from a thriving weekly in Carmel to a one-reporter newsroom in Merced — shows why counting newspapers isn’t enough”

“. . .At first glance, California’s local news landscape seems to be thriving. Even the state’s least populous areas compare favorably to some of the United States’ largest regions by one common measure. . .”

“Matt Pearce, director of policy at Rebuild Local News, prefers to add a second statistic to present a fuller picture of who is bringing local news to California communities: the ‘Local Journalist Index,’ a tool that analyzes the number of ‘Local Journalist Equivalents’ in each U.S. county. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/how-to-measure-local-news/

In Crisis, Collaborating Important

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Irene Romulo and Nina Weingrill, 7/28/26

Headline:  “In a Fast-Moving Crisis, What Is the Role of Journalism?”

Subhead:  “Community news organizations, enmeshed in an information ecosystem on social media and messaging apps, can verify, clarify, and connect.”

“. . .A Media Impact Funders report argues that journalism needs to build infrastructure that is ‘shared, long-term, coordinated, and system-oriented,’ rather than episodic or project-bound. That includes adding coordination roles, offering community training, building trusted networks, and maintaining relationships with community organizations between crises. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/in-a-fast-moving-crisis-what-is-the-role-of-journalism-brazil-flood-venezuela-earthquake-whatsapp-signal-rapid-response-immigration-customs-enforcement-ice-information-sharing-ecosystems.php

Covering a Local Disaster


Article in Poynter by Amaris Castillo, 7/24/26

Headline:  “When the Boundary Waters burned, local journalists answered the call”

Subhead:  “As wildfires spread through one of America’s most cherished wilderness areas, small Minnesota newsrooms became essential for residents and visitors”

“. . .The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness spans more than 1 million acres of forests, glacial lakes and streams in northeastern Minnesota. It is one of the nation’s most cherished wilderness areas. . .”

“As firefighters battled the blazes in an area that is already hard to access, local journalists mobilized to provide their audiences with up-to-date information. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/boundary-waters-wildfires-local-journalism-minnesota/

 

Local News is Important

Article in Poynter by Phoenix Chapital, 7/16/25

Headline: “When the World Cup came to Kansas City, local journalists stayed local”

Subhead: “As global media descended on the city, Kansas City reporters found stories only local journalists could tell”

“As international media outlets flocked to Kansas City to cover the World Cup, local journalists responded to the global event by leaning even harder into what they do best: covering their own communities.

“Rather than trying to match the international press corps, Kansas City’s newsrooms found their advantage in telling stories only local journalists could tell. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/local-news-coverage-world-cup-kansas-city/

Editor’s Words Still Ring True


Article in Poynter by Staff, 7/4/26

Headline: “A message about the importance of the free press”

Subhead:  “On America’s 250th birthday, we reprint the words of the late Poynter chairman Eugene C. Patterson”

“Eugene C. Patterson fought Nazis as a tank platoon leader in World War II. He fought for civil rights as a crusading editor at The Atlanta Constitution in the 1960s. He fought for high standards and ethical journalism in all his roles as a newspaper editor, including as CEO and chairman of the St. Petersburg Times. . .”

“He wrote these words, which in 1984 were published in a book by the Society for Professional Journalists. . .” [words are above]

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2026/eugene-patterson-free-press-message/

Justice With Satire

Article in AP by Frey Collins, 7/1/26

Headline:   “The Onion’s new parody of Alex Jones’ Infowars starts with $100,000 to Sandy Hook families”

“The satirical news site The Onion isn’t waiting to take possession of Infowars to launch a parody of Alex Jones ’ conspiracy platform.

“More than a year after first trying to buy Infowars, The Onion on Thursday will debut a send-up under its own website with plans to give some of the revenue to families of the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

“The families have still received no money from Jones since courts ordered him to pay more than $1 billion for falsely calling the 2012 shooting a hoax. . .’

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/infowars-alex-jones-newtown-shooting-onion-e38e5447435e6dc117e1ce996a58ac5c

Better Media in the Past?


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Alex Wright, 6/25/26

Headline:  “What 19th-Century Media Can Teach Us About the Future”

Subhead:  “In an era of change and fragmentation, the history of the early American press shows that media is shaped not only by technology, but by infrastructure, law, and society.”

“Stories about the crisis of journalism almost always begin with a now-familiar tale of technological disruption. First the internet shattered the traditional newspaper ‘bundle.’ Then social media came along and further balkanized the audience. Now artificial intelligence threatens yet more upheaval. Yet we are hardly the first generation of journalists to confront this degree of change.

“Before the rise of modern mass media, around the turn of the twentieth century, the United States supported a sprawling and wildly prolific newspaper culture. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/what-19th-century-media-can-teach-us-about-the-future.php

Politically Targeting ABC?


Article in Free Press by Staff, 6/23/26

Headline:  “Free Press Calls on the Carr FCC to End Its Corrupt Crusade Against ABC Programs and Stations”

On Monday, Free Press urged the Federal Communications Commission to stop Chairman Brendan Carr’s capricious and corrupt efforts to bully ABC into complying with President Trump’s political agenda.  . .”

“In a filing about whether the ABC program The View still qualifies for an exemption from the FCC’s Equal Opportunities Rule for political-candidate interviews, Free Press wrote: “The FCC is explicitly prohibited from dictating the editorial decisions of national news networks. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-calls-carr-fcc-end-its-corrupt-crusade-against-abc-programs-and-stations

Radio Active Magazine 6/23/26

Tune in to Radio Active Magazine on Tuesday, 6/23/26 at 6:30 PM on KKFI Community Radio 90.1 FM – streaming at kkfi.org.

FCM’s Spencer Graves will Speak with Dimi Zagorski who describes Wikimedia concerns with European copyright rules including AI and scientific research and the impact of the 2019 European ‘Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market’ “.

More from Wikiversity at: