Media Literacy

Hope For Local News?

by

Article in The New York Times by Sarabeth Berman, 1/18/26

Headline:  “Local Newspapers Are Closing. Local News Is Surviving.”

“The consequences of the collapse of the local newspaper business have been severe. When communities lose their local news outlets, civic engagement drops, corruption rises, government waste increases and political polarization worsens. Communities no longer know themselves. No number of headlines about goings-on in Washington can change that. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/local-newspapers-closing.html

Document the Truth Before it’s Suppressed

by

Article in Poynter by Kelly McBride, 1/15/26

Headline:  “This moment will be defined by what we choose to record”

Subhead:  “Local press and local residents must document history as federal force grows routine”

“When unmarked, masked federal agents grabbed an international student and forced her into an SUV on a public street in the spring of 2025, the United States entered into a new era of federal policing.

“At first, it was alarming — a move more commonly associated with authoritarian dictatorships than a democratically elected government with checks and balances. Now that this tactic, and others like it, have become routine, it is no longer enough to react in alarm. It is time to extensively document everything that is happening. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/documenting-history-as-federal-force-expands/

Buttoning Down the Media

by

Article in Poynter by Louis Jacobson, 1/8/26

Headline:  “A brief history of the media through political convention pins”

Subhead:  “Collect ‘em and trade ‘em … and watch how they trace the evolution and decline of legacy media brands”

“. . .Recently, I realized that some of my souvenirs from those conventions accidentally tell a story about the media’s evolution over the past three decades.

“The souvenirs I’m referring to are pins, mostly the size of the average thumbnail. Despite their modest size, these trinkets tell a story of the media’s proximity to power, the ebb and flow of journalistic resources and the media pecking order. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2026/political-convention-pins-media-history-journalism-decline/

 

Journalists Must Report Facts

by

Article in Poynter by Kelly McBride, 1/7/26

Headline:  “How journalists should cover ICE’s fatal shooting of a civilian in Minneapolis”

Subhead:  “Editors face high-stakes ethical decisions on video, transparency and protest coverage — and those choices will be closely scrutinized”

“Journalists have a critical role to play in covering a fatal use of force by any law enforcement officer. It’s the most basic form of holding power to account.

“That responsibility is especially urgent after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, an incident that was captured on multiple videos and has prompted sharply conflicting accounts from federal, state and local officials. . .””

Read the full article at:

|https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2026/covering-ice-fatal-shooting-minneapolis-journalism-ethics/

No Bones About Media Scanning?

by

Article in Raw Story by David Edwards, 1/2/26

Headline: ” ‘What is wrong with journalism?’ MAGA doc slams reporters for believing Trump’s MRI claim”

“Pro-MAGA podcaster Dr. Drew Pinsky lashed out at reporters for believing President Donald Trump’s claim that he had an MRI procedure instead of being tested by CT scan equipment. . .”

” ‘He did not have an MRI. He did not have a CAT scan. He had a coronary calcium score, which is done with a CAT scan machine,” Pinsky said during his Friday broadcast. “They’re so effing ignorant! They don’t know how to ask the right questions!’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rawstory.com/drew-pinsky-trump-mri/?utm_source=superhead

2025 – Year in Political Cartoons

by

Martin Rowson/The Guardian

Article in The Guardian by Anna Mohdin and Sundus Abdi,12/30/25

Headline:  “Tuesday briefing: A surreal year in news gives our cartoonists endless material”

Subhead:  “In today’s newsletter: Covering everything from Donald Trump to AI, and Gaza to Ukraine, award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Ben Jennings shares his favourite caricatures of 2025, and we share ours too.”

“Good morning. It’s been one of those years where the news cycle felt almost too surreal to caricature. From Jeff Bezos commandeering Venice for his lavish wedding at a time of a growing backlash over inequality, to the spectacle of Donald Trump returning to office for a second term, the material was endless for cartoonists, though often difficult to navigate.  .  .”
Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/30/first-edition-political-cartoons-of-2025

We Still Need Local News

by

Photo from Lithub

Article in Poynter by Eric Rynston-Lobel, 12-8-25

Headline:  “As local news disappears, new networks are stepping in to fill the void”

Subhead:  “TAPinto, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Texas Tribune are expanding into underserved areas — testing new models for restoring local journalism”

“TAPinto provides its franchisees with the backend systems and training necessary to run a successful operation. It’s an efficient way to address the loss of local news, and it’s a variation of a model that other organizations have turned to recently as well. . .”

“There are now 853 local news sites across 52 networks providing original reporting, according to the report. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/tapinto-texas-tribune-salt-lake-tribune-local-news-expansion/

Students Fill Gap of Local Coverage?

by

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Riddhi Setty & Carolina Abbot Galvao, 12/2/25

Headline:  “How Students Are Trying to Save Local News”

Subhead:  “Across the country, university programs are filling gaps in the coverage.”

At twenty-one, just after her graduation from the University of Vermont, Holly Sullivan became the editor of the Winooski News, the sole paper in Vermont’s smallest city—spanning a mile and a half, with about eight thousand residents who speak more than thirty languages. In the course of a few months, Sullivan went from being a student to editing articles and a newsletter that serve the area at large, written entirely by university students.

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/how-students-are-trying-to-save-local-news.php

Wait! Aren’t Media Always Correct?

by

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Carolina Abbott Galvão, 11/26/25

Headline:  “Could Public Skepticism of the Press Actually Be Good for Democracy?”

Subhead:  “An expert on political communication explains how Argentina’s history of public lying created a protective barrier between citizens and information, and how distrust can help fight autocracy.”

“. . .the authors of The Patina of Distrust, a new book that explores how people interpret misinformation, argue that that perspective overlooks a crucial piece of the puzzle. Basing their findings on extensive research conducted in the wake of Argentina’s 2019 elections, they conclude that news consumers are less susceptible to falsehood than we might anticipate. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/public-skepticism-press-good-thing-patina-distrust-argentina-eugenia-mitchelstein.php

Youth – Dim View of the Press

by

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Carolina Abbott Galvao, 11/5/25

Headline:  “Biased, Boring Liars”

Subhead:  “More than three-quarters of teens surveyed have negative views of the press, a new study finds.”

“A study published today by the nonprofit News Literacy Project paints a bleak picture of how young people view the press. It found that more US teens think ‘reporters are skilled at lying than informing the public,’ and about half believe the news media frequently engages in ‘unethical practices such as making up quotes.’ When asked what word best describes news media, 84 percent of teens surveyed ‘expressed a negative sentiment,’ often using words like ‘fake,’ ‘false,’ and ‘lies.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/biased-boring-liars-news-literacy-perceptions-media-youth-cynicism.php