Media History Disappearing?

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Liam Scott, 10/28/25

Headline:  “Who’s Going to Save Local Newspaper Archives?”

Subhead:  “Archivists worry in particular about photographs that have never been digitized.”

“The Smokehouse Creek Fire burned through the Texas Panhandle in 2024. . .”

“As it consumed the rolling hills around Canadian [Texas], Brown, whose family has owned the paper since the 1940s, was overcome by a different fear: that the fire would destroy the [Canadian] Record’s archive. “I would have been devastated,” she said. “It’s not just the history of this community. It’s the history of my family. It’s who we are. It’s what we’ve done. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/digitize-save-local-news-archives-prevent-lost-history.php

Alaska Community Radio Trouble


Article in Poynter by Liam Scott, 1028/25

Headline:  “An Alaska station connects communities across hundreds of miles. Now it’s fighting to survive.”

Subhead:  “Federal funding cuts have left KOTZ, the only local news source for much of northwest Alaska, on the brink of closure”

“In the remote Arctic town of Kotzebue, Alaska, some residents still talk about the Dairy Queen that closed several years ago. They also talk about what’s at risk of closing next: the region’s lone radio station.

“Since 1973, KOTZ has delivered the news to Kotzebue, population 3,102, and several other small, sparse villages that collectively are home to about the same number of people. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/alaska-radio-station-kotz-faces-funding-crisis/

 

CBS – Off to the Dump?

Article in Mother Jones by David Corn, 10/28/25

Headline:  “Another Big Reason to Worry About Bari Weiss’ Tenure at CBS News”

Subhead: “Right now, a potential peril is at hand: the end of truth.”

“The appointment of Bari Weiss, the former New York Times opinion writer who started the heterodox Free Press website, to lead venerable CBS News set the media world in a tizzy. Since she had no experience in television broadcast news operations, David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, must have selected her for ideological and editorial reasons. . .”

“Weiss’ first days at the network yielded worrisome signs. She asked senior staff at 60 Minutes, why does the country think you’re biased? This query suggested she buys the right-wing narrative Donald Trump propels about the media. . .”

Read the full article at:


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/bari-weiss-cbs-news-david-ellison-larry-ellison-artificial-intelligence-ai-60-minutes/

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Article in The Guardian by Eric Berger & Jeremy Barr, 10/27/25

Headline:  CBS News anchor John Dickerson becomes latest figure to exit network”

Subhead:  “Announcement comes amid concerns about network’s ownership and ability to maintain editorial independence”

“John Dickerson, a longtime CBS News journalist, has become the latest high-profile figure to resign from the network amid concerns about its ownership and ability to maintain editorial independence. . .”

“Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor-in-chief, is expected to revamp the evening news and has been working to find a new anchor. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/oct/27/cbs-evening-news-anchor-john-dickerson-resigns

Broken Post?


Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 10/22/25

Headline:  “Pain at The Post”

Subhead: “As morale sinks and top talent exits, staffers at The Washington Post are bracing for more pain ahead of the holidays—raising questions about Will Lewis’ leadership, nearly two years into his tenure as chief executive.”

“Inside the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper, ‘the mood is grim,’ one insider told Status. Of course, there is plenty of reason for the workforce to be demoralized. This year, The Post has endured an unprecedented talent exodus and seen longtime staffers accept buyouts. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/washington-post-layoffs-cuts-morale

Reporting Abductions


Article in Poynter by Angela Fu. 10/22/25

Headline: “Tear gas, fear and federal secrecy: How Chicago journalists are covering Trump’s immigration policies while living through them”

Subhead:  “‘It’s really exhausting, mentally and physically. But somebody has to record history’”

“. . .The tips pour in at all hours: sightings of agents in all parts of Chicago. Many of them are masked, in the city to find undocumented immigrants. They move quickly, but sometimes, Garcia Hernandez — whose beat is the largely Latino neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village and Back of the Yards but whose coverage area has since expanded — gathers just enough information to make it to the aftermath of a raid. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/chicago-ice-raid-apartment-journalists-immigration-trump/

Fewer Local News Outlets


Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 10/20/25

Headline: “An alarming number of independent publishers and small chains closed papers last year, new Medill study finds”

Subhead:  “The United States has lost nearly 3,500 newspapers and more than 270,000 newspaper jobs since 2005, the report found”

“For years, the U.S. has lost more than two newspapers per week on average, thanks, in part, to growing consolidation. But this past year, the majority of closures were papers belonging to smaller chains and independent owners, according to a new report from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

“Medill’s 2025 State of Local News report tracked 136 newspaper closures over the past year, up from 130 last year. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/medill-report-local-news-closures-independent-papers-news-deserts/

Fox in a Whitehouse

Article in Media Matters by Tyler Monroe, 10/20/25

Headline: “Star Fox host Laura Ingraham is now in business with the president’s son”

Fox News star Laura Ingraham spent years railing against the purported corruption caused by the business interests of President Joe Biden’s son. But now she’s going into business with Donald Trump Jr., federal records show, a wildly and obviously unethical conflict of interest that no credible news outlet would tolerate. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump-jr/star-fox-host-laura-ingraham-now-business-presidents-son

Network News Slowly Twisting


Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 10/25/25

Headline: “Rattled at 30 Rock”

Subhead:  NBC News is reeling from its biggest round of cuts in years, cutting about 150 staffers as it divorces itself from MSNBC and CNBC.”

“On Wednesday morning, NBC News staffers saw a last-minute meeting added to their calendar for 10 a.m. Most immediately knew what the unspecified meeting would be about: layoffs. Staffers across the organization have been dreading cuts for months . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/nbc-news-layoffs-cuts

Student Journalists Polarized?

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Carolina Abbott Galvao, 10/13/25

Headline:  “Student Journalism Is Fraught, Too”

Subhead:  “The dispute over plans for MediaFest, the nation’s largest conference of student journalists, reflects the polarization of the news industry that awaits them.”

“In late July, a group of student-journalism advisers convened on Zoom to discuss a brewing controversy over opinion, reporting, and religion. They were preparing for MediaFest—the nation’s largest conference of student reporters and their mentors, which will take place in Washington, DC, this week. Steven Sandberg, a student media adviser at Oregon State University, had been browsing the event schedule when he came upon a list of speakers slated for a portion of the conference called the “faith track.” “I saw pretty far-right, anti-LGBTQ language,” he said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/student-journalism-mediafest-fraught-religion-faith-reporting.php

Some Media Waking Up Now?


Article in The Guardian by Edward Helmore, 10/13/25

Headline:  “US news outlets refuse to sign new Pentagon rules to report only official information”

Subhead:  “Defense department policy requires outlets to vow not to obtain unauthorized files and restricts access to some areas”

“Several leading news organizations with access to Pentagon briefings have formally said they will not agree to a new defense department policy that requires them to pledge they will not obtain unauthorized material and restricts access to certain areas unless accompanied by an official.

“The policy, presented last month by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been widely criticized by media organizations asked to sign the pledge by Tuesday at 5pm or have 24 hours to turn in their press credentials. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/13/defense-department-media-news-rules

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover, 10/13/25

Headline: “News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing”

Subhead: “The Washington Post joined the New York Times, Newsmax and CNN in refusing to sign the restrictive new policy.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/13/prominent-media-reject-new-pentagon-rules-before-signing-deadline/