The Blog
Newsrooms Need to Do More to Reach Out to Communities
The media landscape is shifting and becoming more participatory, and people want to do more than just read the news. They want to be co-creators, collaborators and distributors.
While newsrooms have invested in various forms of community engagement — from mobilizing local bloggers into coordinated networks to using robust social media strategies to organizing community events — there is still a lot we don’t know about how to assess and measure the impact of this work.
NYPD Tries to Rewrite History
After becoming the epicenter for press suppression and journalist arrests over the last nine months, the NYPD is trying to rewrite history and pretend like nothing ever happened.
The Future of News in New Orleans
Last week’s announcement that the New Orleans Times-Picayune would be slashing its staff and cutting its print run to just three days a week has sparked a new round of debates about the future of news. But one piece has been missing in this discussion: the role of media policy.
Reform in the Age of Corporate Lawyers
In the post-Citizens United era, wealthy corporations and individuals think democracy is a trophy they can buy, stuff and mount on their parlor walls.
He Said He Said
Forget he said/she said. In mainstream media, it’s more like he said/he said.
4th Estate’s new study of 2012 election-year coverage shows that major American newspapers and TV news programs feature up to seven times as many quotes from men than women. This is true even when “women’s issues” are the subject.
4th Estate analyzed a sample of leading media outlets from Nov. 1, 2011 through May 1, 2012. During this period, eighty-one percent of the sources quoted in print articles about abortion were men. Seventy-five percent of those quoted in articles about birth control were men. Sixty-seven percent of those quoted in articles about Planned Parenthood were men.
Conan O'Brien Goes to the Dogs
If you’ve ever doubted the existence of “fake news” — the trend in which newscasts pass off paid advertisements as actual reporting — these segments, courtesy of the volcanic-haired late-night funnyman, should put those doubts to rest.
Conflicting Messages About the Right to Record
This month, federal agencies and local officials sent two powerful but conflicting messages to the American public about our right to record.
On May 14, the Justice Department submitted a letter to the Baltimore Police Department that provided in-depth guidance on citizens' right to record. The letter was submitted as part of a court case that dates back to 2010. The plaintiff, Christopher Sharp, alleges that after filming the arrest of his friend in Baltimore, police confiscated his mobile phone and deleted the video.
Covert Consolidation: Out of Control and on the Rise
The Texas city of San Angelo bills itself as “the place to come for good times.”
Forbes ranked it seventh in its 2012 “Best Cities for Jobs” rankings.
And CNN called it one of the best places to launch a business.
Unless, of course, that business is a local TV newscast.
Deep Cuts at the New Orleans Times-Picayune Trigger Thoughts About Journalism's Future
Since 2008, we have seen dramatic newsroom cuts at America’s major daily newspapers, and we’ve even seen some of our nation’s longest-running papers cease operations altogether.
Today the New York Times is reporting more big cuts. David Carr writes that "The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which distinguished itself amid great adversity during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is about to enact large staff cuts and may cut back its daily print publishing schedule, according to two employees with knowledge of the plans."
Twin Cities Community Radio Aims to Diversify the Dial
When President Obama signed the Local Community Radio Act, we at the Main Street Project knew we wanted to be part of this new era in radio. The LCRA created the potential for thousands of stations to join the airwaves across the United States. A Low Power FM station has the strength of about a 100-watt light bulb and a signal that typically covers a range of three to five miles.
Change the Channels
Check out the interactive map to see consolidating newsrooms near you.
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