Editor and Publisher Reports

During this exclusive E&P interview, Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, provided critical insights into the evolving landscape of local media. Highlighting a seismic shift in the industry, Borrell emphasized content as a key differentiator in what he terms the “final phase” for local media. To underscore this, he announced the relocation of Borrell Associates’ 2025 annual conference from Miami to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU. Access more at http://www.EditorandPublisher.com/Vodcasts    

In an era marked by rampant misinformation and polarized media landscapes, NewsGuard has emerged as both a champion of credible journalism and a lightning rod for controversy. Founded in 2018 by Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, the company aims to rate the reliability of news websites based on transparent, objective criteria. However, NewsGuard’s mission has been challenging, facing legal battles, accusations of political bias and public criticism from high-profile figures like Elon Musk. In this exclusive interview with E&P Magazine, Brill and Crovitz discuss these controversies, their steadfast commitment to promoting trustworthy news, and their insights on the future of credible journalism amid the ever-evolving media landscape. Reference more at this episode's official E&P ;anding page,at: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/newsguard-under-fire-balancing-credibility-and-controversy-in-modern-journalism,250118    

Dallas Morning News (DMN) publisher Grant Moise explains the decision to reintroduce the public editor position despite industry trends of cost-cutting, stating, "We looked at data points, we looked at our own internal reasons why subscribers were leaving us, and we just decided we couldn't afford not to make a bold move like this. So, we said, some papers will say, 'They can't afford it.’ We said, ‘We can't afford not to do this.'" Stephen Buckley, who recently began the role of public editor at DMN, explained: "I'm a bridge between our audience and the newsroom. So, as I get feedback from readers about our work, I will pass that on and investigate and inquire. I'll be asking questions about their coverage of stories and issues." Buckley added, "Independence is a really important part of this job, and, almost by definition, that means that it's going to be lonely sometimes, and that's okay.” Buckley’s impressive journalistic background includes over 11 years at the Washington Post as a local reporter and as

In September of 2021, CherryRoad Media, a Parsippany, New Jersey-based technology company, surprised the news media industry with its purchase of 20 newspapers from the Gannett. Since then, the company has continued to grow and expand its US holdings, now owning 85 newspapers across 18 states.\ Beyond purchasing existing titles, CherryRoad has also built new operations in some “news desert” communities who lost their local papers. Two of the most recent print/ digital “rebirths” were the mid-May 2024 launches of the Hutchinson (MN) Station and The Litchfield (MN) Rail, replacing the Hutchinson Leader and the Litchfield Independent Review, both stared in the 1880’s and announcing their closure in April of 2024.“It's a good time for anybody who wants to get into this business, because there's a lot of sellers and not a lot of buyers, stated Jeremy Gulban, CEO of CherryRoad. When asked about how he can maintain business profitability in his smallest market operation in Hamburg, Iowa (population 700), Gulban stat

Detroit Public Television, now rebranded as Detroit PBS, is making a notable return to the heart of the city, signifying a renewed dedication to serving its community with quality, trust, and fairness in media. In this exclusive interview with Rich Homberg, President & CEO of Detroit PBS, he reflects on his journey into public media and the organization's strategic shift towards strengthening local content. Homberg, whose background lies in commercial radio sales and news operations, shares insights into the evolving landscape of public media and the imperative for strong local journalism. During his 20-minute interview with E&P Publisher Mike Blinder, Homberg emphasized, “We are producing more content than we've ever produced in our history. However, simultaneously, we use, engage, and pivot off of national content as much as any station in the system.” Homberg went on to state, “Our core values are posted on the wall: Diversity, Engagement, Trust, Innovation. This is the mindset inside our building

Daniel Richardson, a Marine Corp veteran, UT Martin business management graduate and former CEO of Magic Valley Publishing, is making waves in the world of local community media. With a vision to bolster local journalism, Richardson has reopened several recently closed Tennessee newspapers once owned by Holler Media, adding to his growing media empire under the new Richardson Media Group banner. Richardson’s company now encompasses nine Tennessee titles, including The Fentress Courier, Livingston Enterprise, Citizen Statesman, the Jackson County Sentinel and Shelbyville Times-Gazette, formerly owned by Holler Media. Richardson's journey into media ownership is deeply rooted in family tradition. His late father, Dennis Richardson, another UT Martin alumnus, initiated the family's involvement in journalism by acquiring the Carroll County News in 1983, marking the genesis of Magic Valley Publishing. The inception of Richardson Media Group emerged when Apex Bank sought assistance from him to revive several shutte

The Local Media Association (LMA) and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA) have united to establish the Pennsylvania Fundraising Lab. This groundbreaking venture is designed to empower Pennsylvania news organizations with the expertise and understanding needed to secure philanthropic funding for their reporting projects , thereby enhancing their financial sustainability and enabling them to continue delivering high-quality journalism.   In a recent episode of 'E&P Reports,' Frank Mungeam, LMA chief innovation officer, and Bill Cotter, PNA president, shared the success story of the LMA’s Lab for Journalism Funding. With over $23 million raised for journalism funding through the national lab, the decision to expand to a state-level initiative in Pennsylvania was a logical progression. The Pennsylvania Fundraising Lab will operate within a six-month ‘cohort learning format,' offering participating newsrooms the opportunity to learn from philanthropic fundraising experts, share best practices, and rec

In a groundbreaking move, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a 2025 state budget that includes $90 million in tax credits for local news media outlets, marking a significant victory for the press and local journalism. The Empire State Local News Coalition, which helped champion this legislation, initially formed with 100 news publishers in February 2024 to work together and advocate for what was originally introduced as the New York State Local Journalism Sustainability Act. In just a few months, the coalition expanded to over 200 news outlets. Rebuild Local News, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advances public policies to help local news and community journalism, posted a press release supporting the legislation, stating that this is “the largest sum that any state has devoted to help struggling community news organizations.” The new legislation offers $30 million in guaranteed tax credits for three years, with $13 million each year allocated for news organizations with fewer than 100 employee

In a dramatic turn of events, the Kansas Reflector, a news affiliate of the non-profit States Newsroom, found itself at the center of a contentious battle with Facebook. Sherman Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of the Kansas Reflector, revealed the unfolding saga during an exclusive interview with Mike Blinder, Publisher of E&P Magazine. The saga began when Facebook rejected an editorial titled "When Facebook Fails, Local Media Matters Even More For Our Planet's Future," authored by Dave Kendall and published on the Kansas Reflector's website. The piece highlighted Facebook's rejection of Kendall's documentary on climate change as too divisive, emphasizing the importance of local media in disseminating crucial information. Shortly after attempting to share the editorial on Facebook, the Kansas Reflector faced a startling development. Facebook not only rejected the post but proceeded to remove all past posts linking to the Reflector's website. The platform deemed the Kansas Reflector a cybersecurity threat and c

For more than three decades, The Chronicle of Philanthropy has stood as the foremost beacon of insight and information for professionals and organizations within the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. Through its printed and online platforms, The Chronicle offers comprehensive coverage of trends, challenges, and best practices in the philanthropic world, serving as an invaluable resource for those dedicated to charitable giving and social impact. On April 2, 2024, The Chronicle embarks on a new chapter, launching an innovative line of coverage aimed at dissecting America's widening divides and the burgeoning movements seeking to mend the fractures threatening national progress and stability. As the 2024 election landscape unfolds, The Chronicle will take a deep dive into the country's polarization along political, socio-economic, racial, geographical, and cultural lines. This groundbreaking content will find its home on 'The Commons,' a dedicated online platform set to launch on April 2, 2024. Aptly named t

While attending the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, Laura Krantz McNeill decided to interview 26 separate media leaders she considered to be “change-makers and innovators” and asked them what they think the essential skills that the next generation of news leadership will need to move us closer to a healthier and more sustainable future for the news media industry.1 The result of that work is a self-published paper entitled "New Skills for a New Era: Five Crucial Skills for the Next Generation of Media Leaders in the Era of Community-centric Journalism," which was later posted by Nieman Labs. McNeill, who began her journalism career at the Vermont Digger, also spent seven years as a reporter at The Boston Globe and is now the senior editor of subscriber products at The Chronicle of Higher Education. She lists within the study the essential skills as: We need leaders who think like product managers.And u

The Association of Community Publishers (ACP) is a dynamic organization dedicated to supporting and empowering free, community-based media outlets across the United States. Founded to promote excellence in local journalism and foster collaboration among community publishers, the ACP represents a diverse array of publications, including newspapers, shoppers, magazines, directories and digital news platforms — all with no paid access to the print or online content they provide. This year's annual conference will be held May 1-3 in Norfolk, Virginia and will offer programs mainly centered on building revenue. It also will feature a new “THRIVE” certificate program hosted by Author and "Sales Futurist" Meridith Elliott Powell. Her scheduled keynote presentation is designed to help attendees "do the impossible and take action to lead through uncertainty." In this episode of "E&P Reports," we speak with Manuel Karem, the general manager of Featured Media in Avon, New York and current president of The Associatio

Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy have become recognized and respected news media analysts with their highly listened to podcast series: “What Works. The future of local news.”  However recently, Clegg a three-decade Boston Globe veteran who helped get a few Pulitzer Prizes for the paper and Kennedy a Northeastern University journalism professor who writes the Media Nation blog, have released a critically acclaimed book entitled: “What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate,” that explores how a number of news media operations seem to be on their way to finding sustainable local journalism business models. Some of the local media companies they examine, include the Sahan Journal, a digital publication reporting on Minnesota’s immigrant communities, the Storm Lake Times Pilot, a legacy print newspaper in Iowa, published by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen, who developed a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model,  the New Haven Independent , a multilingual, digital news p

In September 2023, E&P reported on the Arizona Newspapers Association and the Arizona Broadcasters Association merger. In the past year, there have been several legacy newspaper and public media mergers, such as Chicago Public Media's acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times, The Steinman's "gifting" of their 150+-year-old Lancaster, PA newspaper to the local public broadcasting outlet and the Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle becoming part of Dallas-Fort Worth's KERA Public Broadcasting operations. Many news media pundits predict that, in the very near future, we will see more broadcasting and newspaper newsrooms working as one to compete for larger audiences and achieve new economies of scale to achieve sustainable business models. For this reason, E&P sought insights from the Radio Television Digital News Association's CEO & President Dan Shelley on how the RTDNA is helping journalism survive in today's complex local news media ecosystem. Topics discussed in this episode of "E&P Reports" include

Recently, Public Media Consultant Tom Davidson wrote an op-ed published in “Current,” the industry’s quarterly trade magazine, “decrying the lack of awareness in public media about Press Forward, the $500 million foundation effort to reinvigorate local news.” Since then, National Public Radio (NPR) published its own white paper to support public media, and the Public Media Content Collective (formally the Public Radio Program Directors Association) added a panel to their fall conference that addresses the same issues. However, Davidson still sees a major disconnect within public media on how the industry itself sees its place within the local news media ecosystem, which can impact accessing the ever-increasing national philanthropic support of local journalism. Davidson believes: “It starts with understanding that serving a tiny portion of your market (and the wealthiest, whitest portion of your market) isn’t going to work” when it comes to proving the value you provide within a society being impacted by “new

On February 4th, 2024, the president of Rebuild Local News and co-founder of Report for America, Steven Waldman, penned an op-ed for E&P Magazine entitled “In defense of (some) old media. Writing off legacy media will lead to bad public policy.”  In the very first sentence of the piece, Waldman took aim at the January 24th, 2024 article, “Is it time to give up on old news?” which was penned and published by Jeff Jarvis, author and former professor and director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. In the article, Jeff Jarvis stated, “Giving more money to old media is throwing good after bad.” Jarvis stated, “The old news industry has failed at adapting to the internet and every one of their would-be saviors  —  from tablets to paywalls to programmatic ads to consolidation to billionnaires  —  has failed them. Hedge funds have bought up chains and papers, selling everything not bolted down, cutting every possible cost and taking

As reported by E&P in May of 2023 (“Ghost papers: Journalists find themselves alone or with just a few left in the newsroom”), UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics, Penelope Muse Abernathy stated, “Although the exact number is hard to pin down, we estimate, based on news accounts and industry data, at least 1,000 of the 7,200 newspapers still published in this country — and perhaps as many as 1,500 — have lost significantly more than half of their newsroom staff since 2004. As a result, they have become ‘ghost newspapers’ with drastically curtailed reach and journalistic missions.” The article mentioned Abdulla Gaafarelkhalifa, who became the last remaining journalist at the St. Cloud (MN) Times, a Gannett-owned news brand that has served this city of nearly 70,000 since 1924. Gaafarelkhalifa told E&P that he found the responsibility and demands of his job as the last employee to be so overwhelming that it took a toll on his physical and

Darren Samuelson, a seasoned journalist known for his insightful political reporting, first made his mark at Politico, a Washington-based digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton. During his nearly 10 years there, Samuelson demonstrated a keen ability to dissect complex political issues and provide readers with comprehensive analysis. After establishing himself as a respected figure in journalism, Samuelson embarked on a new chapter in his career after being recruited in April of 2023 by The Messenger, a 50 million dollar digital news startup founded by part-owner of The Hollywood Reporter and The Hill, Jimmy Finkelstein. For 10 months, Samuelson focused on his work as part of a team of over 200 journalists with a mission to become a national, politically-centered news brand that would cover politics, business, entertainment and sports. Finkelstein stated in his first interview that he was creating an alternative to a national news media that he says has come

On Tuesday January 23, 2024, one of the 100-plus reporters who was laid off via Webinar from the Los Angeles Times, stated it was “like a drive-by,” as it was clear that very few at this iconic 142-year-old newspaper had any idea, that in a matter of minutes, they were told that more than 20% of their staff was to be let go. And when events like this take place within a unionized newsroom, the workforce looks towards their guild leadership for help and support. Those tasks fell quickly on the shoulders of Matt Pearce, an 11-year veteran reporter at the Times and for past 4-years President of the Media Guild of the West, a chapter of the NewsGuild-CWA, representing over one-thousand journalists at the Los Angeles Times along with the Dallas Morning News, Arizona Republic, Southern California News Group, Austin American-Statesman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Phoenix New Times and Desert Sun and other properties. It was only five years ago when the news team cheered when they were introduced to Dr. Patrick Soon-Sh

As publisher of the Chattanooga Times in 1877, Adolph Ochs (who would later purchase the New York Times) added a slogan to the paper's masthead: "To give the news impartially, without fear or favor." This quote remains on top of current issues of the Chattanooga Times Free Press today, now owned by WEHCO Media. WEHCO, a fourth-generation, family-owned, 115-year-old newspaper company, is under the leadership of the founder's grandson, Walter E. Hussman, Jr., who proudly prints that exact phrase on the top page 2's Statement of Core Values, within their flagship paper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. At the bottom of the space, Hussman displays a quote from his father, the late Walter Hussman, Sr.: “A newspaper has five constituencies, including first its readers, then advertisers, then employees, then creditors, then shareholders. As long as the newspaper keeps those constituencies in that order, especially its readers first, all constituencies will be well served.” Hussman explained that he began displaying th