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Watchdogs on furlough

Watchdogs on furlough

06 Aug, 2020

News

Watchdogs on furlough

Readers called and emailed the Florida Times-Union over the past year with appreciation for the newspaper’s commitment to uncovering apparent secret deals behind the now-canceled attempt to sell the city of Jacksonville’s municipally-owned utility to a private entity.

Watchdogs on furlough

Tax credit proposal would aid local journalism

Tax credit proposal would aid local journalism

05 Aug, 2020

News

Tax credit proposal would aid local journalism

There’s a hunger for accurate and useful news coverage right now — even more so than usual — because of the continuing coronavirus pandemic and because we’re now only a few months away from a consequential election for the state and the nation.

Tax credit proposal would aid local journalism

‘This is the time for pooling resources’

‘This is the time for pooling resources’

05 Aug, 2020

News

‘This is the time for pooling resources’

SINCE EARLY APRIL, Kristen Hare—a reporter who typically covers local news innovations for the Poynter Institute—has been compiling a list of newsroom layoffs, cutbacks, closures, and furloughs, reporting most recently that the covid-19 pandemic has closed more than fifty local newsrooms across t

‘This is the time for pooling resources’

Another hedge fund is sweeping up newspapers. This time, journalists are cautiously optimistic

Another hedge fund is sweeping up newspapers. This time, journalists are cautiously optimistic

04 Aug, 2020

News

Another hedge fund is sweeping up newspapers. This time, journalists are cautiously optimistic

Hedge fund ownership of newspaper groups typically spells doom for the newsrooms. Just ask some of the former employees at the Denver Post who famously revolted against owner Alden Global Capital's order to cut staff.

Another hedge fund is sweeping up newspapers. This time, journalists are cautiously optimistic

When Newspapers Die, We Need a Blueprint for Community Information Needs

When Newspapers Die, We Need a Blueprint for Community Information Needs

04 Aug, 2020

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When Newspapers Die, We Need a Blueprint for Community Information Needs

New rounds of newsroom layoffs are turning others into weak and woefully incomplete stewards of local journalism. With no witnesses, reports of corruption and incompetence in powerful institutions will go down, as corruption and incompetence in powerful institutions actually increases. No one will be watching.

When Newspapers Die, We Need a Blueprint for Community Information Needs

Watch Author Margaret Sullivan Explain How the Decline of Local Journalism Undermines American Democracy

Watch Author Margaret Sullivan Explain How the Decline of Local Journalism Undermines American Democracy

04 Aug, 2020

News

Watch Author Margaret Sullivan Explain How the Decline of Local Journalism Undermines American Democracy

The decline of local news can have significant consequences for communities, Sullivan tells Couric. Citizens tend to become less civically engaged, less likely to vote and more likely to “go into their partisan corners” and vote along party lines when they do go to the polls. Without the contributions of local news reporters, Sullivan warns, “our democracy actually doesn’t work any more.”

Watch Author Margaret Sullivan Explain How the Decline of Local Journalism Undermines American Democracy