Need to Know: Jan. 30, 2020

OFF THE TOP

You might have heard: Berkshire Hathaway is selling its 31 daily newspapers to Lee Enterprises for $140 million (Washington Post)

But did you know: Hedge fund Alden Global Capital has purchased a 5.9% stake in Lee Enterprises (News & Tech)

On the heels of yesterday’s announcement that Warren Buffet’s BH Media Group was selling its newspaper operations to Lee, Alden’s Digital First Media announced that it had taken a 5.9% stake in Lee. In November, Alden became the biggest shareholder in Tribune Publishing. Tribune Publishing then added two Alden representatives to the newspaper company’s board, making it eight members. Earlier last year, Alden also attempted a hostile takeover of Gannett, which was later folded into GateHouse. Digital First Media, which operates 56 daily newspapers in the U.S., is known for its strip-mining tactics that gut newsrooms to reap maximum profits.

+ Earlier: As hedge funds take a greater role in newspaper chains, journalists at the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere are sending out an S.O.S. (New York Times)

+ Noted: ABC News suspends correspondent over erroneous report on Kobe Bryant crash (LA Times); The Investigative Editing Corps matches investigative editors to the local newsrooms that desperately need them (Poynter); The News Media Alliance launches the News Impact Index, which chronicles the impact of local news on communities (News Media Alliance)

API UPDATE

API announces grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to connect newsroom leaders and experts ahead of Election 2020

API has received a grant of $388,000 from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to build a real-time network of newsroom leaders, civic and academic institutions, and outside experts who will communicate throughout the 2020 election to combat disinformation and other threats to honest reporting, election integrity and voter suppression.

+ Key research findings that could convince newsroom leaders to invest in earning trust (Trusting News)

TRY THIS AT HOME

Low-key ways to gather story ideas at in-person events (Current)

To kick off its longform reporting projects, Sacramento’s CapRadio hosts “Lunch and Listen” sessions that bring together community leaders with its journalists. But what about those who don’t have the time or inclination to attend such a conversation-heavy event? CapRadio worked with a local elementary school to host a community fair instead, a more relaxed, varied environment that still allowed reporters to capture valuable insights from attendees. In one activity, attendees were asked to place colored dots on a map of the community, with the colors corresponding to things like where people lived, where they’d take visitors on tours, which areas they avoided, and which places they would change. In another, staffers hung butcher paper on the wall and asked attendees to write or draw what they wanted others to know about their community.

OFFSHORE

BBC News to close 450 posts as part of £80m savings drive (BBC)

The cuts reflect the BBC’s shift away from traditional broadcasting towards digital. “We need to reshape BBC News for the next decade in a way which saves substantial amounts of money,” said Fran Unsworth, director of news and current affairs. “We are spending too much of our resources on traditional linear broadcasting and not enough on digital.” The BBC currently employs around 6,000 people. Its budget after the changes will be around £480m per year.

OFFBEAT

The market for shorter, mobile-first programming is not materializing (Digiday)

A couple of years ago, a market for TV-quality short-form programming seemed to be emerging. Platform companies such as Facebook, Quibi and Snapchat were paying media and entertainment companies to produce short-form shows. Netflix and Amazon were even beginning to distribute bite-sized series. But the market hasn’t grown as many investors had hoped, writes Tim Peterson. Companies selling short-form programming to such platforms aren’t seeing a significant return in advertising revenue, and have had to diversify, “just like virtually every other media company that had anchored its business on digital video in recent years.”

UP FOR DEBATE

Felicia Sonmez and the tyranny of the social-media policy (Columbia Journalism Review)

Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez’s brief suspension, following her tweets that pointed to Kobe Bryant’s 2003 rape case, served as a “fresh reminder that newsrooms still struggle when coordinated mobs of online culture warriors target their staff,” writes Jon Allsop. Newsroom social-media policies often seem to present conflicting advice, encouraging reporters to communicate in more informal and personal ways to better connect with readers, but also warning them against expressing opinions that might be damaging to their employer. Ostensibly meant to protect reporters and their bosses against the pitfalls of the internet, writes Allsop, more often social-media policies are called into use as a tool of management control.

+ Related: Newsrooms still aren’t ready for the trolls. (New York Times)

+ The Guardian continues to lead the way on climate change policy, and will no longer run oil or gas ads (Nieman Lab); Kobe Bryant case demonstrates a (perpetual) need for slow news (News Co/Lab)

SHAREABLE

Want to change newsroom culture? Start with your interns (RTDNA)

The high-stress environment of newsrooms can lead to incivility and worse, including harassment and exploitation of power dynamics. That’s why it should be newsroom managers’ job to guide student interns toward being “Good Newsroom Citizens,” says Lynn Adrine, Director of the DC Graduate Program of Broadcast and Digital Journalism at the Newhouse School of Public Communications for Syracuse University. “We are the gatekeepers … of professional decorum and civility in the workplace. We encourage the development of good communications between newsroom management and the beginning reporters so that expectations are clear, especially when it comes to standards and newsroom culture.”

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