Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism
OFF THE TOP
You might have heard: US newspapers face ‘extinction-level’ crisis as COVID-19 hits hard (The Guardian)
But did you know: News outlets have laid off, furloughed or cut the pay of about 28,000 workers (The New York Times)
That estimate from The New York Times follows plummeting ad sales that led to significant losses across the industry. At job board Indeed.com, journalism and communications listings fell 35% from last year, compared to a 24% drop in overall listings. Cleveland’s Plain Dealer became emblematic of this moment after laying off 22 staffers, then telling the unionized Plain Dealer newsroom its non-union sister site, cleveland.com, would take over Cleveland coverage. On Friday, 10 journalists who remained at The Plain Dealer resigned in protest, leaving the publication with just four. Additional job losses at other publications are on the way, as Valence Media is expected to make editorial cuts to The Hollywood Reporter this week.
+ Related: How COVID-19 is impacting weekly newspapers, which have become the sole source of information for some rural communities (Poynter); Some large news organizations, like The New York Times and Washington Post, are still hiring (Digiday)
+ Noted: The Miami Herald planned to sue for public records, but the governor’s general counsel pressured the paper’s attorney not to (Miami Herald); White House newsletter accused United States-funded Voice of America of amplifying Chinese propaganda (Politico)
API RESOURCES
Free content, tools and funding to help your newsroom cover the coronavirus
API is highlighting free tools and content-sharing opportunities to quickly and easily supplement your newsroom’s coronavirus coverage, as well as funding for coronavirus-related projects. We’ll update this guide as new opportunities emerge. If you would like us to add something to this list, please email stephanie.castellano@pressinstitute.org.
TRY THIS AT HOME
How to avoid gender stereotypes in COVID-19 coverage (The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education)
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that women were more likely than men to worry that they wouldn’t be able to afford COVID-19 testing or treatment. Gender influences how we experience the pandemic, leaving journalists responsible for reflecting diversity in their coverage while avoiding stereotypes. Martin G. Reynolds suggests newsrooms consider ways to think beyond gender norms that can lead to stereotypes. If you don’t have the staff to reach sources across the gender spectrum, think of people and organizations that could help you connect to sources from a range of backgrounds.
+ Related: The Maynard Institute is hosting a free webinar on Tuesday with New York Times reporter John Eligon to discuss how journalists can be mindful of race and ethnicity while covering COVID-19.
Correction: Our Friday “Try This at Home” segment on HIPAA and COVID-19 data was based on an article from Poynter, not Nieman Lab. The explainer first appeared in Poynter’s daily Covering COVID-19 newsletter.
OFFSHORE
How the beleaguered BBC became ‘comfort food’ in a pandemic (The New York Times)
Since last year, Britain’s largest media organization has been a subject of debate, as the UK government floated the idea to stop criminally charging people who don’t pay a license fee that funds the BBC. Network leaders said the loss in revenue would lead to less children’s programming. The pandemic has demonstrated the value of that programming, as BBC Bitesize plans a series of daily online lessons for students at all age levels. During the past three weeks, BBC’s viewership increased 24 percent, while its platforms reached more than a third of Britain’s television audience. For CBBC, which caters to 6 to 12 year olds, viewership has nearly doubled.
+ Argentine journalists demand return of press conferences that were suspended at the beginning of the pandemic (Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas); CNN International launches a new show about the ups and downs of working from home (Journalism.co.uk)
OFFBEAT
Filmmakers weigh risks of SXSW’s Amazon offer (The Hollywood Reporter)
After the cancellation of its film festival, South by Southwest announced it would partner with Amazon Prime Video to stream the films for 10 days without a paywall. Filmmakers expressed concerns that the deal would give their work away for free and limit future sales and distribution of the titles shown. The streaming program also could force some filmmakers to drop out if they had prior distribution arrangements. “Unfortunately, showing things for free isn’t going to make a dent,” a documentary producer told Hollywood Reporter.
+ FDA warns Alex Jones over false coronavirus claims (Politico)
UP FOR DEBATE
What to do when the numbers in the news become benumbing (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics)
Covering COVID-19 is a double-edged sword. Focusing on data fails to humanize people’s grief or financial insecurity, Anita Varma writes, but human interest profiles home in on individuals while leaving the stories of people in similar situations untold. Varma links this binary to news fatigue and empathy fatigue, feelings that are already in play as people feel distress or numbness after observing widespread suffering in the news. She recommends journalists approach their coverage from a perspective of solidarity in order to focus on their communities and add context to raw numbers.
SHAREABLE
The Week Junior informs children without scaring them about the world we live in (Nieman Lab)
Last month, the weekly publication launched its U.S. edition into the pandemic, just as children are out of school and without their routine activities. The focus of the first issue became acts of kindness, like a fundraiser for feeding children who lost meals due to school closures. The newsweekly is working to build the literacy and critical thinking skills of its target audience, 8 to 14 year olds. “Reading smashes the class barrier. It smashes academic barriers,” The Week CEO Kerin O’Connor said.
The post Need to Know: April 13, 2020 appeared first on American Press Institute.
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