OFF THE TOP
You might have heard: After newsroom protests, The New York Times opinion page editor and the top editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer have resigned (Nieman Lab)
But did you know: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff revolts over sidelining of two black colleagues (New York Times)
Rank-and-file journalists at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are fighting back after editors banned a black reporter from covering local protests. The decision to sideline reporter Alexis Johnson from protest coverage was made after she posted a tweet ironically comparing looters to country music concert-goers. Another reporter was also removed from protest coverage after he publicly supported Johnson — and now, over 80 reporters have also been taken off the story for voicing their support of Johnson. Yesterday Executive Editor Keith Burris published a defense of his decision, writing “When you announce an opinion about a person or story you are reporting on you compromise your reporting. And your editor may take you off the story. This is a long-held tradition at this newspaper and at every good newspaper.”
+ Noted: Trump campaign demands CNN apologize for poll that shows Biden leading (CNN); These journalism students will join the Instagram Local News Fellowship, and serve as Instagram editors for 21 local newsrooms (Facebook Journalism Project); Co-owners of local newspaper in Washington, Mo., resign over “racist” editorial cartoon (KMOX)
API RESOURCES
The empathetic newsroom: How journalists can better cover neglected communities
Cultivating empathy into reporting can lead to better coverage of communities that have historically been marginalized or misrepresented by the media. This report describes empathetic techniques journalists can weave into their work, including spending more face-to-face time with sources, using noverbal cues to show that you’re listening, and reframing questions to get at a source’s motivations and emotions.
+ Earlier: How the Peoria Journal Star formed a reader advisory board with residents of the city’s predominantly black South Side, leading to more representative coverage of the community
TRY THIS AT HOME
How journalists can help communities heal after the George Floyd protests (RTDNA)
After two weeks of protests that rocked American cities from coast to coast, local TV news stations are turning to coverage that is focused on solutions, and they’re involving their communities in the process. WROC in Rochester, N.Y., for example, hosted a virtual town hall with community leaders to discuss race relations in their city. WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Mich., coordinated cleanup efforts in the days following the protests. In the past, other stations have hosted “unity walks” to bring together stakeholders around contentious issues, or have helped fundraise for local groups working to improve racial disparities.
+ Here’s a helpful framework for planning long-term, contextual coverage of the protests and their impact (RTDNA)
OFFSHORE
How European publishers are playing with time in their paywall strategies (Twipe)
German publisher MadSack and Swedish publisher MittMedia have experimented with making articles free to non-subscribers for up to one hour, before placing that content behind the paywall. MittMedia has found that only 20% of new subscribers converted in the first hour, and most were acquired later on. And while MadSack’s subscription numbers are up, it’s not clear whether that first free hour is what’s driving the uptick. The theory is that the timewall (particularly when there is a countdown clock showing how much time is left to view the article for free), will increase readers’ feeling of urgency to purchase a subscription — but the data doesn’t support that yet.
OFFBEAT
Don’t think of yourself as a manager, think of yourself as a coach (Harvard Business Review)
Many companies are moving away from the traditional “command and control” management style and toward a model in which managers give support and guidance rather than instructions. In interactions with employees, the “leader as coach” asks questions instead of providing answers, supports employees instead of judging them, facilitates their development instead of dictating what has to be done. “More and more of the companies we work with are investing in training their leaders as coaches,” write Herminia Ibarra and Anne Scoular. “Increasingly, coaching is becoming integral to the fabric of a learning culture — a skill that good managers at all levels need to develop and deploy.”
UP FOR DEBATE
The media prefers to change in private. Now it’s changing in public. (Vox)
“There have always been boundaries around acceptable discourse, and the media has always been involved, in a complex and often unacknowledged way, in both enforcing and contesting them,” writes Ezra Klein. Over time, those boundaries change. The difference now, Klein points out, is that the conversation around what is acceptable discourse is happening in public, rather than behind the closed doors of an editorial meeting. There are many reasons for that shift, but social media is a powerful one — it gives reporters the ability to question their employer publicly, and alchemize staff and public discontent into a public crisis that publishers can’t ignore.
SHAREABLE
The coronavirus has closed newsroom offices. Some may never reopen. (Poynter)
“As time has gone by, and journalists have become accustomed to working at home and still putting out an excellent product, a question has emerged: Are newsrooms — the actual, physical offices — even needed anymore?” Poynter’s Tom Jones predicts that big outlets such as The New York Times will eventually return to their office spaces, as will TV news stations, which rely on state-of-the-art equipment. But small, local outlets like newspapers may find the cost savings too good to pass up. “Many news outlets are going to weigh the productivity of their journalists against the cost of office space,” writes Jones. They may find that their big headquarters can be replaced with smaller offices used just for meetings when necessary.
+ Newspaper offers grants for subscriptions: “We know that, no matter how low the cost, some residents want to read the paper, but simply can’t afford it,” said David Stringer, publisher of The Lawton Constitution. “When Google offered this program, I thought the best way to use the money was to help those in the community in need who want to stay informed.” (The Lawton Constitution)
The post Need to Know: June 11, 2020 appeared first on American Press Institute.
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