CNN’s Donald Trump town hall is the highest-profile recent example of anti-woke journalism hampering our ability to responsibly cover the 2024 election cycle or a host of “culture war” issues. Top news executives, editors, and commentators have become so focused … Read more
In December 2020, before the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, when many had chosen to celebrate Thanksgiving in groups, which sent Covid cases soaring, The New York Times ran an opinion piece on why we should not shame people … Read more
Despite all the complaints about Fox News throughout the years, it wasn’t always regarded with journalistic disdain, especially not during Barack Obama’s first year in office. When the Obama administration tried to exclude Fox News from interviews with executive-pay czar … Read more
Donald Trump’s potential arrest must not be framed as only, or even primarily, a political story. It’s not enough to tell our audiences Trump is the first president to be criminally charged either while in the White House or after … Read more
“We were supposed to be journalists, giving accurate information and fighting rumors, but sometimes even we thought that if you opened the window, Covid would come flying in.” That is how Tania Orbe, a science reporter living in Quito, … Read more
The rise of nonprofit local news is one of the most hopeful trends amidst an otherwise dreary landscape. Hundreds of nonprofit local news sites have arisen in just the past decade. And major efforts are underway to grow this … Read more
Beware of road metaphors. In the twisty-turny devolution of the local press since The Great Recession, we’ve been driven down pathways, ramps, routes, shortcuts, and, unfortunately, many dead-ends. Which brings us to the metaphor of the moment: The Roadmap for … Read more
The New York Times had a chance to earnestly grapple with a serious critique of its trans coverage by a serious group of professionals, including journalists The Times believed were credible enough to have a byline in the paper or … Read more
For years, many communities have been clamoring — begging — for local news media to provide them with highly relevant news and information that reflects themselves and their interests. When that didn’t happen, those communities began building their own hyperlocal … Read more
For 15 years until 2021, I served as the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and in that capacity traveled the world to defend press freedom. I visited countless newsrooms and interviewed hundreds of journalists under threat. Read more