News-media roundup: Tue. webinar on newsroom mental health; how do news outlets regain the trust of the public?

In an analytical and wide-ranging editorial, the Dallas Morning News offers some ideas for restoring public trust in the news media, which it blames partly on "the decline of local news organizations." The paper calls for mroe education of the public about how news media work, and "putting all publishers on more equal regulatory footing, whether they are social media companies or television stations or newspapers." That's an allusion to social media, which the editorial says have disconnected Americans from their news sources by becoming funnels and filters for fact-finding journalism. They have also blurred the distinctions beyween fact and opinion, and blurred the definition of journalism. Here's a little "elevator speech" that every news outlet could endorse, share, post and repost: "The news business pays for journalism, which practices a discpline of verification; we tell you how we know something, or we attribute it to someone, and we're mainly about fact, not opinion. Social media are mainly about opinion, and have little or no discipline or verification; on which sort of media should you rely for facts?" --Al Cross, professor and director, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, University of Kentucky

A free webinar at noon ET Tuesday, Jan. 17 will help journalists address, improve and prioritize mental health in the newsroom. Panelists are Scott Blanchard, director of journalism at WITF in Harrisburg, Pa.; Sewell Chan, editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune; Dr. Elana Newman, research director at the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma at the University of Tulsa; and Dave Seglins, an investigative journalist and well-being champion at CBC News. Naseem Miller, senior health editor at The Journalist's Resource, the webinar's sponsor, will moderate. Registration is required.

Gannett Co. is closing ThisWeek Community News, a group of newspapers serving suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, Axios Columbus reports. "The award-winning newspapers are not just the modest stalwarts of convenience store news racks, but also some of the few remaining outlets keeping the powerful institutions in their areas, like city halls and police departments, accountable," Axios reports. "An unspecified number of ThisWeek staffers are being laid off, a Gannett spokesperson tells Axios, while others will fold into the Columbus Dispatch's high-school sports desk.

E.W. Scripps Co. has placed six veteran print journalists in its broadcast newsrooms, launching its Google-backed Journalism Journey Initiative to keep accomplished journalists reporting by redeploying them on video-driven platforms. The two-year program will provide training and support. The six and their stations are: Angelika Albaladejo, a widely published freelancer, to KMGH, Denver; Mary Chao from The Bergen Record to Scripps News of New York and New Jersey; Jessica De Leon from the Bradenton Herald, to WFTS, Tampa; Bryan Horwath from the Las Vegas Sun to KTNV, Las Vegas; Daniel Lathrop from the Des Moines Register to Scripps News in Iowa; and Anne Ryman from The Arizona Republic to KNXV, Phoenix. The Journalism Journey Initiative plans to recruit a second cohort this year; more information is here.