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Friday, February 24, 2023

News-media roundup: Gannett back in black, closing more papers; how to ask audiences to help shape coverage

Gannett Co. made money in the last quarter of 2022 "after a series of cost-cutting measures," reports its flagship, USA Today. "The company reported a net income of $32.77 million in the quarter compared with a loss of $22.45 million a year earlier. The results benefited from a nearly 30% rise in digital-only circulation revenues and lower operating expenses. It was the company’s first quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2021. Gannett had 2.03 million digital-only paid subscriptions at the end of the quarter, up 24% year over year."

Gannett is closing six free-distribution weekly newspapers published by the Akron Beacon Journal. The final editions of the Twinsburg Bulletin, Aurora Advocate, Stow Sentry, (Cuyahoga) Falls News-Press, Tallmadge Express and the News-Leader in Nordonia Hills are schduled for March 22 or 26. The Hudson Hub-Times will continue print publication on Sundays.

A Nebraska judge has ruled that the state Department of Environment and Energy violated state law by requiring Flatwater Free Press to pay $44,000 for emails about nitrates, nutrients, fertilizer and nitrogen, which are sources of water pollution. The agency tried to charge FFP for the labor involved, but the state law says fees for records "shall not exceed the actual added cost of making the copies available," Courthouse News reports. FFP is published by the Nebraska Journalism Trust, which was created in 2021 to address the decline in local news across the state and is supported by the American Journalism Project.

Stephanie McCrummen, who has written many deeply reported stories on rural phenomena, is moving from The Washington Post to The Atlantic. Her latest on The Rural Blog was on a Georgia man who was an example of a narrow slice of voters who have abandoned and rebelled against Donald Trump. Other examples: A Muslim doctor in Minnesota, a newly stronger liberal's return to her hometown, the moxie of a marginalized Black Belt town, and other stories from Georgia.

Jon Allsop of Columbia Journalism Review looks at various types of threats to news-media freedom in the U.S., finds them "relatively common" and sees "concentric circles," starting with the arrests of two journalists covering a homeless encampment in Asheville, N.C., to the murder of a Las Vegas investigative reporter and "political meddling" with West Virginia Public Radio.

Many newsrooms invite audiences to help shape coverage, but Joy Mayer of Trusting News says they often use their own language, not the community’s language, "and make it seem like a lot of work to participate. She suggests that instead of asking for story ideas, ask questions like, “If you could be in charge of our reporting team for a day, what would you assign them to do?” Or, instead of seeking “feedback,” ask for specific insights, such as “What else do you want to know about this topic?”

If a study says it proves something, it doesn't. Unless it's about mathematics, in which case it's highly unlikely to be news anyway. Denise-Marie Ordway of Journalist's Resource at Harvard University has a new tip sheet on how to cover academic research.

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