What Works

On the latest “What Works” podcast, Dan and Ellen talk with Mike Beaudet and Lisa Thalhamer. Mike is a colleague at Northeastern, where he is a journalism professor. He is also an investigative reporter at WCVB-TV, Boston’s ABC affiliate. He’s worked in local television news for more than 30 years. Before joining WCVB-TV he was an investigative reporter and anchor at WFXT-TV in Boston.

Beaudet, the head of Northeastern’s Reinventing Local TV News project, focuses on the future of local television news and finding new ways to grow the audience and engage younger viewers where they’re consuming content. Think social and vertical.

Lisa is a journalist and researcher. She’s currently editor-in-chief of The Scope, a hyperlocal publication based at Northeastern focused on issues of social justice, as well as an adjunct professor. Her research is geared toward improving the mental well-being of journalists, particularly those in local TV news, where she worked for more than 15 years as a producer.

While earning her master’s degree at Northeastern, Thalhamer was Reinvent’s Video Innovation Scholar, helping newsrooms evolve their video storytelling skills to fit the world of social media.

In keeping with the all-Northeastern theme of this podcast, Dan and Ellen are also joined by Greg Maynard, a student of Dan’s who has written a compelling story about what cord-cutting means for local cable access outlets. Greg is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Boston Policy Institute.

Ellen has a Quick Take on the end of an era in Minneapolis. In December, the daily newspaper, The Minnesota Star Tribune, stopped printing copies at its giant brick plant in downtown Minneapolis. The Strib is printing at a Gannett plant in Des Moines, Iowa. That means earlier deadlines and 125 jobs lost.

Dan has a wild story for his Quick Take. Last summer there was some sad news coming out of Claremont, New Hampshire: the Eagle Times, a star-crossed paper that had had its ups and downs going back to the 1940s, was closing its doors after its wealthy owner, Jay Lucas, failed to meet payroll. At the time, New Hampshire Public Radio ran a story on the shutdown that was harsher than you would have expected. But it turns out that there was a reason.

You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app.

By Greg Maynard

Massachusetts is home to more than 250 local cable access stations. Bay Staters know them as the folks who videotape and broadcast local government meetings, high school sports and community public affairs shows.

But trouble is looming. For the better part of a decade, the revenue these stations depend on has been declining, and less money has led to layoffs and reduced hours for staff, mergers between operations at neighboring communities, and some closing altogether. Joe Lynch, who has been the board chair of the Somerville Media Center for 15 years, tells me: “Every we week we lose somebody.”

What is behind the decline in revenue? Cord-cutting. The drop in subscription revenue from set-top cable boxes means revenue for the stations is shrinking too. Prospects for the cable industry are bleak. As a recent analysis from the trade publication PWC says about the future of for-profit cable channels, “Operations to support the linear business will be significantly downsized, with no new investments made.” (Local access stations are also referred to as community media centers, or CMCs, and as PEG stations, for public, governmental and educational.)

Continue reading “Cord-cutting threatens local access cable. Can legislation save this vital community lifeline?”

By Dan Kennedy

Block Communications announced Wednesday that it will shut down the storied Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in May. Writing at Nieman Lab, Joshua Benton confirms what I told Charlie Wolfson of Pittsburgh’s Public Source — that an actual closure would make Pittsburgh the largest city in the U.S. without a daily newspaper.

Benton, though, expresses optimism that with the feuding Block family out of the way, the path is clearer for someone else to step in. One possibility he cites: the Lenfest Institute, a nonprofit foundation that already owns and operates the for-profit Philadelphia Inquirer on the other side of the state.

The Post-Gazette was once a great paper, winning its most recent Pultizer Prize in 2019 for its coverage of the mass shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue. That’s when the distinguished Boston Globe alumnus David Shribman was executive editor of the paper. After he retired, though, the paper increasingly went MAGA under one faction of the Block family.

I wrote about a particularly ugly incident in 2020 for GBH News. If you’d like to know some background about what went wrong at the Post-Gazette, here is my commentary.

Read the rest at Media Nation.

Christopher Wink, the founder and CEO of Technical.ly, has written a thoughtful and nuanced review of our book, “What Works in Community News.” Technical.ly, which was launched in 2009, provides “independent coverage of state, county and regional tech, startup and innovation ecosystems.”

Wink published his review on LinkedIn — an interesting choice. Many social media folks have rediscovered LinkedIn as a place for engagement and intelligent conversation following the decline of Twitter. He writes that our book provides a useful guide to the journalism of the local independent news organizations that we profile, but he wishes we’d included more of a focus on business strategies and non-traditional ways of delivering community news and information.

“It’s a good book!,” Wink writes. “A helpful collection of well-liked efforts. I recommend it. But my local news tribe seems uninterested in the details of why other businesses work.”

It’s a fair criticism, and how can we not like a review that says “It’s a good book!”? Wink has offered us a chance to connect with him, and we welcome the opportunity.

By Dan Kennedy

Last July, I noted that the Eagle Times in Claremont, New Hampshire, had shut down. I also observed that Todd Bookman of New Hampshire Public Radio had produced an unusually harsh story on the former owner, venture capitalist Jay Lucas, which suggested there might be more to the story.

Indeed there was, and thanks to Media Nation reader Christian Avard for tipping me off. Last month Lucas was indicted on federal fraud charges.

Read the rest at Media Nation.

Our What Works: The Future of Local News program at Northeastern University is cited in a new report from the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont. The report, “University Resources That Support Local Media Ecosystems: An Institutional Analysis of Higher-Ed Potential,” was written by Corey Hutchins of Colorado College.

Hutchins’ report mentions What Works as one of four university-based projects that are benefiting not just our own state of Massachusetts but also beyond our borders, as our frequently updated website and twice-monthly podcast “supports independent community news throughout the country.” Hutchins writes:

In recent decades, as the local news industry has contracted, students studying on our nation’s campuses have increasingly filled gaps in local reporting while in college. Now, across the country, more and more higher-ed academic programs are working to support their state’s media ecosystems in vast and various ways beyond student reporting.

What Works also maintains a database of independent local news outlets in Massachusetts, sponsors webinars and conferences for local news leaders, and engages in public advocacy.

We should note that we interviewed Hutchins for our book, “What Works in Community News,” to talk about how he tracks his state’s news ecosystem through his newsletter, Inside the News in Colorado.

In addition to What Works, our School of Journalism publishes The Scope, a grant-supported digital outlet that covers social-justice issues in the Boston area. And, of course, Northeastern has long been known for its cooperative education program, which places students in paid jobs, including media organizations and other communications-related fields.

What Works is part of the School of Journalism and is affiliated with the Center for Transformative Media.

By Dan Kennedy

All news is local. Following the deadly U.S. raid to pluck President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, out of Venezuela, local news organizations reported on the reaction in their communities. This morning I’m taking a look at how three of the outlets that we profile in our book, “What Works in Community News,” are handling the news.

“‘A Huge Step Towards Change, Hopefully A Positive One,’” by Tom Breen, the New Haven Independent.

Jose Lara, a Venezuelan expat living in West Haven, Connecticut, told Breen he was hopeful that Maduro’s arrest would lead to better days for his home country. “I’m feeling excited,” Lara said at a gathering outside New Haven City Hall. Breen writes:

Like Lara, many who showed up on Saturday night were optimistic that this time is different.

“Excitement, first and foremost,” Laura Almeyda said when asked how she is feeling today. Also, “confusion. Uncertainty. But hope. We’re faithful and joyful. This is a huge step towards change, hopefully a positive one.”

Breen observes, though, that others, such as U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., are warning that Trump’s action was “a fundamental violation of the Constitution” that could lead to “endless conflict.” And he links to another indy digital outlet in Connecticut, CT News Junkie, where Karla Ciaglo reports on the (mostly) negative reaction from Democratic officials and left-leaning activist groups.

“Venezuelans in Memphis feel euphoria now that ‘nightmare’ is over — but dreams for future uneasy” (reg. req.), by Jody Callahan, The Daily Memphian.

As with the New Haven Independent, The Daily Memphian — supplemented with coverage by The Associated Press — focuses on the Venezuelan diaspora community in Memphis, Tennessee. Here’s part of the Memphian story:

“We have been dreaming of these days for so long. We have been hopeful of a day when we see [these leaders] out of the country and really democracy back in our country,” said Daniel Bastardo Blanco, who works in communications in Memphis. “We remain incredibly hopeful that freedom is about to restart in our country.”

But Venezuelan natives living in Memphis also said that their euphoria was also mixed with fear for friends and relatives still living in the South American country, where some citizens were killed in the strikes, as well as tremendous uncertainty about what happens next.

“It was a little bit of a shock,” said Pedro Velasquez, whose family runs nonprofit medical clinics in both Memphis and Venezuela. “As I read about how it was executed, and that there weren’t as many civilian casualties, that it was more localized and over in 20-30 minutes, it sort of made me breathe a little easier.”

“Hundreds march through Minneapolis to protest U.S. attack on Venezuela” (reg. req.), by Kyeland Jackson, The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Jackson leads with Andrew Josefchak of the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and a left-wing supporter of the Maduro government, who joined with more than 200 others to protest Trump’s action on Satuday. “The peace movement in this country, in Minneapolis at least, wasn’t going to let that [military action] go by without organizing an emergency demonstration against it to show that people in the U.S. don’t want this,” Josefchak was quoted as saying. “They don’t want war.”

The Strib also quotes Democratic opponents of Trump’s action like U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican supporters like U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer. And we hear from a Venezuelan expat who supports the raid despite concerns about her mother’s safety:

Soleil Ramirez watched footage of explosions across Caracas moments after the strike began, worrying for her mother, who lives near a military base.

Ramirez, chef and owner of the Crasqui restaurant in St. Paul, said her mother is fine — and the military operation was reason to celebrate.

“Let us celebrate this victory because we haven’t been celebrating anything in the last 26 years,” she said.

A note on the photo: NC Newsline, which covers North Carolina, is part of States Newsroom, a network of 50 nonprofit news outlets covering politics and public policy. Its journalism is available for republication under a Creative Commons license. We recently hosted publisher and CEO Chris Fitzsimon on our “What Works” podcast.

On the latest “What Works” podcast, Ellen and Dan talk with Jennifer Peter, who was named editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project in September. The Marshall Project is a national nonprofit that covers issues related to criminal justice. She’s only the third editor in 10 years, replacing Susan Chira, a former New York Times editor. Peter started her career as a reporter, working for 12 years at newspapers in Idaho, Connecticut and Virginia before joining The Associated Press in Boston.

From the AP, she moved to The Globe, where she rose quickly through the ranks. She was regional editor, politics editor and city editor. As metro editor, she oversaw The Globe’s Boston Marathon bombing coverage, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. In 2018 she was promoted to managing editor, the number-two position in the newsroom. In our conversation, Peter tells us about The Marshall Project’s mission, including its foray into local news in Cleveland, St. Louis and Jackson, Mississippi.

A production note: Dan is at Northeastern, but Ellen is beaming in from a studio at Brookline Interactive Group, which handles multimedia for the town of Brookline. BIG, as it is known locally, is also host to a class of Brandeis students who travel to Brookline to report and write stories for Brookline.News, the nonprofit newsroom Ellen is part of. BIG provides audio and video of Brookline civic meetings and also works with Brookline public school students on multimedia projects.  

Dan has a Quick Take about yet another newspaper that’s gone out of business, although this one has an unusual twist. The devastating wildfires that ripped through the Los Angeles area last January have claimed the Palisadian-Post, a twice-monthly newspaper that had been publishing since 1928. The problem is that many of the residents were forced to leave, and though rebuilding is under way, the community hasn’t come close to recovering.

One of Dan’s Northeastern students, Abbie O’Connor, is from the Pacific Palisades — her home is still standing. She wrote several times in his opinion journalism class during the semester about how the Palisades were affected by the fire. Among other things, an enormous number of Palisades residents moved to Manhattan Beach, re-creating the sense of community they had in their former homes.

Abbie’s final project was an enterprise story on racial and economic disparities in the rebuilding resources that are being made available to the mostly white, affluent residents of the Pacific Palisades and the lower-income, historically Black community of Altadena.

Ellen’s Quick Take is about Brian McGrory returning as editor of The Boston Globe in January. McGrory left in early 2023 to become chair of Boston University’s journalism department. He’ll replace Nancy Barnes, who announced earlier this month that she’d be stepping aside. Although McGrory’s departure from BU is not being described as a leave of absence, he says he expects to return to his academic post no later than 2027.

You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app.

On the latest “What Works” podcast, Dan and Ellen talk with Chris Fitzsimon, publisher and CEO of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest nonprofit news organization covering state government. Chris is also the host of a new podcast called “Stories from The States.” Recent topics on the pod include the impact of Medicaid cuts, ICE detention and redistricting.

States Newsroom has a presence in all 50 states, with its own news organizations in 39 states and partnerships with existing nonprofits in the other 11. In Massachusetts, States Newsroom partners with CommonWealth Beacon. (Disclosure: Dan is a member of CommonWealth’s editorial advisory board.) The project also has a bureau in Washington, D.C. States Newsroom publishes its journalism under a Creative Commons license, which means that it is free to republish as long as proper credit is given.

Fitzsimon knows his way around state politics. From 2004 to 2017, he directed a team of seven journalists at NC Policy Watch, which he founded. He also hosted a weekly radio show and wrote a syndicated column on North Carolina politics and government. From 1991 to 1994, he was the spokesperson, speechwriter and policy adviser for the North Carolina speaker of the house. Before that, he was a television news reporter covering politics and government.

Dan has a Quick Take about The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah. In 2019, the Tribune became the first legacy daily newspaper to become a nonprofit. Unlike a few notable hybrids like The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Tampa Bay Times, which are for-profit papers owned by nonprofit foundations, the Salt Lake paper is a true nonprofit, just like your local public television or radio station. And the Tribune has been so successful that it recently announced it plans to drop its paywall.

Ellen’s Quick Take is on an investigation by Spotlight PA into the director of the Penn State Cancer Institute. The news outlet, which is a nonprofit that provides reporting to more than 90 outlets throughout Pennsylvania, uncovered damaging clinical practices and a toxic work environment. After the story ran last month, the director resigned.

You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app.

On the latest “What Works” podcast, Dan and Ellen talk with Todd Landfried, co-founder and CEO of N2 Media Holdings. As consumers cut the cord on cable TV, he hopes to develop a sustainable model for local news production.

We know from our research that local television news is still highly trusted. His mission: to reinvent local news for the streaming era. Landfried’s idea, called The Local, is to develop statewide newscasts in Colorado, and eventually in all 50 states, that would be carried on the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

Ellen is back and fully bionic after a short hiatus for knee replacement surgery.

Dan has a Quick Take about a finding in a recent report by LION Publishers that gets into how to think about raising money. LION, as most of our listeners know, stands for Local Independent Online News. Anyway, its latest sustainability report found that startup news organizations can’t just hope that revenues are something that are going to materialize. Fundraising takes dedicated employees, as Dan will explain.

Ellen’s Quick Take is on an alt-weekly in Seattle called The Stranger that has become an influential political force, as The New York Times recently reported. This summer, 47 candidates for local office paid a call on the newsroom in order to seek an editorial endorsement. And they brought snacks!

You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app.