It’s always been tough to convince editors to try a new comic strip, especially when it means killing a feature some segment of the audience has grown to love. That tension has only gotten worse in recent years, as cost-cutting deepened the risk-averse approach most newspapers take with their comics section. Unfortunately, like the newspapers they serve, syndicates feel the impact of journalism's digital transformation from printed pages to pixels on a screen. more

In an era of rampant misinformation, journalists tend to focus on the bad players, like social media companies that care more about their bottom line than the wrong information that washes over their platforms. But we tend to do a lousy job at focusing on our own biases, which can unintentionally lead us to misrepresent facts, provide incorrect or incomplete reporting, and create the perception of misinformation we’re all trying so hard to combat. more

In May, Insider won a Pulitzer Prize, joining a small group of digital-only news organizations awarded journalism’s top prize. But like Politico back in 2012, the recognition came in an unlikely category for an online news organization — cartooning. more

One-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Fitzsimmons has been drawing six cartoons a week about his sun-soaked corner of the country for the Arizona Daily Star since 1986. Avoiding the fate of many of his contemporaries, Fitzsimmons has managed to remain a vital part of his newspaper and the community for the past 35 years and only recently decided at the age of 66 to begin to slow things down and go part-time. more

One thing that seems certain is that COVID-19 will remain an important story that continues to evolve and touch just about everyone in the community you cover. So how should local reporters be framing and reporting on an ever-present virus most readers are sick of hearing about? more

One great thing about covering the media for a living is getting to nerd out with fellow journalists about interesting tools they use in their reporting. Here are a handful of apps and gadgets (along with one hack and a fun game) I hope can make some part of your job a tad bit easier. more

As crazy as it seems, we’re only a couple of months away from entering the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, and newsrooms across the country remain in flux amid the threat of variants and breakthrough cases. And hybrid models involving a mix of remote and office work appears to be the new reality for today's news publishers. A recent survey states only 9% of news organizations plan to force all their employees to return to the office as they did pre-pandemic. more

McClatchy has begun experimenting with publishing transitional real estate stories with artificial intelligence software. And, it's hardly the first news organization to explore the benefits of automated journalism, which in theory can free up journalists from more mundane tasks — if it doesn’t cost them their jobs. more

There is a sudden swell of optimism about the state of journalism in Chicago, where local journalists are about to answer a question I posed on these pages several years ago: Why can’t newspapers create a business model similar to public radio stations? more

There are few moments tougher in journalism than having to reach out to friends and relatives caught up in a tragic event. In modern times, it often means messaging people on social media with requests for comments or permission to use their photos and videos in your reporting. more

Many newsrooms across the country have begun to analyze and make changes to their political coverage, thanks to Trump's impact on American politics. His brazen falsehoods and wild conspiracy theories caught journalists completely off guard during the 2016 election and beyond, a fact he exploited to spread his message. more

After winning on “Jeopardy!” for the third straight night back in April, Kelly Donohue banged three fingers against his chest to quietly celebrate his victory. But to a group of former contestants, that simple gesture was definitely, maybe, possibly a white power symbol. more

Ordinarily, when it snows in Washington D.C, hundreds of kids shuffle up Capitol Hill and tumble down the west side of the U.S. Capitol, long known to residents of Washington, D.C. as one of the best places for sledding. Unfortunately, when several inches of snow dropped on the nation’s Capitol at the end of January, there wasn’t a sled in sight anywhere near the Capitol. more