Like it or not, unexpected situations are going to keep happening. Whether it’s a hurricane, a snowstorm, a tornado, a power outage or a new pandemic, the “unexpected” seems to be coming at an increasing rate. So, with that cheery thought buzzing around in your brain, what can we do about the big, scary unknown? As often happens in these columns, Doug Phares makes one simple suggestion: Be prepared.

The term “objectivity” is itself subjective. If you were to poll the public about their desire and demand for “objective” journalism, many might opine that reporters should stick to the “who, what, when, where and why” model — sans the “why” part. But the “why” is, after all, the essential context of the story, and without it, the public is less informed and not as inclined to read the bare-bones carcass of the story that remains. Of course, contemporary conversations about objectivity and fairness in reporting are much more nuanced and complex.

In the early days of the internet, a few early adopters were starting careers in the news industry and seeing opportunities in digital that their bosses did not fully understand. Today, digital pioneers have become the bosses. Those ahead of the digital movement — like Conan Gallaty, Lisa DeSisto, Grant Moise and Robert Granfeldt — saw their careers take shape in ways they never expected.

Louie Mullen owns over 30 weekly newspapers in small towns across seven states. “Every newspaper is run as an individual. It is a representation of that community. It’s more of an old-school style of running newspapers,” said Mullen, who is buying community newspapers across the country. And, his ownership style is hands-off.

Gaps in news coverage are spreading across the country. But even with this challenge, newsrooms are finding resources and innovative ways to save or even revive their storytelling capabilities. One example is partnerships between universities and media companies. This trend is especially prevalent in local newspapers, which are facing increasing newsroom layoffs as they struggle to survive.

Ryan Sorrell and his team at The Kansas City Defender rely on two methods to reach young people. First, they know that each social media platform has a different ethos, so they personalize content for each brand. Second, they have a broad content mix, blending hard news and culture stories with headlines such as “10 Best Black-Owned Restaurants.”

A report published by the Center for Media Engagement in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin shows how journalists can connect with stigmatized communities by using person-centered language. Caroline Murray, a senior research associate at the school and one of the authors, says this research is important because it demonstrates how journalists can better connect with the communities they cover.

Over the decades since, there have been dozens of cases of news people who turned to a life of politics. Richard Warner Carlson — known as Dick and father to one Tucker Carlson — famously quit TV news to pursue his political aspirations. Malcolm Stevenson (Steve) Forbes Jr. straddled the world of news and politics, including two bids for the Republican presidential nomination. Sarah Palin remarkably went from TV sports reporter to Alaska’s governor to vice presidential candidate. This year, she campaigned for Alaska’s House seat but lost to her Democrat opponent in the special election. The list goes on and on.

Jennifer Bertetto inherited a deadline the day she became the leader of Trib Total Media. She had two years to save the company. Bertetto was named Editor & Publisher’s 2022 Publisher of the Year at the #NewsMedia Business Summit in Harrisburg on Oct. 13, in part, for rescuing the southwestern Pennsylvania newspaper company from its swift plunge toward bankruptcy. In the process, she retained her commitment to her employees, community and journalism.

For the better part of 10 years, journalists have been told that paywalls are the future to funding a sustainable newsroom. Free is out, the funnel is in and pageviews matter a lot less than subscription conversions. What if there is another way? Well, journalists in Chicago are putting that to the test.

In a letter to readers, Jennifer Bertetto, president and CEO of Trib Total Media, writes: "Like you, we’re sick and tired of political attack ads. So, we’re getting rid of them."

The U.S. government should end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets.

Elon Musk on Monday fired off a series of tweets aimed at Apple for allegedly threatening "to withhold Twitter from its App Store" and for pulling most of its ad spend on Twitter.

Editors from the Guardian, Times, Mail, Telegraph, i, Sun and others have unified against SLAPPs.

The grant will establish a $12 million Global Fact Check Fund to support worldwide fact-checking initiatives through 2025.

The Wall Street Journal is working in collaboration with the independent research companies Statista and College Pulse to create The Wall Street Journal / College Pulse Rankings.  

Irish regulators slapped Facebook parent Meta with a 265 million-euro ($277 million) fine Monday, the company’s latest punishment for breaching strict European Union data privacy rules.

Twitter will no longer enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy, according to a note posted to its website.

The Diversity Pledge Institute at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (DPI) is hoping to raise $5,000 in order to expand its leadership development programs aimed at increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in newsrooms across the nation.

Nine media professionals share their strategies for growing and retaining audience.

The Washington Post builds on its high-impact, award-winning climate journalism by more than doubling staff and introducing new columns and coverage areas to illuminate one of the world’s most consequential stories.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk said Thursday that he is granting “amnesty” for suspended accounts, which online safety experts predict will spur a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation.

Elon Musk said Friday that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts next week, in a fresh move to revamp the service after a previous attempt backfired.

Seven ideas on how to reimagine our roles as educators to fulfill the promise of today's emerging journalists

CNN is asking a judge in Florida to toss a lawsuit filed by former President Trump against the network earlier this fall on First Amendment grounds. The lawsuit seeks $475 million in punitive damages.

Edward Lawrence, a journalist at the BBC, was arrested by police in Shanghai at the scene of protests on Sunday night, according to the BBC and as captured on what appears to be mobile phone footage of the arrest.

Over the eight episodes of “All There Is,” the CNN anchor digs into his own family traumas as well as those of others.

The federal appeals court covering six states rejected an appeal by New Mexico’s court administrator who said clerks should be allowed to withhold access to new court records until they are old news.

President Joe Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden's White House wedding to Peter Neal was closed to the news media, frustrating White House reporters whose complaints grew louder on Tuesday when Vogue magazine's exclusive pre-wedding coverage was posted online.

The planned merger between Trump Media & Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp. has attracted regulatory scrutiny because of concerns that it potentially violated rules designed to keep investors informed.

In October 2022, Seawave Corporation, publisher of the Cape May County Herald in Rio Grande, New Jersey, signed a contract with SCS to implement the Community Advertising System to standardize and modernize its advertising and production workflows.

We're proud to announce that Column is now a certified B Corporation. Our certification establishes us amongst a small subset of public benefit corporations officially certified by the B Lab, a global nonprofit network committed to making all businesses a force for good. In our most recent blog, Melissa Theiss, head of people at Column, explains our certification, what a B Corp Score means and how we're committed to making an impact.

On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the trading platform for journalism — Journexx — is launching its final test phase before opening its doors to the entire publishing industry.

STN Video has announced it will be powering video on PressReader’s Branded Editions platform, an innovative digital publishing SaaS solution for publishers wanting custom digital editions for the web, via apps, and as kiosks.

Today, Column announced that the Maine Press Association has joined their Partner Program as the first New England member.

It's going to be a rough year for local advertising in 2023. Borrell is forecasting that growth will be at a near-standstill, held back by a combination of economic pressures and a dramatic reshaping of the type of businesses now operating in each market. Borrell will unveil its forecasts and describe the change in business composition during a 45-minute webinar at 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Nov. 17. The webinar is free.

Mediahuis, an international media group with a range of powerful brands and activities in many European countries and Ireland's leading print and digital media publisher, reaches millions …

Times-Journal Inc, is a 150+ year old family-owned media company now in the hands of 3rd generation news publishers who are committed to serving local communities with award winning journalism and results driven advertising programs.  In short, there are no hedge-funds or corporate “bean counting downsizers” here to contend with. We are committed to a long-term future in this industry!  Located in the heart of Georgia’s most desirable markets, our communities are the ideal place to live, work and play. 

"There’s got to be a better way” was what Keven Zepezauer and his team kept saying to each other whenever they talked about affidavits. Zepezauer, the president and publisher of Restoration NewsMedia in North Carolina, knew that the public notice process — with all its labor-intensive, manual inefficiencies — was a problem. “It was ugly,” Zepezauer stated. “We had a full-time person dedicated just to affidavits. We knew we needed to do something different.”

Lenny Bernstein is taking on a new role with The Washington Post on the Health and Science team exploring how the chase for profit in medicine undermines patient care.

The Baltimore Banner today announced that it has tapped Sharon Nevins as chief revenue officer to lead a dynamic sales team for the startup local news publication. In her new role, Nevins will utilize her extensive relationships and deep sales and marketing experience to build out marketing solutions for their clients.

Dana Goldstein has a new beat measuring how Americans are living today and Vimal Patel joins the Education desk focusing on free speech issues.

Michael Coren is joining The Washington Post as the writer of “Climate Coach,” a new column and newsletter that will help readers navigate the choices they face when seeking to live a more climate- and environmentally friendly life.

Ana Campoy will oversee The Washington Post's Climate Solutions vertical and other climate reporters who focus on innovative storytelling and broadening the paper's audience.

Steve Hendrix is returning to the Local Enterprise team after three years as The Washington Post’s Jerusalem correspondent.

CNN has announced new assignments for its White House team, effective immediately. 

Charlie Warzel, who has been a contributing writer with The Atlantic since November 2021, is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer. Warzel will cover technology, with a broad interest in online extremism and tech’s most powerful platforms and players. He will also continue to write Galaxy Brain, an Atlantic subscriber newsletter.

Marny Ridling joins Cox Enterprises as the vice president of Cox Talent Acquisition (CTA), effective Nov. 28. In this role, Ridling will lead all CTA areas, including early career, sourcing, recruitment, candidate experience and third-party search.

Amanda Choy and Mantai Chow are joining The New York Times as video journalists for New York Times Cooking.

On Nov. 17 Jeff Sine was elected by the NPR board of directors as chair of the board. Sine first joined the board in 2017, serving as a Public Director.

Bruce Christensen, who led PBS from the mid-1980s to the early ’90s amid attacks on public TV for airing controversial documentaries, died Friday, Nov. 18, at his home in Orem, Utah. He was 79.

A memorial service for Stephen F. Bentley, former co-publisher of The Lawton (Oklahoma) Constitution, will be at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 1, in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

He composed many of George W. Bush’s signature addresses, and later, as a writer for The Washington Post, took a stand against Donald J. Trump.

Fred Hickman, a pioneering sports broadcaster and anchor who helped to launch two major cable networks and influenced and informed a generation of sports journalists and fans, has died.

Gary Martin, the Washington bureau chief for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has died.