Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights charges Friday, following a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. Four others also pleaded not guilty in the case. more

Paramount Skydance has joined Disney as the latest Hollywood studio to slam ByteDance over AI models Seedance and Seedream that it says are ripping off intellectual property and must stop. more

An urgent national conference to address restoring trust in American journalism is to be held at the University of Mississippi in mid-April. more

With air tickets and accommodation already paid for, Washington Post columnist Barry Svrluga is one of four of the paper’s journalists who decided to still come: He is in Cortina, Rick Maese is in Bormio, and Les Carpenter and national staffer Robert Samuels are in Milan. more

How to use a new crime data repository, where to turn for numbers since federal funding for public safety research has been gutted, and how to use data to both check statements from public officials and identify crime trends: Those were a few of the takeaways from a recent webinar on digging into crime data. more

The Guardian is launching its podcast rival to “The Daily” and “Up First.” more

Portland is known for its food scene, and the paper has published hundreds of stories about restaurants and chefs over the decades. Katherine Lee, news and culture editor with the Portland Press Herald, thought there might be a way to reuse that history and present it in a fresh way to readers. more

Courier Newsroom, a local and national news group with a progressive perspective, is expanding to nine additional states this year, its publisher Tara McGowan told Axios. more

From the Minneapolis shootings to the Guthrie kidnapping, visual investigation skills are now mandatory. Here's how to do it. more

Don Lemon pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges stemming from his presence at a protest at a St. Paul, Minnesota, church last month. He appeared in court flanked by his attorneys, wearing a dark suit with a red tie and his signature black-framed glasses. more

Local journalism isn’t disappearing — it’s being rebuilt in real time, and a new report from FT Strategies aims to show exactly how. Drawing on global data, newsroom case studies and on-the-ground experience, the Local News Playbook shifts the conversation from crisis to what’s actually working. Instead of asking how to save journalism, the report examines what the most resilient organizations already have in common — and how others can follow. In a conversation with E&P, George Adelman, director and head of partnerships at FT Strategies, unpacks the patterns, priorities and practical steps that are redefining sustainability for local news. more

Lauren Jackson is being promoted to deputy editorial director, joining Jessica Anderson in helping to lead the team. more

The board of trustees of PEN America has named two proven  leaders and champions of free expression and literature, Summer Lopez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, as co-chief executive officers of the writers’ organization.  more

Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon and four other people are set to be arraigned on federal civil rights charges Friday, accused in a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. more

The Richmond Free Press cited declining advertising in announcing the end of its three-decade run in Virginia’s capital city. more

The tie-up has the potential to create one of the biggest right-leaning media groups in the U.K. more

Spectrum News announced an agreement with New England Cable News and NBCUniversal to acquire substantially all of NECN’s assets, including its existing distribution agreements throughout New England. more

Public Media Infrastructure has announced the appointment of its inaugural board of trustees, including new board leadership and five new members who join representatives from PMI’s co-founding organizations. more

A potential bidding war is taking shape for the Daily Herald, the newspaper of record for suburban Chicago. more