For early climate journalists, covering such a serious issue was a burden. Not many publications wanted to take on the task at hand; those who did narrowly covered a small amount of ground. Today, Dr. Edward Maibach, the director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, encourages this simple formula for success: “Clear messages repeated often by a variety of trusted and caring voices, including familiar TV weathercasters or local columnists.” more

Our December cover and cover story celebrate those of you in this crazy news media field. Gretchen Peck profiled several of our brothers and sisters in the industry — many who have worked a multitude of holidays. There are stories of festivities and comradery and stories of heartache and sadness because the news — even the difficult news — doesn’t stop for the holidays. more

In this 160th episode of “E&P Reports,” we interview veteran reporter-turned-educator Andrew Conte, who founded the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. He is also the author of “Death of the Daily News,” his latest book, which takes an in-depth look, via local reporting, at what happens when one local community loses its newspaper of record and flounders to find other forms of local journalism. more

The Watchdog Writers Group Fellowship, which launched three years ago, provides its fellows with a $50,000/year stipend for two years while they work on an investigative nonfiction title. The fellows also are paired with two student journalists (for a one-year stint each) in a mentorship and supportive role, working directly with the authors as they research and write. When they apply for the fellowship, applicants are asked two questions: What’s your book? And how can this fellowship help you complete it? more

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate in 2024, scheduled a trip to Ohio in August to stump for Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and our reporters were not there because of ridiculous restrictions that DeSantis and Vance placed on anyone covering the event. The worst of the rules was one prohibiting reporters from interviewing attendees not first approved by the organizers of the event for DeSantis and Vance. more

Votebeat was started as a pop-up shop in the months leading up to the 2020 election and became a permanent newsroom in the summer of 2022 after its parent company, the education publisher Chalkbeat, raised $3.1 million in funding. Today, Votebeat reporters are on the ground in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Texas — four states they chose because they saw both urgent needs and significant opportunities to make an impact. more

Just a couple of months ago, everyone was talking about the Great Resignation or the Big Quit. Whatever industry you were in, whether you were hiring a barista or a senior sales executive, suddenly everyone was desperate and hiring much more generously. Better salaries, better benefits, better everything. And hopefully, you got yourself into a stable position, because we’re entering a new era on the job market — the Big Regret. more

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 … more

In this 159th episode of "E&P Reports," we interview Ned Seaton, the GM and editor-in-chief of the Manhattan (KS) Mercury and the Times of Pottawatomie County Kansas, the newspaper of record of Westmorland, KS. The town decided to suspend the placement of public notices in the local newspaper and then reverse itself when reminded by Seaton of the value and overall benefit the practice itself has for the community as a whole. Also appearing is Emily Bradbury - Executive Director of the Kansas Press Association. She offers her perspective on how important it is that news publishers help in all ways possible to keep this practice in place. more

In the inaugural class of “E&P’s Creative Visionaries,” we salute our industry’s creative directors, graphic artists and multimedia designers. Whether designing a grocery ad, creating a layout for a multi-page publication or developing interactive graphics, our creative colleagues bring storytelling to life — curating captivating images, informative graphics, copy and, increasingly, video and audio. Their talents for communicating the news in visually intriguing ways helps our readers better understand and fully experience our stories. They don’t often receive the byline or recognition, but today we celebrate these often-unsung colleagues who support us daily. more

Gannett mandated five days unpaid leave for employees, offered severance for voluntary resignations and suspended 401(k) matching for the employees remaining at the country’s largest newspaper publisher two months after it laid off 3% of its workforce.        more

If Dr. Jelani Cobb could gather everyone into his Columbia University lecture hall, he would speak on journalism’s role in democracy during political turbulence and how journalism came to function in tandem with democracy. “I think that’s a question that has renewed salience,” he said. more

Many local reporters across the country have been forced to deal with an increasingly alarming trend in our media ecosystem — the nationalization of news led by outlets like Fox News, which often grab local stories, strip them of their context, and use them to push political agendas or conspiracy theories aimed at keeping their viewers angry. That anger trickles back down into communities, infects local politics and forces reporters at small news outlets already stretched thin to grapple with larger issues of misinformation and polarization. more

Autumn Phillips is the executive editor at The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina. “This was a very unpredictable storm. It seemed that we didn’t know what it was going to do and where it was going to hit, even hours before it reached us,” Phillips reflected a little more than a week after the hurricane carved its path north, hugging the country’s coastline. more

In every community, there are believers who understand the importance of local media, especially the newspaper, which has been the traditional and vital source of information. These believers want to support its journalism and enhance its value. The mission of the Report for America's Community News Funds program is to help communities, their local philanthropic resources and news media identify these believers and increase their ranks to create permanent funding to sustain good journalism. more

In this 158th episode of “E&P Reports” we interview Bill Patterson, Publisher of the Denton (TX) Daily Record-Chronicle, Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, CEO and Co-Founder at The National Trust for Local News (NTLN), Senior Research Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism and Nico Leone, President & CEO of KERA the public broadcasting outlet in North Texas that just announced the purchase of the Daily Record with the assistance of NTLN. Patterson speaks to how and why he sought out the sale of his 3-generation family-owned media company, while Leone talks about the benefit to public broadcasting expanding into local legacy news and Shapiro explains how deals like this are made and how they may be become much more common in the future.   more

Should I tell my daughter why we’re getting a divorce? Is it bad that my wife doesn’t want to spend time with my mother? Should I remain friends with my ex-boyfriend if I still love him? When Washington Post readers have questions, they turn to Carolyn Hax. She has written the newspaper’s daily advice column for 25 years and is syndicated to over 100 newspapers nationwide. more

Tom Staik is the managing editor of The Herald-Advocate in Hardee County, Florida.  “That is a new normal. We’ve had search helicopters since this happened,” he said as one hovered overhead.  The Herald-Advocate publishes its paper on Wednesdays. The day the hurricane landed, Staik and his team talked about how people were prepping for the storm. Before the latest news on crime and sports, the paper featured stories about people installing plywood and school teachers prepping classrooms and tech equipment in case of water damage.  more

Newspapers need to better understand their readers’ lives and consumer behavior so they can get creative, custom and aggressive in delivering the resources readers need. Leading this charge is no easy feat. However, leveraging a strategy of resource and reliability provides a potential future for more advertiser-safe content. more

Florida newspapers and their dedicated staffs were there for their communities before, during, and after the hurricanes. And that was certainly the case over the last several days as we saw journalists in Southwest Florida rally in a way to cover Hurricane Ian as the massive storm approached and left its destruction in the very communities they call home. It was the same with our industry’s market leads, GMs, publishers and the production folks who were also instrumental, whether publishing in print or online, in making sure local readers were given the tools they needed to lessen the storm’s impact. more