Modern Journalism Relies On Technology
The Data-Driven Reporting Project (DDRP) aims to support local news journalists and freelancers working on document-based investigative projects that serve local and/or underrepresented communities in the US and Canada. The work can be in any storytelling medium: text, visual, or audio and be a singular long-form piece or a series. Projects should be publishable within 3-12 months.
Recipients will receive specialized training and support from Medill on Google Journalist Studio tools as well as other resources. To contribute to the wider journalism community, after publication of their work, recipients will be asked to share core source documents (text, audio, visual, etc.) publicly through tools like Journalist Studio’s Pinpoint. In addition, recipients will be asked to create a publicly available case study about their use of technology in their investigation for the benefit of the wider journalism community.
Scale of the Funding The Fund will make $2,000,000 USD available for projects that demonstrate a clear document-based investigation and provide proof of intent to publish from a reputable news organization. Projects will be funded at different levels, covering up to 80% of the total overall budget of the project.
Rust Communications Sells 9 Newspapers To Cherryroad Media, Inc.
CherryRoad Media Inc. announced it has purchased nine newspapers from Rust Communications, Inc. The newspapers are published in Arkansas and Missouri. This marks the latest acquisition for CherryRoad Media, which entered the newspaper industry in late 2020 with the purchase of the weekly Cook County (Minnesota) News-Herald. It has since acquired 52 other titles, including four in Arkansas and four in Missouri, as well as two start-up newspapers in Minnesota.
“We are very excited to be working with a great group of people to serve these communities in Arkansas and Missouri going forward,” said Jeremy Gulban, CEO of CherryRoad Media and CherryRoad Technologies. “We plan to keep the focus on local news and to offer additional digital solutions to supplement the printed newspapers. I want to thank the Rust family for working with us to find a good home for these important community publications.”
Rust Communications, based in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is a second-generation media company with 33 newspapers and minority ownership of 17 radio stations in nine states. “Jeremy and CherryRoad’s commitment to employees, technological innovation and small markets is impressive,” said Jon K. Rust, president of Rust Communications. “We are thrilled to connect them and their passion for news with a great group of employees and towns.”
New York Times Editors Are Focusing On Staff Retention As Policies About Outside Projects Spark Frustrations
The Times set up a committee to review reporters’ outside projects that compete with its own journalism. Times management says more than 90% of projects are approved.
As journalists across the media industry take on lucrative side hustles like podcasts and newsletters, The New York Times’ policies on outside projects have become an increasing point of tension inside the newsroom, according to current and former staffers.
Some at The Times are worried top reporters are eyeing jobs elsewhere where they get more money and autonomy, given the robust market for “influencer journalists” that connect directly with readers. “When you think about the future of media, it’s much more distributed and about personalities,” said Taylor Lorenz, a former Times tech reporter who recently left for The Washington Post. “Younger people recognize the power of having their own brand and audience, and the longer you stay at a job that restricts you from outside opportunities, the less relevant your brand becomes.”
Lorenz told Insider she went to the Post so that she could expand her reach with podcasts and newsletters within the Post — and outside. Lorenz, who was on book leave when she resigned, said she felt she wouldn’t be able to have the same breadth of projects while employed by the Times.
Most Americans Consider Disinformation A Problem, Study Finds
More than two-thirds of Americans (69 percent) believe disinformation is a major problem in society, up from 63 percent in 2020, new research finds.
According to the Institute for Public Relations’ third-annual “Disinformation in Society Report,” nearly three-quarters of Americans, on both sides of the political aisle, believe that disinformation will prolong the COVID-19 pandemic. In surveys conducted in November, 73 percent of respondents perceived that disinformation — which the study defines as “deliberately misleading or biased information” — is widespread about the coronavirus vaccine.
Seventy percent believe that disinformation has a negative effect on society and well-being. Seventy-one percent said falsehoods exacerbate political polarization. Seventy-three percent feel that disinformation undermines election processes and 75 percent think deliberate attempts to mislead the public threaten democracy.
While Republicans and Democrats differed in their trust of media outlets by as much as 40 percentage points, both sides agreed that local news sources are the most trustworthy. (Overall, 64 percent trust local broadcast news and 63 percent trust local newspapers.) Forty percent of respondents said they avoid watching or listening to news because of the disinformation they encounter there, up from 31 percent in 2020. And just as political affiliations significantly affected whether Americans trust new outlets, political leanings were also a determining factor in their trust of business sources.
Daily Clips is a culmination of various articles from an array of news sources on topics spanning from news to tech