By Dan Kennedy • Tracking the future of local news and other passions since 2005
You may have seen the disturbing news that Rob Curley, executive editor of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, has been placed on administrative leave. Please support this free source of news and commentary by joining my Patreon for just $6 a month. Supporters receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive content. Amaris Castillo reports for Poynter Online that Continue reading "What I…
At the Obama Presidential Center there are several small dioramas marking events from Barack Obama s presidency. One is of a Girl Scout campout that Michelle Obama hosted on the South Lawn in 2015. We see white tents, neatly arrayed, with the girls in a circle around a tiny campfire. It s heartbreaking. How can we look Continue reading "What we have lost: An emotion-filled visit to the Obama…
Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory is making some big changes in the newsroom, according to a memo to the staff that a trusted source forwarded to me a little while ago. Though insiders will be particularly interested in the names, what strikes me is that McGrory says he s looking for big improvements to the website, Continue reading "Globe editor Brian McGrory announces a wide-ranging…
There s good news to report about the future of NJ Spotlight News, a 16-year-old website that covers politics and public policy in New Jersey. We learned in June that NJ PBS, the public television network that partners with Spotlight, would be moving to Montclair State University because of federal and state budget cuts totaling some Continue reading "A hoped-for deal between NJ Spotlight News and…
I started teaching full-time in 2005. Back then, large piles of The Boston Globe were distributed across Northeastern s campus. Because students were able to pick up a free Globe on the way to class, I could ask them to bring the paper and be familiar with the main stories of the day. Please support this Continue reading "The Boston Globe s paid digital circulation jumps to 313,000 thanks to…
An independent news organization called This Week in Worcester may be compelled to identify its confidential sources as the result of a libel suit brought against the outlet by a city police officer. First Amendment watchdog Andrew Quemere posted about the case on Bluesky. Please support this free source of news and commentary by joining my Continue reading "An indie journalist in Worcester avoids…
We got back from Chicago on Saturday after a great vacation with Barbara s sister, Mary, and her husband, Eric. I ll have more to say, especially about our visit to the Obama Presidential Center. Today, though, I want to lament the demise of print newspapers and offer some suggestions on how both publishers and airports could Continue reading "No news for you: Why is it so hard to buy a paper to…
I had a chance to talk about the state of local news in Massachusetts on The 351 podcast, joined by my fellow Northeastern j-school alum Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of The New Bedford Light. Our hosts were Adam Chapdelaine and John Ouellette of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Here s the blurb: Local journalism has long been Continue reading "Talking about local news, media habits…
I wasn t planning to write anything this morning, but two stories about public health in The New York Times have got me thinking about proportionality, to use one of my friend Catherine Tumber’s favorite words. The first is an opinion piece about the American way of eating, which is making us sick and killing us. Continue reading "The American way of eating is doing far more harm to us than…
By Erik P. Bucy and Milad Jalalian Ebrahimi A labor dispute erupted at The Guardian’s London headquarters in December 2024, with nearly 500 journalists going on strike to protest the proposed sale of the Guardian-owned Observer. With the newsroom hobbled, the British publication’s management allegedly deployed generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to Continue reading "As AI reshapes…