Welcome to the Media Briefing, a new weekly feature for Digiday+ members that goes deep into the world of media companies, platforms and independent content creators. The Media Briefing will be edited by senior media editor Tim Peterson with weekly contributions from senior reporter Kayleigh Barber; media reporter Sara Guaglione; platforms, data and privacy reporter Kate Kaye; and senior editor, research and features Max Willens. New editions will hit Digiday.com and inboxes every Thursday.
We’re making this new briefing available to anyone for the first two editions (1/28 and 2/4) after which it will be exclusively available to Digiday+ members. Join Digiday+ now to prevent losing access, and use promo code MEDIABRIEFING for 10% off a 1-year membership.
What I’ve learned in nine months of covering the journalism crisis
When I began writing this newsletter, in June, I imagined the local journalism crisis as a graph with a simple line, rising and falling with each wave of cuts, marking how the world of news was getting worse or getting better. After nine months of reporting, I’ve realized it’s not that simple. It’s not just about what the numbers mean for those who were laid off or furloughed, but sometimes, how the newsroom that is left survives. A graph shows what is lost and gained, but not what it means to undergo such radical fluctuation and change.
Bernardsville, N.J. Photo (cc) 2012 by Doug Kerr.
I love this. A small chain of 14 weekly papers in north central New Jersey is converting to nonprofit ownership. The New Jersey Hills Media Group will work with the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media in order to make the transition and will immediately embark on a fundraising drive with a goal of $500,000. Co-publisher and business manager Steve Parker explains the move this way:
Our family has served as stewards of these newspapers for 66 years, and we are pleased that a nonprofit group based in our communities has come forward to ensure that they will continue their mission of community journalism far into the future.
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