The turn of the year gives us an opportunity to reflect on the year just gone and think about the year ahead.
The thing is, we could be here all day bemoaning how awful 2020 has been. Instead, we put a single question out to our community: what is your one hope or wish for the media industry in 2021?
In our final podcast of the year, we bring you a special episode with Journalism.co.uk s editor Marcela Kunova and reporter Jacob Granger, who offer thoughts on your submissions based on our coverage throughout the year. After all, we too have been no strangers to the setbacks of 2020.
Parachute journalism goes away for good
“The reasons are as practical as they are ideological. Travel is dangerous and many places are simply inaccessible to outside journalists. Sources are understandably warier than ever about meeting strangers to talk about a story.”
In the absence of local staff, many news organizations have for decades relied on a foreign correspondence model known as parachute journalism.
The term evokes a vivid image: An out-of-towner arrives by air, perhaps without much preparation or knowledge. Upon landing, he or she does their best to manage local language, currency, transportation, and communication, all while likely nursing jetlag. The parachute journalist might rely on a “fixer” a local journalist with knowledge and connections who may not receive any credit on the final product. Or the visiting reporter might go it alone, inevitably missing critical context and possibly key facts.
For-profit publishers solicit more grants and donors, while nonprofits look for more earned revenues; DEI-led startups get funding and support
2020 was a very bad year for local businesses in America during the COVID-19 pandemic. By July, more than 420,000 small businesses across the country had closed permanently, according to Stephen Hamilton, an assistant professor of economics at George Washington University. Hamilton believes that 13% of U.S. restaurants permanently closed, leaving 1.4 million people unemployed.
Meanwhile, local publishers had more news than ever to cover, with a lot less local advertising support. How did they survive and thrive during such a challenging year? They made lemonade from pandemic lemons.
What we liked
Of course we loved the Constructive Institute’s 24-hour rolling conference on the future of journalism. The Upside took part in the opening session on why people avoid news and what can be done about it. You can see our conversation with the estimable Sir Martyn Lewis here.
Upside on the darkside
Speaking of events, we are looking forward to a session called Bridging Our Divides next week, set up by the Progress Network, to examine how to start putting the US back together again. It’s on Monday at 8pm and is free: great for all our readers in the western hemisphere.
Jamie Glisson
This Sunday at 3 p.m., join KOSU for a special presentation of Black Plague: COVID In North Tulsa from Focus: Black Oklahoma.
The three-part series will focus on the effects of COVID-19 in the north Tulsa community. The episodes look at the pandemic s effect on youth, domestic violence, evictions and homelessness.
Hosted by Arielle Davis and Kolby Webster and created and produced by Quraysh Ali Lansana, Focus: Black Oklahoma is a news and public affairs program seeking to inform the public through stories and interviews, engage the community through lively discussion and spotlight local artists and creators.
We ll have more information on how KOSU is partnering with Focus: Black Oklahoma soon.