Student journalists partner with local news

Student journalists are filling in gaps around the country 

As many local newsrooms struggle with resources, student journalists continue to fill in the gaps. This fall, high school and college students in Mississippi will be deployed to cover 10 counties in southeastern Mississippi, reports Mississippi Today, one of the program’s partners. The project, run out of The University of Southern Mississippi, will be segmented by education level, with high school students focusing on reporting, college students writing and interning, and graduate students providing teaching assistance and research. 

And this week, University of Vermont’s Center for Community News announced it will receive $7 million in funding to expand its program, which allows college students to write for news outlets in exchange for college credit, reports the Boston Globe. 

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> Join us: Retaining and engaging audiences post-election (American Press Institute)

Elections can energize existing audiences and bring in new eyes and ears to your news organization. Tune in to experts at the American Press Institute, The Associated Press, and Louisville Public Media who will share a “lightning round” of ideas on how to keep everyone engaged after votes are counted and winners are announced. Join us for the webinar on Thursday, July 25 from 1 to 2pm ET. 

>> She won a Pulitzer for exposing how the country’s poorest state spent federal welfare money. Now she might go to jail. (NBC News) 

Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today and her editor have been ordered by a court to turn over the names of confidential sources as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by Gov. Phil Bryant over a story about government corruption. Both face jail time if they refuse to do so. 

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Culture & Inclusion

>> The culture wars inside the New York Times (The New Yorker)

Joe Kahn’s time as executive editor at The New York Times has been defined by a changing newsroom culture. In an interview with Clare Malone, he said that it is the news outlet’s job to publish things that some people take issue with and stand by its reporters. 

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> From likes to leads: How TikTok fuels hyperlocal journalism (Exponential Narratives) 

Reporter Adriana Loya writes that TikTok is a great way to build a connection with your audience and encourage them to submit story tips and videos. This has helped her find hyperlocal stories more quickly than her competitors. 

>> How and why we should bring the living room into our newsrooms (Poynter) 

Living Room Conversations is an organization that focuses on connecting community members. Each conversation involves four to six people following a conversation guide for about an hour with the goal of coming away with a greater understanding of their community.  

>> Download Adriana Lacy’s new audience playbook, developed for Knight x LMA (Local Media Association) 

This playbook offers tools, resources and tips for local news organizations who are seeking to increase their audience engagement. 

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Revenue & Resilience

>> Stand out with an onboarding pack: How The Economist increased new subscriber engagement by 3.5% (The Audiencers)

The Economist decided to move beyond email and send its new subscribers, who tend to be older and wealthier, a physical welcome pack. The booklet includes subscriber benefits, a guide to using the app and a letter from the editor-in-chief. 

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What else you need to know

📺 CNN to cut 100 jobs in major overhaul to focus on digital, memo shows (Reuters)

🇷🇺 Russia declares newspaper The Moscow Times ‘undesirable’ amid crackdown on criticism (The Associated Press) 

🫱🏽‍🫲🏿 Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews resigns as president of CBS News (The Washington Post) 

🏆 2024 LION Sustainability Awards finalists revealed (LION Publishers) 

🪖Are you a military veteran in journalism? Help Military Veterans in Journalism learn more about the pathway of veterans transitioning into journalism careers by taking this paid survey. (Military Veterans in Journalism)

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Weekend reads

+ USA Today transformed the media world for good. What’s its legacy now? (The Washington Post)

+ ‘We are just warming up our engines’: What’s next for investigative journalism in Latin America (Global Investigative Journalism Network)

+ Joseph Lee on ‘Indigenous knowledge’ and covering adaptation to extreme weather (Columbia Journalism Review)

+ Chum King Express: The man behind the AI gaffes at Sports Illustrated and USA Today has a yearslong history of filling the internet with garbage (The Verge) 

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