A scramble for statistics  

In light of data purges by the Trump administration, the Global Investigative Journalist Network recently published a list of non-governmental data alternatives and archives on healthcare, the environment and other topics.

These compilations have become critical because cuts in federal agencies, and accompanying erasures in federal data, have major implications for journalists’ ability to do their jobs.

One of the biggest impacts is on weather news. Perhaps the nation’s most famous weather presenter, Al Roker, recently posted on X that layoffs at the National Weather Service “cannot be good.” The weather service, he said, “touches our lives in ways you cannot even imagine.”

Reporters who cover economic statistics could be affected if the Commerce Department follows through on a suggestion by Secretary Howard Lutnick that it could change the way it reports on the size of the economy, as reported by the AP’s Josh Boak.

Journalists who report on student achievement could find a data void if the administration carries through on a threat, detailed by The Hechinger Report’s Jill Barshay, to shut down the century-old National Center for Education Statistics.

As a former head of the agency told Barshay, “The data belongs to the people. It doesn’t belong to the president. It belongs to the public. It is a public asset.”

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

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> Trump’s opponents see a sweeping crackdown on free speech (The Washington Post)

President Trump and his allies may talk about eliminating “censorship” but they’re actually imposing curbs on free speech on many levels, writes Naftali Bendavid. Free speech advocates tell Bendavid that the administration has embarked on “a heavy-handed and likely illegal effort to control the national conversation.”

  • Related: As tensions spike between journalists and the president, here’s a look at ‘viewpoint discrimination’ (The Associated Press) 

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Culture & Inclusion

>> The empty chair: What happens when staff leave a local newsroom (Sarasota Herald-Tribune) 

When a treasured reporter leaves a newsroom, it leaves a void — in the newsroom and in institutional memory. Herald-Tribune editor Mark J. Rochester writes about how the recent departure of a talented local reporter underscores a “quiet crisis” newsrooms face in retaining editorial staff. But he also said it serves as motivation to find solutions to the problem.

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> New from API: How Six Rivers Media served audiences in new (and old) ways during Hurricane Helene (Better News)

The two daily and three weekly newspapers owned by Six Rivers Media in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia have become more collaborative in the past few years, sharing stories of regional appeal. But the arrival and devastation of Hurricane Helene in 2024 accelerated that cooperation. Three top editors explain how they did it and why it worked.

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Revenue & Resilience

>> API in the news: The new ‘army’ of journalists: Creators and influencers impact our industry (Editor & Publisher)

API’s vice president of journalism programs, Samantha Ragland, was featured in an Editor & Publisher story about how newsrooms are managing their delicate but increasingly important relationships with independent creators. This is part of API’s work on influencer collaborations, which started last year with a four-month cohort of newsrooms supported by the Knight Election Hub.

>> How to grow a creator-based newsletter business, with Puck’s Sarah Personette (Digiday) 

Puck started in 2021 with a journalist-centered model where the creators were, in part, compensated according to the subscribers they attracted. But lately its newsletters have come to resemble publications in their own right as they’ve enlisted other contributors, writes Tim Peterson, who spoke to Puck CEO Sarah Personnette for a Digiday podcast.

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What else you need to know

👥 Announcing The Beacon Project (Daniel Yudkin, Substack)

✂️ Scripps lays off staff at local stations (Axios)

📰 Maine’s largest news organization will lay off 49 and reduce print publications (Bangor Daily News)

🤖 The L.A. Times adds AI-generated counterpoints to its opinion pieces and guess what, there are problems (Nieman Lab)

🔏 After he ran a cartoon on the war in Gaza, Gannett fired him (The New York Times)