Seeking statewide reach

In Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune recently announced that it is launching the Southern Utah Tribune, where it will send free papers to 40,000 homes and businesses, produce a weekly newsletter and offer regional reporting at southernutahtribune.org.

In Texas, Hearst recently purchased the Dallas Morning News, expanding its footprint in a state where it already owns papers in the other largest metropolitan areas, including the Austin-American Statesman, which it acquired earlier this year. At the same time, the Texas Tribune’s announcement of its new publisher, Sarah Adler Hartman, said she is taking the role “during a pivotal moment for the Tribune, as the organization expands into new communities, strengthens statewide impact and secures long-term and organizational resilience.”

In Maryland, the Baltimore Banner recently established a presence in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Montgomery County.

And a little more than a year ago, the Minneapolis Star Tribune changed its name to the Minnesota Star Tribune, reflecting statewide aspirations.

These are all quite different news organizations in terms of business and ownership models. But there is an undeniable common denominator: statewide ambition. They are testing new ways to maintain their local flavor while also reaching new audiences outside their traditional coverage areas.

“These efforts represent local news organizations’ ambitious efforts to serve more people in their region, and to do so thoughtfully,” said Emily Ristow, API’s director of journalism strategy. “In several cases, these organizations spent months listening to these new potential audiences and showing up in their communities to understand their information needs better and start building relationships. Building that trust will be key for these expansion strategies’ success.”

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

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> Staff at 3 Alaska newspapers quit after owners give in to pressure from Republican lawmaker (Alaska Public Media)

Four journalists at newspapers in Homer, Kenai-Soldotna and Juneau, Alaska, resigned in protest this week over changes the owner made to a story after pressure from a state lawmaker. The move “gravely undermined” their ability to do their jobs, the staffers said.

>> Transcript: Gregory Bovino says arrestees in downtown Chicago chosen based partly on ‘how they look’ (WBEZ)

The U.S. Border Patrol commander complained about WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times reporting on comments he made about who gets arrested, saying they were taken out of context. So the news organization published a transcript. 

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Culture & Inclusion

>> The Root returns to Black ownership (CNN)

Democratic political strategist and CNN commentator Ashley Allison said Thursday that she is acquiring The Root from G/O Media. She told Brian Stelter that she plans to invest in video, new partnerships with experts and “in-person experiences.” 

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> 6 tips to help journalists avoid overgeneralizing research findings (The Journalist’s Resource) 

Denise-Marie Ordway offers a tip sheet for journalists covering study results. Her guidance includes suggestions from scholars on how to avoid overgeneralizing. They also explain why journalists shouldn’t rely on AI for summarizing research.

>> Bullet inscriptions test journalism norms around spreading shooters’ messages (Axios)

Messages on mass shooters’ bullet casings can be problematic for journalists who want to inform the public but don’t want to inspire copycats, writes Josephine Walker. “Media outlets don’t typically publish manifestos from shooters, but extremism experts warn the messages on the bullets may play the same role,” she writes.

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Revenue & Resilience

>> Guardian editor Katharine Viner sets out multi-year transformation plan (Press Gazette)

Marking 10 years at the helm of The Guardian, editor-in-chief Katharine Viner is looking to “build a sustainable future.” In the U.S., she told Charlotte Tobitt, digital reader revenue “really unlocked Guardian America as well so it is now very profitable.”

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What else you need to know

😥 Trust in media at new low of 28% in U.S. (Gallup)

🔊Jane Fonda relaunches McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech (The Washington Post)

📸 The 25 most influential magazine covers of all time (The New York Times)

🤳 Why TikTok is so influential — and why that’s particularly worrisome now (Vox)

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Weekend reads

+ Going beyond war’s cliches (Nieman Reports)

+ Media veteran John Battelle on the instability of journalism’s containers and platforms (Masthead at the Margin by Laura Rich)

+ Watch: Reuters, Economist heads on today’s reporting challenges (Bloomberg)

+ Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. Now he wants to save it (The New Yorker)