Freeze frames
As government officials use terms like “domestic terrorist” to describe people who died at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, journalists are increasingly relying on experts in open-source intelligence to counter the narrative that the victims were to blame.
Big news organizations often have experienced forensic teams that can break videos down frame by frame. The New York Times, for example, this week published a video analysis concluding that Alex Pretti, who was shot by agents on Saturday, did not appear to pose a threat to them.
Similarly, the Wall Street Journal was able to mobilize a team shortly after the shooting to analyze videos from the scene. Writing in Storybench, published by the Northeastern University’s School of Journalism, Dan Zedek, a professor of practice, tells how they did it.
For smaller news organizations, partnerships may be an option. The investigative journalism collective Bellingcat is increasingly partnering with local outlets, using its data and video analytics to conduct investigative reporting on local incidents with national repercussions, lead editor Eoghan Macguire told Nieman Lab’s Laura Hazard Owen.
- Related: Citizen journalists are Minneapolis’s unsung heroes (The Nation)
- Also: Let’s talk (again) about why fact-checking works (Poynter)
News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.
Civic Discourse & Democracy
>> What the Times, the AP and Merriam-Webster say about the words ‘murder’ and ‘execution’ (Media Nation)
Dan Kennedy dissects The New York Times’ explanation of how it views the use of the words “murder” or “execution” in its Minneapolis coverage. He also looks at the AP Stylebook, which says that saying a victim was murdered is not appropriate without a court conviction. Kennedy, too, says he tries to be careful “not to use ‘murder’ unless I’m describing a criminal charge or verdict.”
- Read the piece: How we think about words like ‘murder’ in our Minneapolis coverage (The New York Times)
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Culture & Inclusion
>> 4 tips for covering federal funding for Hispanic-serving institutions (Journalist’s Resource)
Recent bills and lawsuits have stripped federal funding to universities that serve Hispanic students and other racial or ethnic minorities. The Journalist’s Resource convened law, education and journalism experts for a webinar to discuss how to cover this growing issue. Four tips emerged from the session, including the importance of investigating how the grant money might be diverted to other purposes.
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Community Engagement & Trust
>> Join us: AMA on local news, trusted messengers and history
Americans face increasing news fatigue and dissatisfaction with national politics. But they often love and value the community they live in — and that offers unique opportunities for local news, including in 2026, our country’s semiquincentennial. Join Sam Ragland Feb. 19 for an interactive session from API and the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship.
>> Coming soon: A national day of action connecting communities with trusted local news (Local News Day)
On April 9, organizations, newsrooms and community leaders across the country will come together to show their support for local news and information for the inaugural Local News Day, and API is a founding partner. The coordinated effort to reconnect people with the trusted local news outlets that help communities stay informed, prepared and engaged. Learn more about getting involved.
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Revenue & Resilience
>> New research: Polarizing news is a trap for reader-funded media (INMA)
Greg Piechota examines a new study finding that emotionally-charged, polarizing content increases a user’s time spent on a news website but reduces the likelihood of that user subscribing. “While such content may capture fleeting attention, it appears to erode the very foundation of trust and perceived value necessary to convert a reader into a paying subscriber,” write Shunyao Yan and Klaus Miller, the study’s authors.
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What else you need to know
👀 AP reporter describes federal officers pushing journalists back to car as they documented operation (Associated Press)
🔍 UK proposes forcing Google to let publishers opt out of AI summaries (Associated Press)
🗒️ Washington Post’s White House team tries to avert layoffs in letter to Bezos (Semafor)
🗣️Listen: Former NBC producer tells her own story about Matt Lauer in ‘Unspeakable Things’ (NPR)
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Weekend reads
+ For journalists who covered Ferguson, the news from Minneapolis feels ‘uncomfortably familiar’ (Poynter)
+ The unsettling experience of reporting on Trump’s health (Intelligencer)
+ What it feels like coming face-to-face with ICE (Texas Monthly)
+ S. Mitra Kalita knows ‘there is no white knight coming to save us’ (CJR)
+ Repeated government lying, warned Hannah Arendt, makes it impossible for citizens to think and to judge (The Conversation)
