Midterm motivation
A new Pew Research Center report calls Americans’ relationship with the news “complicated.” But at least one of its findings might provide some inspiration for journalists covering this year’s midterm elections.
According to the survey of U.S. adults, eight out of 10 respondents say Americans have a responsibility to be informed about the news when they vote. About the same number, 78%, believe the news helps them with making voting decisions, including 40% who say it helps a lot.
This year, the need for accurate election coverage is especially acute, as President Trump has continued his attempts to undermine confidence in the voting process. His claims of “rigged” elections were amplified by others in his party this week when the U.S. House passed a strict voter identification bill, as Annie Karni wrote for The New York Times.
And the misinformation is not just coming from politicians. “As social media remains a critical source of political information, new challenges are intensifying for news organizations and journalists when covering the 2026 midterm elections,” Yini Zhang, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, told the university’s Douglas Sitler.
Zhang outlined “guardrails” for journalists to help navigate this tricky environment. One of them: “Avoid equating social media discourse with public opinion, as doing so can amplify extreme voices and discourage dissent by distorting perceptions of where the majority stands.”
- Also: Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years (The Hill)
News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.
Civic Discourse & Democracy
>> Arrests, disinformation and local journalism: Six lessons from Minneapolis (Pen America)
In Minneapolis, “disinformation, government power, and press freedom have collided,” write Pen America’s Timothy Richardson and Viktorya Vilk. They’ve assembled six takeaways from the events of the past several weeks, including the role of the local media in the Twin Cities. “Local journalists and bystanders became the frontline defenders of facts,” they write.
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Culture & Inclusion
>> Worker-friendly newsrooms are not all the same (Reynolds Journalism Institute)
Tara Francis Chan interviewed a dozen newsrooms with “worker-friendly” structures for her RJI Fellowship and found that “the actual internal structures of these news organizations are incredibly varied.” She says it’s important not to oversimplify when describing these outlets. “If we’re not able to accurately talk about this corner of the news industry, it makes it harder to build resources to help them launch, grow, and succeed,” she writes.
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Community Engagement & Trust
>> How Dave Jorgenson took the Washington Post video audience with him (Press Gazette)
Jorgenson, once known as The Post’s TikTok guy, said he’s hoping his venture, Local News International, will be profitable in the next year. “Now we’re excited to start doing long-form content in addition to what we’re doing with short-form,” he told Alice Brooker.
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Revenue & Resilience
>> The Banner announces coverage of Washington sports (Baltimore Banner)
Editor-in-chief Audrey Cooper’s email to staff summed it up: “The Washington Post’s decision to eliminate its sports section creates an opportunity for us to serve more Marylanders with The Banner’s distinctive mix of fearless accountability reporting, engaging storytelling and sharp analysis.”
- Related: ‘We still have a sports section for a few days, and readers need me to tell a story’ (CJR)
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What else you need to know
↔️ Progressive news network Courier expands to nine more states (Axios)
🤖 Scripps layoffs loom as company sets major cost-cutting and revenue growth plan that will include use of AI and automation (Variety)
⏸️ Efforts to keep Pittsburgh Post-Gazette operating appear to stall (CBS News)
✂️Significant changes at The Journalist’s Resource (Shorenstein Center)
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Weekend reads
+ In the video game News Tower, as in real life, running a newspaper isn’t easy (Nieman Lab)
+ ChatGPT thinks your state is dumb. Or lazy. Or ugly. See for yourself. (Geoffrey Fowler on Substack)
+ Why is the Washington Post cratering so spectacularly? (The Guardian)
+ Listen: The letter of the law, and the law in practice (CJR’s Kicker podcast)
