Calls for cooperative action 

It’s not always in the competitive DNA of journalists to band together. But some experts are suggesting that news organizations could be doing more collectively to fight the Trump administration’s punitive actions against journalists.

The Associated Press this week was barred from White House events for not changing its style for the Gulf of Mexico to the Trump-preferred “Gulf of America.” It’s just one in a series of actions against the press, as outlined by Corky Siemaszko for NBC News.

What’s needed is a “NATO for news,” writes Dick Tofel in his Second Rough Draft newsletter. “Threats will continue, and likely proliferate,” he writes. “Not all of them will be lodged against newsrooms that have the resources, and should have the courage, to resist.”

News organizations have little time to act, Joel Simon of the Journalism Protection Initiative at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism writes in CJR. He suggests, among other things, “strengthening networks of smaller and nonprofit news organizations that will need to band together and share resources.”

Another suggestion comes from Bill Grueskin, a journalism professor and former editor at the Wall Street Journal. “What if — and I’m just spitballing here — other major news organizations stopped attending Oval Office events out of solidarity with the AP, whose excellent reporting we and they have depended upon for decades?” he asked on Bluesky.

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

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> An audience survey to make national news more relevant to readers (Trusting News)

The current national news cycle is exhausting and overwhelming. Local newsrooms might be asking how they can be most helpful to their (also exhausted) communities right now. One way is to ask them, writes Lynn Walsh. Trusting News offers a template to survey audiences for insights into how national news can be better shaped to serve the community.

>> Announcing a new initiative to fuel local news with community colleges in the South (Journalism + Design)

Journalism + Design at The New School is launching the Community College Civic News Challenge, a new initiative supporting local news and civic information projects in collaboration with community colleges across the South. Funding comes from the Lumina Foundation as part of Press Forward.

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Culture & Inclusion

>> A newsroom built for justice: Inside Prism’s movement journalism (Editor & Publisher)

The independent newsroom Prism, led by editor-in-chief Lara Witt, practices “movement journalism,” using journalists who are from the communities they cover, writes Diane Sylvester. “There’s a big difference” when a piece is reported by “someone who understands the cultural nuances of where they are from,” Witt tells Sylvester.

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> New from API: Building Trust: An ethical roadmap for journalists who partner with influencers

When it comes to collaborations with influencers, newsrooms need to consider a number of ethical questions: How do you know the information is fair and accurate? And how will it impact people’s perception of the independence of your news organization? As part of API’s ongoing work on influencer collaborations, Mollie Muchna of Trusting News lays out the issues — and the red, green and yellow flags that arise with these collaborations.

>> Yahoo News signs up influencers with promise of shared advertising sales (Bloomberg News)

Yahoo News is partnering with nearly 100 creators from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, writes Aisha Counts. Their content is in a “Stories from Creators” section that is part of a new homepage. Under the deal, Yahoo pays influencers a share of advertising sales in exchange for using their posts on the site.

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Revenue & Resilience

>> New from API: 5 strategies for retaining print and digital subscribers (Better News)

In both print and digital, news organizations balance a number of priorities: keeping subscribers engaged, growing audiences and revenue and adapting processes for efficiency. Anthony Basilio manages these strategic aspects as director of subscriber revenue & analytics for The San Diego Union-Tribune. In a recent Q&A session for Table Stakes alumni, Basilio shared case studies and offered tips on how news organizations can rethink monetization strategies with customer value in mind.

  • Table Stakes alumni: Attend the next Diversifying Revenue Series webinar about empowering sales teams in news organizations on Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. EST. Register here.

>> Condé Nast, McClatchy and other publishers accuse AI firm Cohere of copyright violations (The Wall Street Journal)

A collection of publishers, all members of the News/Media Alliance, the leading industry trade association, filed a copyright and trademark infringement case in the Southern District of New York against Cohere Inc., an AI company valued at over $5 billion.

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What else you need to know

💔 2024 is deadliest year for journalists in CPJ history; almost 70% killed by Israel (Committee to Protect Journalists)

🏫 Nieman curator Ann Marie Lipinski to step down (Harvard Gazette)

✂️ BuzzFeed to cut about 5% of workforce (TV News Check)

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Weekend reads

+ Curiosity is key for overcoming conflict and disinformation, author says (Pen America)

+ The editorial battles that made The New Yorker (The New Yorker)

+ Video: David Remnick, 100 Years of The New Yorker and journalism in the 2nd Trump era (The Daily Show)