Localizing the shutdown
News planning for a potential federal government shutdown is a tricky calculation. Congress so often comes to the brink of a funding lapse, and then strikes a deal at the last minute, that it feels like you’re devoting precious resources — and asking audiences to pay attention — to something that might not happen.
This time, however, it’s real. Here are three ways to think about this coverage and some examples to consider.
The nuts and bolts of operations: This is essential service journalism, but people need to know what’s open and what’s closing, whether they will get their government checks, or whether they should travel to a national park. Local news organizations can localize national stories like this one from CBS. An example of this comes from CalMatters.
The impact on the community: The Washington Post provides a good example in a piece Tuesday about how a shutdown would affect seniors’ access to telehealth appointments. In Boston, MassLive explores the impact on food programs. In areas with large concentrations of federal employees, furloughs could impact the local economy. And this time, their jobs could be on the line longer term, as President Trump has threatened, according to USA Today.
The politics: To hold local officials accountable, it’s important to get your local delegation on the record — why they took the positions they did and how they’re helping people who have lost access to federal services, for example. Yet it’s important not to make assumptions about how the politics of a shutdown will play out over time. As The Washington Post’s Paul Kane writes, the “winners and losers” aren’t always predictable.
“The party Washington expects to be punished for shutting down the government can end up triumphant in the next election,” he writes.
News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.
Civic Discourse & Democracy
>> A new policy on access at the Pentagon has journalists and the Trump administration at odds
Pentagon reporters have been told by the Trump administration that they must sign a letter acknowledging new rules limiting access to most areas of the building as a condition for keeping their press badge, writes David Bauder. Journalists and their advocates, he writes, are “alarmed” by the controls.
>> On trial for journalism in Kentucky (CJR)
Two journalists from the alt-weekly Cincinnati CityBeat are set to go on trial in Kenton County, Ky., two months after they were arrested while covering a protest over the detention of an Egyptian immigrant. Liam Scott explains why the case is so troubling to free press advocates.
+ ICE agents assault amNewYork reporter at Federal Plaza immigration court; another journalist seriously injured after shove (amNY)
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Culture & Inclusion
>> 5 major Sunday-morning news show hosts on making history (Washingtonian)
Dana Bash, Shannon Bream, Margaret Brennan, Martha Raddatz and Kristen Welker — all Sunday morning news show hosts — answer questions from Amy Moeller about their jobs and challenges, including advice to other women coming up in the field.
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Community Engagement & Trust
>> News companies can partner, learn, and thrive in the influencer age (INMA)
As with many media conferences these days, the topic of creators was unavoidable at INMA’s Media Innovation Week in Dublin. Earl J. Wilkinson, INMA’s executive director and CEO, says the voices of two creators stood out. The upshot, he writes, is that publishers must “learn, adapt, and partner — or risk sliding into irrelevance.”
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Revenue & Resilience
>> “Hello, world!” The New York Times hopes to take the success of The Morning global with a new newsletter (Nieman Lab)
The New York Times is launching The World, a new newsletter on international news, following the success of The Morning, its AM offering. Sarah Scire spoke with Jodi Rudoren, editorial director of newsletters at The Times, who said the new product is “much more responsive to the sense of overwhelm that a lot of people are feeling.”
What else you need to know
⚖️ Judge reinstates over 500 Voice of America journalists and staff (The New York Times)
🤝 THE CITY appoints Carroll Bogert as CEO of award-winning NYC news nonprofit (THE CITY)
🧭 Adam Ganucheau named executive editor and chief content officer of Deep South Today; Emily Wagster Pettus becomes editor-in-chief of Mississippi Today (Deep South Today)
🔏 Baltimore Sun Guild journalists face a gag order imposed by owner David Smith (Baltimore Brew)
