Podcasts about American Press Institute

While inspirational to many, the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion also terrify some. This reality underscores why there is still so much to be learned about what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean as values that guide ethical decision-making, as strategies to upend structural inequities, and as a field of study which helps transform the way we organize and work together.   As imperative as it is to fortify this body of work, we have to keep thinking about what we mean by these terms, and what others mean when they find themselves up in arms about them. When we are in the grip of fear, it's hard to think. It's hard to imagine new possibilities. And yet, thinking and imagining have never been more important.    We begin this imagination journey by considering the role journalism plays in informing, influencing, and ultimately shaping our understanding about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also must consider what form of journalism would be powerful enough to oppose the unfounded attacks and fear-mongering targeting this work?    Our guide for this journey is none other than Sam Ragland. Sam is the Vice President of Journalism Programs for the American Press Institute. She is a connector and a collaborator, leading a talented department of local journalists. She believes her team can impact the longevity of local news, in whatever form that news takes. On a micro level, this work looks like leading API's efforts to promote cultural transformation and business sustainability in media, helping news organizations serve diverse readers and communities more effectively.    During this episode, you'll learn about:   The crucial shift within journalism towards prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in both newsroom culture and reporting practices. The power of journalism has to influence public opinion, and its promise in debunking pervasive misinformation, disinformation, and lies about this work. The ways journalism can build trust by reporting on a broader range of stories that more accurately reflect the complexities of our society. First amendment free press attacks and the need for additional resources to secure support for independent journalism.   Ultimately, this episode underscores how a genuine commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in journalism is not just about fairness; it's intrinsically linked to fostering a more informed society, strengthening democratic ideals, and contributing to a healthier, more inclusive business landscape centering our humanity. By accurately reflecting the diverse fabric of society, journalism can build greater trust and contribute to a stronger sense of belonging for all.   Want to gain the skills necessary to apply this learning into your work? Join the Belonging Movement newsletter today! As a subscriber, you'll receive exclusive access to special workshops, groups coaching sessions, and 1:1 coaching offers designed to help you lead with your values and build groups that center team safety, trust, and belonging.   Don't just imagine belonging – build it. Sign up now at: https://www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe.

Since August 2019, the Better News podcast has highlighted many of the news organizations that featured in the American Press Institute's Better News Initiative. Better News serves as a platform where local news organizations who participated in the Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program can share actionable strategies with others experiencing similar challenges in navigating the ever-changing, digital-media landscape. In this special episode, Jan Ross Sakian, API's Table Stakes community manager, joins host Michael O'Connell to wrap up the sixth and final season of the Better News podcast. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since August 2019, the Better News podcast has highlighted many of the news organizations that featured in the American Press Institute's Better News Initiative.Better News serves as a platform where local news organizations who participated in the Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program can share actionable strategies with others experiencing similar challenges in navigating the ever-changing, digital-media landscape.In this special episode, Jan Ross Sakian, API's Table Stakes community manager, joins host Michael O'Connell to wrap up the sixth and final season of the Better News podcast.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

WITF, the NPR station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania recently started a democracy beat as a way to build trust, counter misinformation and tamp down political rhetoric. Special projects editor Tim Lambert oversees the democracy beat and Scott Blanchard is WITF's director of journalism. They talk to Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell about the origins of the democracy beat and how this new approach impacts the station's election coverage. Read the report Tim Lambert wrote Better News: How WITF is using democracy reporting to build trust and tamp down political rhetoric. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WITF, the NPR station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania recently started a democracy beat as a way to build trust, counter misinformation and tamp down political rhetoric.Special projects editor Tim Lambert oversees the democracy beat and Scott Blanchard is WITF's director of journalism. They talk to Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell about the origins of the democracy beat and how this new approach impacts the station's election coverage.Read the report Tim Lambert wrote Better News: How WITF is using democracy reporting to build trust and tamp down political rhetoric.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a world drowning in information, where every click and scroll can lead us further down a rabbit hole of misinformation, what is our cultural and intellectual lifeline?This week on Mission Forward, Carrie Fox swims the turbulent waters of local news with Michael D. Bolden. He serves as the Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer at the American Press Institute, and he's not here to talk about headlines and deadlines. He's here to talk about the very oxygen of democracy – the free flow of information and how we've let ours become polluted.Bolden shares his deeply personal journey, from a childhood steeped in the wisdom of diverse media sources to his current mission of rescuing local journalism from the clutches of apathy and distrust. But this isn't just another lament for the dying days of print. This is a call to arms. Bolden throws down a gauntlet, challenging the very notion of "audience." He speaks of forging genuine connections, of weaving newsrooms into the very fabric of the communities they serve. He paints a picture of journalists not as detached observers but as engaged citizens, listening intently to the whispers and shouts of the people they represent. It's a radical shift, reimagining the relationship between the informed and the informers.The American Press Institute, under Bolden's leadership, isn't just patching up the cracks in the foundation of local news; they're rebuilding it from the ground up. He reveals their secret weapon: a laser-focused mission to create news organizations that are not just surviving but thriving. He speaks of resilience, of adaptability, of the courage to pivot in the face of relentless change. Along the way, he hints at exciting new initiatives, veiled in a touch of journalistic mystery, promising a future where local news is not just relevant but essential.As the looming shadow of a pivotal election descends, Bolden offers a glimmer of hope. He sees newsrooms embracing flexibility, thinking beyond the immediate frenzy, and laying the groundwork for a future where trust is not a luxury but the bedrock of our democracy. He reminds us that the work doesn't end on election night; it's a continuous conversation, a constant striving to build bridges and illuminate the path forward. This episode is a stark reminder: we cannot afford to be passive consumers of information. The future of our communities—and our democracy itself—depends on it.We are grateful to Michael and the American Press Institute for their generosity in making this conversation possible. (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward (06:50) - Local News and Democracy (08:46) - What is The American Press Institute? (11:27) - Change, Challenge, and Opportunity (15:38) - The Relationship Gap (18:58) - A Focus on Mission (20:44) - Hope (23:08) - Closing Thoughts On October 9, 2024, we will gather for a virtual half-day conference to explore how leaders across sectors are navigating changes, challenges, and opportunities, and we'll bring wide-lens context to many of today's most pressing issues. Reserve your spot today, as space is limited.

Earlier this year, six local news organizations participated in the American Press Institute's Live Events Sprint for Table Stakes Alumni. The goal of this five-month cohort was to help news organizations design and market live events within their communities. Through the program, Vermont Public planned a series of community picnics to better understand election questions and policy issues important to community members. Amy Zielinski, senior event producer for Vermont Public, talks to Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell about how Vermont Public is using events to foster dialogue and connect with its audience. API also created a self-guided workbook for journalists who want to get started with live events. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this year, six local news organizations participated in the American Press Institute's Live Events Sprint for Table Stakes Alumni. The goal of this five-month cohort was to help news organizations design and market live events within their communities.Through the program, Vermont Public planned a series of community picnics to better understand election questions and policy issues important to community members.Amy Zielinski, senior event producer for Vermont Public, talks to Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell about how Vermont Public is using events to foster dialogue and connect with its audience.API also created a self-guided workbook for journalists who want to get started with live events.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Executive editor Kayla Green recently wrote Better News case studies about these two initiatives to serve younger audiences. She discusses them both with host Michael O'Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read more about Athlete of the Week and Sumter Next Generation on BetterNews.org.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Executive editor Kayla Green recently wrote Better News case studies about these two initiatives to serve younger audiences. She discusses them both with host Michael O'Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read more about Athlete of the Week and Sumter Next Generation on BetterNews.org. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By focusing on the audience funnel, owner and publisher Tom Lappas was able to generate 9,000 email subscribers and generated $34,000 at the Henrico Citizen.Lappas recently wrote a piece for Better News on how other news organizations can grow reader revenue and expand their email subscribers by focusing on the audience funnel. Lappas discusses that with host Michael O'Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read the full study.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

By focusing on the audience funnel, owner and publisher Tom Lappas was able to generate 9,000 email subscribers and generated $34,000 at the Henrico Citizen. Lappas recently wrote a piece for Better News on how other news organizations can grow reader revenue and expand their email subscribers by focusing on the audience funnel. Lappas discusses that with host Michael O'Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read the full study. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Benjy Egel became the The Sacramento Bee's food and drink reporter in 2018. For the next five years, he watched the city's culinary scene blossom, attracting Michelin stars and James Beard Award nominations. Egel's reporting drew more than 1,000 new subscribers to The Bee who wanted to learn the latest about Sacramento's new cultural heartbeat.Sacramentans' love for the city's local restaurants inspired Egel to write “Sacramento Eats: Recipes from the Capital Region's Favorite Restaurants." The cookbook not only highlights the city's award-winning chefs, it also includes their recipes so that readers can prepare their favorite dishes at home.Egel recently wrote a piece for Better News on how other news organizations can create a regional keepsake that drives revenue toward their newsroom. Egel discusses that with host Michael O'Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read the full study.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Benjy Egel became the The Sacramento Bee's food and drink reporter in 2018. For the next five years, he watched the city's culinary scene blossom, attracting Michelin stars and James Beard Award nominations. Egel's reporting drew more than 1,000 new subscribers to The Bee who wanted to learn the latest about Sacramento's new cultural heartbeat. Sacramentans' love for the city's local restaurants inspired Egel to write “Sacramento Eats: Recipes from the Capital Region's Favorite Restaurants." The cookbook not only highlights the city's award-winning chefs, it also includes their recipes so that readers can prepare their favorite dishes at home. Egel recently wrote a piece for Better News on how other news organizations can create a regional keepsake that drives revenue toward their newsroom. Egel discusses that with host Michael O'Connell on this week's Better News podcast. Read the full study. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most important missions a local news organization has is covering local politics and elections. However, with shrinking staffs and limited resources, many digital media outlets struggle to effectively achieve this mission. David Plazas, director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee, recently wrote a study for the Better News initiative on how The Tennessean created a significant, authentic public service experience around local politics. Read the full study. On the latest episode of the Better News podcast, Plazas talks to host Michael O'Connell about the opportunities, resources, and collaborations The Tennessean employed during the 2023 election. He also offers tips and strategies other news organizations can use to enhance their coverage of local politics. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most important missions a local news organization has is covering local politics and elections. However, with shrinking staffs and limited resources, many digital media outlets struggle to effectively achieve this mission.David Plazas, director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee, recently wrote a study for the Better News initiative on how The Tennessean created a significant, authentic public service experience around local politics. Read the full study.On the latest episode of the Better News podcast, Plazas talks to host Michael O'Connell about the opportunities, resources, and collaborations The Tennessean employed during the 2023 election. He also offers tips and strategies other news organizations can use to enhance their coverage of local politics.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kamaria Roberts, the deputy director of local news transformation at the American Press Institute, highlights the work API has done over the last year through its Better News Initiative and what may be in store for 2024. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kamaria Roberts, the deputy director of local news transformation at the American Press Institute, highlights the work API has done over the last year through its Better News Initiative and what may be in store for 2024.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Newsroom Robots now has a newsletter! Subscribe to receive podcast summaries and be the first to know when a new episode is released. Sign up here.In this episode, Jeff Sonderman, the founder and CEO of Delta Flow Solutions, joins Nikita Roy to discuss the transformative potential of generative AI in streamlining business operations across analytics, marketing, product management, and content accessibility. Jeff also shares insights from his experiments with AI, particularly in converting unstructured data from PDFs into hyperlocal news reports.Jeff is the former Deputy Executive Director of the American Press Institute, where he created the Metrics for News analytics software, revolutionizing audience data for over 200 news enterprises, and invented the Source Matters software to enhance source diversity in newsrooms. He has been a Media Transformation Challenge fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education and continues to blend innovation with journalism.Tune in for an episode to brainstorm diverse use cases, demonstrating how generative AI can be a game-changer on both the business and product side of running a newsroom.

Eric Larsen, The Coloradoan's executive editor, recently wrote a report for Better News about how a partnership with Colorado State University's Center for Public Deliberation reenergized the newspaper's opinion page  and increased engagement by promoting a public dialogue among its audience members. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Larsen, The Coloradoan's executive editor, recently wrote a report for Better News about how a partnership with Colorado State University's Center for Public Deliberation reenergized the newspaper's opinion page  and increased engagement by promoting a public dialogue among its audience members.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the second part of this episode with Elite Truong, she shares her work leading AI products like Metrics for News and Source Matters at the American Press Institute for local newsrooms. She shares how AI can help local news and her advice for product managers looking to incorporate emerging tech, like generative AI.Elite is the Vice President of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute. Formerly, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Washington Post. In the first part of the episode, she discussed her experience working on emerging technologies. Before joining The Post, Elite spent four years at Vox Media, three as the product manager for off-platform storytelling, primarily negotiating with tech platforms to create user experiences that benefited news consumers. She serves as the Board Secretary for the News Product Alliance and is on the advisory board for Democracy Day.Tune in for the second part of this episode with Elite and hear about her current work at The American Press Institute. Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elite Truong joins Nikita Roy to delve into her journey of leading AI products, first at The Washington Post and now at the American Press Institute, in a special two-part episode. In part one, Elite shares insights from her work on Heliograf, The Washington Post's robot reporter that debuted in 2016. She discusses the evolution of the product under her leadership and explores the potential of computer vision in assisting journalists, particularly when covering traumatic events. Join us for part two of this episode, where we discuss her current role at the American Press Institute and her perspective on the potential applications of generative AI in newsrooms.Elite is the Vice President of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute, where she manages data products like Metrics for News and Source Matters that empower local newsrooms to make strategic decisions. Formerly, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Washington Post, where she led the newsroom R & D team to capture younger and more diverse audiences by creating projects driven by emerging technologies, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, 3D, and augmented reality. Before joining The Post, Elite spent four years at Vox Media, three as the product manager for off-platform storytelling, primarily negotiating with tech platforms to create user experiences that benefited news consumers.She serves as the Board Secretary for the News Product Alliance and is on the advisory board for Democracy Day.Don't miss out, as Elite recounts her initial experiences with AI product development at The Washington Post in this episode.Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More and more newsrooms are discovering that diversifying their coverage to better represent and engage the communities they cover is not only the right thing to do, it's necessary if they wish to remain relevant and sustainable.Better News recently published a report about how Louisville Public Media shifted from just reporting news about Black people to making news for and with them. Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell talks to Louisville Public Media's vice president of content, Gabrielle Jones, about LPM's new approach to covering the news for and with its Black audiences.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More and more newsrooms are discovering that diversifying their coverage to better represent and engage the communities they cover is not only the right thing to do, it's necessary if they wish to remain relevant and sustainable. Better News recently published a report about how Louisville Public Media shifted from just reporting news about Black people to making news for and with them.  Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell talks to Louisville Public Media's vice president of content, Gabrielle Jones, about LPM's new approach to covering the news for and with its Black audiences. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a more than 200-year-old institution, The Fayetteville Observer hasn't always done right by Black residents in its coverage area.Better News recently published a report about a new initiative at the Observer that uses partnerships and mobile newsrooms to help foster trust within the Black community and grow its audience.The Observer's lead editor, Beth Hutson, and opinion editor, Myron Pitts share all the details with Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell.The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greg Hedgepeth is president and CEO of Substantial Media LLC, a Black-owned and operated online subscription-based platform that promotes the "substantial lifestyle" as a way to inspire and uplift its Black audience.Better News recently published a report written by Hedgepeth about Substantial Magazine's journey to sustainable revenue and growth through partnerships and highly selective content for targeted audiences. Read the full report here.Hedgepeth discusses Substantial Media's mission and the strategies it uses to grow its audience among the Black community with Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greg Hedgepeth is president and CEO of Substantial Media LLC, a Black-owned and operated online subscription-based platform that promotes the "substantial lifestyle" as a way to inspire and uplift its Black audience. Better News recently published a report written by Hedgepeth about Substantial Magazine's journey to sustainable revenue and growth through partnerships and highly selective content for targeted audiences. Read the full report here. Hedgepeth discusses Substantial Media's mission and the strategies it uses to grow its audience among the Black community with Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell.  The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Ellen B. Meacham has been a journalist for more than twenty years, and her work has appeared in the New York Times and many other places. Currently, she teaches journalism at the University of Mississippi. Meacham worked as a news reporter in north Mississippi and at the Charleston, South Carolina, Post and Courier. In 2005, she was named an American Press Institute fellow and served her fellowship at the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Steven Gaither launched HBCU Gameday in 2012 on Facebook and Twitter to highlight sports and culture at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A few years later, TV sportscaster Tolly Carr joined Gaither and helped to grow the brand across multiple platforms. Recently, Carr wrote a report for Better News about how HBCU Gameday, which started out as passion project, has grown into a profitable business. Read the report. In this episode of Better News, host Michael O'Connell talks to Carr about what got him interested in sports broadcasting in the first place, what attracted him to HBCU Gameday, and what advice he'd give to other media entrepreneurs who wish to take their passion project to the next level. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Newsletters have become an essential tool for news outlets to share their stories and engage readers. But coming up with a successful newsletter strategy can be difficult.  How often should you send a newsletter? How many newsletters are too many? Should you send your newsletters to every subscriber or split your mailing list into different groups? What constitutes a breaking news alert? To find answers to those questions, Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell talks to Cameron Songer, the newsletter editor at the San Antonio Express News. Recently, Songer and Randi Stevenson, the Express News' executive producer, wrote a report for the Better News initiative about how the Express News streamlined its newsletter process and found a way to funnel more people to its digital site. Read the full report. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Unapologetically ATL newsletter to the work of Nuestro Estado in covering the Spanish-speaking population in South Carolina, Better News has shared stories about newsrooms finding new audiences and growing sustainable revenue to better serve their communities. Where else are you going to hear about how a 1-pound bag of coffee helped a legacy newspaper in New Hampshire grow its subscriber list? In this special year-end episode, Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell talks to Kamaria Roberts, the deputy director of local news transformation at the American Press Institute. Roberts highlights the work API has done over the last year through its Better News Initiative and what may be in store for 2023. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

The Salt Lake Tribune has been covering the Utah community for 151 years. Ever since the newspaper shifted to a nonprofit model three years ago, it's been looking for innovative ways to identify new audiences and turn print subscribers into digital subscribers. One area of success for the Tribune is its unique reporting on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, exemplified by the work of managing editor David Noyce and senior religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack. The duo produce a weekly podcast and newsletter under the Tribune's Mormon Land mini-brand. Better News recently published a study written by Danyelle White, the Tribune's vice president of strategic initiatives and community engagement, and digital media manager Eve Rickles-Young. They talk to Better News podcast host Michael O'Connell about how the Mormon Land beat identified a national audience that is financially supporting their work through Patreon. Read the Report. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Media critics often fault the news industry for only covering bad news. While William Randolph Hearst may have coined the concept “If it bleeds, it leads,” that sentiment is not shared by those journalists working hard to make the community they're covering a better place for their audience to live. Case in point, the Arizona Daily Star recently flipped the narrative and added solutions-oriented reporting to its coverage. Rather than reporting on the problems of the community, the Daily Star's solutions reporter Caitlin Schmidt is writing about how people are trying to fix those problems. Caitlin and Editor Jill Jorden Spitz recently wrote a case study for Better News about the Star's solutions-oriented reporting. Caitlin joins Better News host Michael O'Connell to share the details. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

In this episode, News & Observer reporters Dawn Vaughan and Will Doran talk about the N.C. Supreme Court, Voter ID and judges' races, plus what Democratic and Republican legislative leaders are saying about how the election results will impact their governing in 2023. Plus Headliners of the Week: marijuana and Kernersville! PROJECT 170: As part of our 2022 election coverage, we sent out hundreds of candidate questionnaires for all 170 races for the North Carolina General Assembly. Compiling these responses is a lengthy process, but a grant from the American Press Institute is helping make this special coverage possible. We're calling it Project 170. Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article266610351.html#storylink=cpy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A formal education may prepare us well for a lot of things, but being a manager often isn't one of them. In this News Guest episode, you'll hear from two people who have been on both sides of newsroom management about how independent news publishers can be better managers. Samantha Ragland is vice president of journalism programs at the American Press Institute and has coached newsroom leaders across the country. Wendi C. Thomas is the founder and publisher of MLK50, a LION member newsroom in Memphis that focuses on the intersection of poverty, power and policy. Related reading: How three women journalist leaders channelled legacy newsroom experiences into creating healthier nonprofit organizations by Vignesh Ramachandran To become managers, journalists must let go of independent mindset by Annie Russell When student loans and the housing crisis force journalists out of the business by Wendi C. Thomas Related resources: The Independent News Sustainability Summit in Austin this October will feature sessions on managing a team, recruiting and retaining employees, and building a support network as a leader. The News Entrepreneur Academy includes video courses courses on HR Best Practices with experienced HR consultant Deb Lewis, Management Best Practices with executive coach and marketing consultant Natalie Archibald, and Addressing and Avoiding Burnout with executive coach and former New York Times reporter Sushil Cheema. The LION-GNI Sustainability Audits and Funding program offers personalized business advice and up to $6,000 of funding to help independent publishers build more sustainable businesses. The deadline to apply for the next round of audits is Oct. 10. Sign up for the LION newsletter for more insights, tips and resources to help independent news publishers plan for revenue growth.

The Buffalo News, which has been providing news and information to Western New York since 1880, was looking for a way to connect with readers beyond the seven-day print newspaper.  Brian Connolly and Geoff Nason recently wrote a case study for API's Better News initiative about how the newspaper leveraged its staff's expertise on the city's NFL franchise to build engagement and generate sponsorships through social videos. Nason and fellow News staffers Mark Gaughan and Danielle Ossher join Better News host Michael O'Connell to discuss the first season of Buffalo Bills PlayAction videos they produced. Read the case study. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

The Justice Department says classified documents were “likely concealed and removed” from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate as part of an effort to obstruct the federal investigation into the discovery of the government records. A court filing made Tuesday night shows the FBI also seized 33 boxes containing more than 100 classified records during its Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and found classified documents stashed in Trump's office. Mississippi's capital city is struggling with multiple water problems — too much on the ground after heavy rainfall in the past week, and not enough safe water coming through the pipes for people to use. Parts of Jackson were without running water Tuesday because flooding worsened problems in one of two water-treatment plants. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that the federal government is prepared to help Mississippi respond to the water crisis. United Nations inspectors are making their way toward Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Theirs is a long-anticipated mission that the world hopes will help secure the Russian-held facility in the middle of a war zone and avoid catastrophe. Israeli archaeologists recently unearthed the titanic tusk of a prehistoric pachyderm near a kibbutz in southern Israel, a remnants of a behemoth once hunted by early people around half a million years ago. A survey of people ages 16 to 40 finds that millennials and Generation Z follow the news but aren't that happy with what they're seeing. The study conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute says 79% of people in that age group follow news daily, contrary to perceptions that many are tuned out. But only 32% say they enjoy following the news, down sharply from 53% in a similar study seven years ago. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died at 91. He waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War. The Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow said in a statement that Gorbachev died after a long illness. In sports, Rafael Nadal won in his U.S. Open return, Venus Williams lost her opener but will root on sister Serena, Alex Leatherwood and Josh Rosen are among those released on NFL's 53-man roster cutdown day, and the Dodgers reached 90 wins. Prosecutors have rested at R. Kelly's federal trial in Chicago after presenting two weeks of evidence in a case that accuses the singer of enticing underage girls for sex and producing child pornography. Kelly's legal team now gets its chance to attack the government's case. Closing arguments are expected to happen in the middle of next week. A surge in fighting on Ukraine's southern front is fueling speculation that the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of the war is underway. Ukraine claims it destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, while Russia says it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties. The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, says the 2020 census undercounted his city by almost 16,000 residents, leading him to join other big cities in challenging the results of the once-a-decade head count in the U.S. Parents of children enrolled in Maine religious schools fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for the state to treat tuition reimbursements the same as other private schools. But only one religious school has signed up to participate so far. Religious schools have been in no rush to apply after the state attorney general said they'd have to abide by the same state antidiscrimination laws as other schools. Following three straight monthly declines, U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in August as inflation moderated and gas prices fell. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose in August to 103.2 from 95.3 in July. The number of open jobs in the United States rose in July after three months of declines, a sign that employers are still urgently seeking workers despite slowing economic growth and high inflation. There were 11.2 million open jobs available on the last day of July — nearly two jobs, on average, for every unemployed person. With abortion limits enacted or looming nationwide, an Ohio provider has been referring hundreds of patients to its sister clinic in Indianapolis. Their pregnancies exceed Ohio's six-week limit, passed when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The women are racing a political clock. Indiana recently passed a near-total abortion ban. It takes effect Sept. 15. People who drink tea may be a little more likely to live longer than those who don't. That's according to a large study of British tea drinkers published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine. Scientists found two or more cups daily was tied with a modest benefit: a 9% to 13% lower risk of death from any cause. As sea levels rise and buildings by coasts are increasingly endangered, communities around the world are turning to the small but mighty oyster to help stabilize shorelines. By establishing oyster colonies along badly eroded shorelines, governments and volunteer groups are creating natural speed bumps designed to blunt the force of waves and slow down erosion. A new study finds that Greenland has more than 120 trillion tons of ice that can be thought of as zombie ice that's going to raise sea level globally by at least 10 inches. The study looks at the edges of Greenland's ice sheet, ice that authors say is starving and dead. It will unavoidably melt and increase sea level rise no matter what else happens with future carbon pollution. —The Associated PressSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fernando Soto started Nuestro Estado to provide resources and information about hurricanes to Spanish-speaking residents in Charleston, S.C. As demand increased for this information, Soto, the website's CEO and publisher, faced a huge problem. How could Nuestro Estado scale up to meet the needs of its rapidly growing audience? Recently, Soto wrote a case study for Better News about how Nuestro Estado increased capacity to ensure the information it published was accurate, timely and culturally competent in order to better serve its Spanish-speaking audience. Read the case study. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Like many older metropolitan newspapers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had a problem. After years of looking for readers in the suburbs, the paper found that its majority white audience failed to reflect the true diversity of Atlanta. Due to its role in civil rights history and the contributions of local artists, entertainers, and musicians, the city has become a center for Black culture. The Journal-Constitution needed to find a way to engage more Black readers. Najja Parker, newsletter coach at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, talks about a report she wrote for the Better News about how the Journal Constitution grew engagement with Black audiences through the Unapologetically ATL newsletter. Read the report. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

About the guestMichael O'Connell is a field editor with Patch in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. He is also the host and producer of the weekly It's All Journalism podcast and produces the Better News podcast for the American Press Institute. Previously, Michael was a digital editor at Local News Now, a senior digital editor at Federal News Network, a producer of the National Governors Association's Meet the Threat podcast, and managing editor at The Connection Newspapers. For three years, Michael taught podcasting in the American University School of Communication's Masters in Digital Storytelling program. Besides speaking about podcasting at various journalism conferences, Michael is also the author of the textbook, Turn Up the Volume — A Down and Dirty Guide to Podcasting. In June 2018, Michael traveled to Tajikistan on behalf of the U.S. State Department to teach young journalists how to podcast.The Truth In This ArtThe Truth In This Art is a podcast interview series supporting vibrancy and development of Baltimore & beyond's arts and culture.Mentioned in this episodeMichael O'Connell's TwitterTo find more amazing stories from the artist and entrepreneurial scenes in & around Baltimore, check out my episode directory.Stay in TouchNewsletter sign-upSupport my podcastShareable link to episode★ Support this podcast ★

Since the 2016 election, 100 Days in Appalachia has been working with local voices to apply a cultural lens to national stories about the the Appalachian region. The 100 Days team's reporting, which covers 13 states, earned it a 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award. Although 100 Days originated as a university-incubated collaborative media project, the newsroom recognized it needed to identify new streams of revenue beyond grants in order to become fully self-sustaining. Editor In Chief Dana Coester and Executive Editor Ashton Marra recently wrote a report for Better News on how 100 Days began experimenting with reader revenue and community membership to move beyond philanthropy. Read the Report. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Mónica Guzmán, author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, is the Director of Digital and Storytelling at Braver Angels which is a cross-partisan nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging America's widening political divide. Mónica's background in journalism and her own life experiences brought her to Braver Angels as a person interested in conversation without judgment. As a daughter of Mexican immigrants who considered themselves Republicans and a journalist, Mónica understands political party differences on a personal and professional level. In the episode she describes her journey to Braver Angels and details how the organization creates spaces, through workshops, where citizens across party lines can have difficult conversations. As she and Henry explore divides within family structure she notes how family ties put more at stake in these political conversations but how that can be extremely powerful even though it is uncomfortable. Trust and listening are more important than people may think when trying to have these conversations and Braver Angels helps people develop those skills. The end of the episode also addresses some of the controversy the organization has had recently surrounding the conservative opinions related to the January 6th Capitol attack and Henry and Colin discuss how Braver Angels transparently discussed their podcasting practices in relation to misinformation and conspiracies. A full transcript of this episode will be available soon!Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:Mónica GuzmánBook: I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided TimesBraver AngelsMónica's earlier journalism for The Evergrey (Seattle)Interview with The Daily Kos (“you don't have to talk to a Nazi tomorrow”)Braver Angels' list of roles we play in family conversations about politicsUSC Norman Lear Center research on media consumption among liberals, moderates and conservativesJonathan Haidt: The moral roots of liberals and conservativesAnd more about his book, The Righteous MindBraver Angels podcast and controversy:Depolarization in the Age of Misinformation | Jonathan Rauch with David Blankenhorn & Ciaran O'Connor (our clip starts around min 7)A Conservative Perspective on January 6th & the 2020 Election | Peter Wood with Ciaran O'Connor (our clip starts around min 17:00)Braver Angels national debate to open up the larger question—"Should we draw lines?"—to hundreds of people. President David Blankenhorn chimes in toward the end of the videoBraver Angels Podcast host Ciaran O'Connor's op-ed in the Deseret News with more of the product of Braver Angels' reflection on what happened, and also YouTube's roleMónica's own reflection on the issue in an interview with the American Press Institute asking "what might journalism learn from 'bridging'?."Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at howdoyoulikeitsofarpodcast@gmail.com.Music:“In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmetSpaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumentalFree Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceshipMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Jeramiah has been leading marketing teams and helping local businesses develop dynamic marketing strategies for 19 years. A Google certified attribution expert and Facebook Blueprint marketing professional, Jeramiah has been recognized by the American Press Institute as one of the Next Generation of Media Managers. Passionate about supporting entrepreneurship, as a SCORE Volunteer Jeramiah helps entrepreneurs develop go-to-market strategies, and has delivered talks through the UCONN Women's Entrepreneurship Program. Connecting with Jeramiah:Website: https://www.localiq.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwolfmartin/General Info:If you want to get a hold of us, or you would like to be a guest on our show simply click here: https://www.lbmsllc.com/contact-us/Is there a topic you would like us to cover? Send an email to info@lbmsllc.com or simply call 888-416-7752Want a free evaluation of your digital marketing presence? Simply click here: https://www.lbmsllc.com/online-presence-report/and we'll send you a free snapshot report to get started.For a copy of my book, 7 Steps to Recession-Proofing Your Business, click this link: https://www.lbmsllc.com/bookConnect With Us On Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lbmsllcInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbmsllc/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbmsllcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/local-business-marketing-solutionsAlignable: https://www.alignable.com/fanwood-nj/local-business-marketing-solutionsConnect With Frank Directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdemming/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC97CxzX4YnOazsF39DOe34A

A conversation on truth in journalism, with https://www.newyorkencounter.org/patrick-radden-keefe (Patrick Radden Keefe), writer and investigative journalist, and https://www.newyorkencounter.org/thomas-rosenstiel (Thomas Rosenstiel), former executive director of the American Press Institute, introduced by a tribute to the late Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, by her personal assistant https://www.newyorkencounter.org/elena-a-perazzini (Elena Perazzini), writer, moderated by https://www.newyorkencounter.org/brandon-vaidyanathan (Brandon Vaidyanathan), Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at The Catholic University of America.Faithfulness to facts and truths has always represented the highest ideal of journalism. But in recent years market pressure and increasing politicization have undermined this ideal and damaged the social standing of journalism. Is restoring this ideal still possible? What is the future of journalism? What will it look like? Panelists will address these questions and present examples of professional journalism where factual truth was pursued even when it was inconvenient to one's career.

In a recent post from the American Press Institute, they cited: "Concentrated efforts to highlight diversity are necessary for reaching new audiences and staying relevant to younger changing audiences. Readers pay attention to the content that speaks to or serves their identity. Diversity is a journalism imperative.” The API goes on to add that more diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the news publishing industry is imperative because: "Without accounting for the range of lived experiences, we fail to serve parts of our communities. Journalism, in its truest form, should be produced for the benefit of all, not only those who wield a particular power, class or authority.” In a recent press release, Editor & Publisher (E&P) announced a new partnership with The Diversity Pledge Institute (DPI), a nonprofit organization addressing newsroom diversity by working with employers to improve hiring and retention of journalists of color and by identifying skilled journalists of color and preparing them for news careers. E&P and DPI have launched a new resource site called “Diversity Spotlight” that features exclusive editorial content and links to all relevant resources and stories to help publishers find relevant content in one location and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Also included with that platform is information and access to the many training sessions around diversity, equity and inclusion offered by The Poynter Institute. In this 124th episode of “E&P Reports,” Publisher Mike Blinder interviews Larry Grahm, founder and executive of The Diversity Pledge Institute, along with Doris Truong,  Director of Training and Diversity at The Poynter Institute, about the importance of achieving more diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the news publishing industry and what resources are available now to help executives accomplish those goals.

Kamaria Roberts, the new deputy director of local news transformation at the American Press Institute, joins host Michael O'Connell in a year-end review of the Better News podcast. They listen to clips from past interviews and discuss how they demonstrate the successful application of strategies developed by newsrooms in the Table Stakes Local News Transformation program and featured on BetterNews.org. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Like many newspapers, The Post and Courier  was experiencing a drop-off in local advertising spending, which meant diminishing revenues. However, the Charleston, South Carolina, daily decided to adjust course and focus on philanthropy as a way to pay for its journalism. The new fundraising model proved so successful that The Post and Courier was able to raise $1 million to support a statewide investigative fund and education lab. Executive Editor Autumn Phillips recently wrote a report for API's Better News initiative about The Post and Courier's stellar fundaising effort. She shares the details with host Michael O'Connell on the latest episode of the Better Newspodcast. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

The Tennessean is a major newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. It's also the flagship of the USA Today Network South. Like many mainstream newspapers, The Tennessean has primarily served a white audience even though Nashville's population is 24 percent Black. In the latest Better News podcast, opinion columnist LeBron Hill talks to host Michael O'Connell about the report he wrote for the American Press Institute's Better News Initiative about how The Tennessean is successfully engaging Black audiences with its Black Tennessee Voices project. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

WFAE, the public radio station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina region, has been around for nearly 40 years. In that time, the area has seen a dramatic increase in its Latino population. Ju-Don Marshall, WFAE's chief content officer and executive vice president, recently wrote a report for the Better News Initiative on how the radio station changed its approach to better engage the region's Latino population. This included an equitable partnership with La Noticia, a Spanish-language newspaper serving North Carolina, and a joint Report for America reporter. On this episode of Better News, Marshall and Hilda Gurdian, publisher of La Noticia, tell host Michael O'Connell how they made this partnership a success not only for their newsrooms but the communities they serve. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Season 1: Race and the News Media Episode 5: The Audience In this week's episode of "Roundtables on Race," the Rev. Kathy Walker hosts a conversation on the relationship between news media and us, the audience and the consumers of information. She is joined by guests whose expertise in this field is unparalleled: Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of both the American Press Institute and the Media Insight Project; Jeffrey Gottfried, senior researcher at Pew Research Center; and Jacob Nelson, assistant professor at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and author of Imagined Audiences: How Journalists Perceive and Pursue the Public.

When the coronavirus pandemic made getting credible information to the American people an absolute necessity, already, an American Press Institute survey showed more than 20% of the adult population was already tuned out.  Since then, things have only gotten worse.  Longtime editor and media analyst Tom Rosenstiel helped run the API study and has some ideas on how to repair the damage to journalism's reputation and influence in our craven new world of extreme political partisanship and pick your facts news consumers.

The Arizona Republic had a zombie problem. We're not talking about the brain-eating variety of zombies. Instead, the Republic had too many digital subscribers that weren't actively engaged with the newspaper's content. These "zombies" were also most likely to cancel their subscriptions, creating a retention problem.  In 2019-20, the Republic launched a campaign to turn those zombies into loyalists by creating content with which they would be interested in engaging. John Adams, the Arizona Republic's senior director of storytelling and innovation, and Alia Rau, the paper's former local politics and issues reporter, tell Better News host Michael O'Connell about the Republic's successful efforts in rooting out zombies. Adams and Rau also wrote a report about the effort for the Better News Initiative. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the  Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Jennifer Benz, vice president of the Associated Press’ National Opinion Research Center’s Center for Public Affairs Research, and Tim Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, discuss a new survey in partnership with their organizations and the Media Insight Project. Their survey of more than 2,000 people found only 11 percent of Americans support what journalists believe are the core values of their mission.  Keep up with the latest news about the It's All Journalism podcast, sign up for our weekly email newsletter. Also, listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, PodcastOne, Soundcloud, or Stitcher.

In 2020, the Las Vegas Review-Journal launched Mobbed Up, an 11-part podcast series examining the role organized crime played in the rise of Las Vegas. The idea behind Mobbed Up was to grow audience and revenue for the paper. The Better News Initiative recently spotlighted the Review-Journal’s successful foray into narrative podcasting. As Mobbed Up's creators put the finishing touches on its upcoming second season, Jim Prather, the Review-Journal's executive director of programming, spoke to Michael O'Connell for the Better News podcast. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the  Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Anjanette Delgado is the senior news director for digital at the Detroit Free Press. She recently wrote an article for the American Press Institute’s Better News initiative about the paper’s community impact report. Better News host Michael O’Connell talks to Delgado about how newsrooms can create their own reports to measure the effect local journalism is having on their community, as well as how it is contributing to their fundraising efforts. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Sue Stockdale talks to Joni Deutsch, Podcast Manager for WFAE, Charlotte’s NPR station in North Carolina about the importance of making space for silence, and how she amplifies underrepresented voices through her work as a broadcaster and podcast host. In addition to leading the public radio station’s chart-topping podcast productions, Joni is also the creator and host of WFAE’s Charlotte music podcast Amplifier, recently honored for excellence in arts and music podcasting by Charlotte Magazine, the Edward R. Murrow Awards and The Webby Awards (called “The Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times). In October 2020, Joni executive produced the Charlotte Podcast Festival, Charlotte’s first podcast festival with free and virtual sessions designed to inform and empower the next generation of audio storytellers and podcasters. Joni is an NPR Music contributor and was the first woman to guest host the legacy NPR program Mountain Stage. A supporter of innovative media and a mentor to digital women leaders, Deutsch’s work has been heralded by NPR, Harvard University, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Poynter, the Online News Association and the American Press Institute.www.wfae.org/people/joni-deutschRead a transcription of this podcast on our website www.accesstoinspiration.orgConnect with us on social media via:Twitter www.twitter.com/accessinspirat1  Facebook www.facebook.com/accesstoinspirationInstagram www.instagram.com/accesstoinspiration LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/access-to-inspiration/

Corinne Chin and Lauren Frohne are video journalists at The Seattle Times. They wrote a piece for Better News on how the Times is using Slack to lower barriers, expose insensitivity, and allow conversations about cultural issues that can arise from their stories. Better News host Michael O'Connell talks to Chin about how newsrooms can use Slack to facilitate similar conversations. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

It’s All Journalism host Michael O’Connell talks with Liliana Lopez, editor of La Estrella de Tucson, a weekly Spanish-language paper in Arizona. They discuss what she learned from the American Press Institute’s Community Listening Fellowship and how she put that information to use to help the Latinx community during the pandemic.  Keep up with the latest news about the It's All Journalism podcast, sign up for our weekly email newsletter .

His firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, The Federal Reserve, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He is an inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame® and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top 1% of professional speakers in the world. His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 25th year and fifth edition. His newest is Threescore and More: Applying the Assets of Maturity, Wisdom, and Experience for Personal and Professional Success. Success Magazine cited him in an editorial devoted to his work as “a worldwide expert in executive education.“ The New York Post called him “one of the most highly regarded independent consultants in America.“ He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute, the first-ever for a non-journalist. Join me on this episode of the Curve Benders podcast, with one of my Curve Benders, Dr. Alan Weiss. Don't forget, I turn the show notes from these podcasts into more in-depth articles, so check them out on our blog at NourGroup.com/Blog. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/david-nour/message

Even in the times of COVID-19, events — done virtually — can still be a useful method for newsrooms looking to build their audiences and promote brand loyalty. Cierra Hinton is the executive director-publisher for Scalawag, a nonprofit media organization launched in 2015 and based in Durham, North Carolina. Recently, she and Alysia Harris wrote an article for the American Press Institute's Better News initiative on how Scalawag was using events to diversify its audience and grow membership. Read the full report here. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and  tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole.Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Joining us for our final installment in this year's Information Literacy mini-series is journalist Lauren Abdel-Razzaq, Digital Director for The Detroit News. Lauren coordinates the team behind the Detroit News' website, crafting the digital experience at DetroitNews.com; and she is also one of the voices behind the Detroit News on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. https://www.detroitnews.com/    We have a lot of links to everything we discussed in this episode, including the referenced examples of DEEP FAKES:  Bill Hader's face transforming as he impersonates others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhUhypV27w&ab_channel=CtrlShiftFace Jordan Peele makes an Obama deepfake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5wLaJYBAm4&ab_channel=BBC Mark Zuckerberg says he controls billions of people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbedWhzx1rs&ab_channel=WashingtonPost Nixon moon disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nD3zrMN47E&ab_channel=ScientificAmerican   Bill Hader Deepfake Keanu Reeves Deepfake   __ And here are some resources for how to be your own fact-checker and a surveyor of potential visual fabrications on the internet.  RESOURCES: Washington Post Fact Checker guide on manipulated video: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/fact-checker/manipulated-video-guide/   Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics: https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp   Trusting News: https://trustingnews.org/   Gallup poll on media trust: https://news.gallup.com/poll/243665/media-trust-continues-recover-2016-low.aspx   American Press Institute trust on social media: https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/trust-social-media/ Pew Research Center fake news: https://www.journalism.org/2019/06/05/many-americans-say-made-up-news-is-a-critical-problem-that-needs-to-be-fixed/   AP Fact check: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-fact-check   Washington Post fact-checker: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/   Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/   Google Reverse Image Lookup: https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=EN

Amol Rajan on the thorny questions of free speech, impartiality and truth in newsrooms. Guests: Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director of the American Press Institute; Rachel Corp, Editor of ITV News; Andrew Neil, Chairman of The Spectator; Nesrine Malik, columnist at The Guardian. Studio engineer: Giles Aspden Producer: Hannah Sander (Photo: Jo Holland / BBC)

The Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester New York was facing a big problem. Its primary audience was old, white and dwindling. The newspaper had to figure out how to reach a younger and more diverse audience — and fast. C.J. Benjamin, emerging audiences editor for the Democrat and Chronicle, discusses how the paper successfully developed a strategy to better engage a younger and more diverse audience. She wrote about the experience for American Press Institute‘s Better News Initiative. Read her full report here. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and  tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole.Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Fake news poses a real threat to Election 2020 as CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan explains. While head of the American Press Institute, Tom Rosenstiel outlines how people have been losing trust in the media for a long time and where it all goes from here.

Fake news poses a real threat to Election 2020 as CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan explains. While head of the American Press Institute, Tom Rosenstiel outlines how people have been losing trust in the media for a long time and where it all goes from here.

This is an audio recording of a guest lecture presented by Ashley Alvarado, director of community engagement at Southern California Public Radio (KPCC + LAist), at the University of Oregon School of Journalism in Communication. Among Ashley's efforts to develop strategies and opportunities to engage new and existing audiences across platforms is the engagement-driven, community-centered live storytelling series Unheard LA, leading human-centered design projects, and Feeding the Conversation, an ongoing series of engagement-sourcing gatherings that bring together members of the community with KPCC journalists around specific themes or coverage areas. She also serves as board president of Journalism That Matters, sits on the steering committee of Gather, is a mentor for Membership Puzzle Project’s Join the Beat cohort, and works as a curator for American Press Institute’s BetterNews.org. You can download Ashley's lecture presentation here: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://drive.google.com/open?id=18Ls_lOeIyGpVB96xj8puXhWUKX4r5KDU__;!!C5qS4YX3!Q3XkNHxHAacsokrfprzYLgHP1J5htqj73lnjcOASLLVY7FxTc2cPZQl80waoI70_$ Find Ashley Alvarado online: Twitter: @AshleyAlvarado LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyalvarado/ Southern California Public Radio: www.scpr.org/ LAist: laist.com/ Listen to our interview with Ashley on the Demystifying Media podcast: https://soundcloud.com/demystifying-media/37-demystifying-engagement-with-ashley-alvarado Watch our interview with Ashley in the studio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLNWxBT69s&list=PLoqXTlv_f5zGu5TJeuL1SMBVCXlM4ViyL&index=24&t=0s Want to listen to this lecture a different way? Find us wherever you get your podcasts: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/demy%E2%80%A6ia/id1369395906 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/university-of-oregon-school-of-journalism-and-communication/demystifying-media-podcast?refid=stpr Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Och6Oxpkhyo1nC7D6psHI Find more Demystifying Media talks on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiELNjgZJJI&list=PLoqXTlv_f5zEJifP55GP1ghtQjY3tzoI0 Watch our Q&As with media experts on fake news, data journalism, privacy in the age of Google, indigenous media, technology trends, Facebook algorithms, and so much more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTiuV9h-MKA&list=PLoqXTlv_f5zGu5TJeuL1SMBVCXlM4ViyL

In this episode of the Hearst Demystifying Media podcast, we talk to Ashley Alvarado, director of community engagement at Southern California Public Radio (KPCC + LAist), which in 2019 won the Gather Award for engaged journalism portfolio at the Online Journalism Awards. Among Ashley's efforts to develop strategies and opportunities to engage new and existing audiences across platforms is the engagement-driven, community-centered live storytelling series Unheard LA, leading human-centered design projects, and Feeding the Conversation, an ongoing series of engagement-sourcing gatherings that bring together members of the community with KPCC journalists around specific themes or coverage areas. She also serves as board president of Journalism That Matters, sits on the steering committee of Gather, is a mentor for Membership Puzzle Project’s Join the Beat cohort, and works as a curator for American Press Institute’s BetterNews.org. Find Ashley Alvarado online: Twitter: @AshleyAlvarado LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyalvarado/ Southern California Public Radio: https://www.scpr.org/ LAist: https://laist.com/ Show Notes: 00:03: Summary of Ashley's work 01:12: What is engaged journalism? 02:21: More about Unheard LA and Feeding the Conversation 05:36: Putting on journalism engagement events and the benefit to KPCC 08:34: Developing and maintaining relationships with readers and listeners 12:03: The financial benefit of engaged journalism 14:27: How Feeding the Conversation builds KPCC's audience 16:25: How Ashley entered this line of work 21:32: How can journalism students build a career in engagement journalism? 23:33: Why Ashley's service commitment to journalism organizations is important to her 26:34: What other industries or influences shape Ashley's work 29:46: Big projects of the moment 33:01: Wrap-up Read the transcript from this episode: https://www.scribd.com/document/441376981/Hearst-Demystifying-Media-Podcast-Demystfiying-Engagement-With-Ashley-Alvarado Listen to Ashley's lecture: https://soundcloud.com/demystifying-media/38-guest-lecture-ashley-alvarado Watch our interview with Ashley in the studio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLNWxBT69s&list=PLoqXTlv_f5zGu5TJeuL1SMBVCXlM4ViyL&index=24&t=0s Want to listen to this interview a different way? Find us wherever you get your podcasts: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/demy%E2%80%A6ia/id1369395906 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/university-of-oregon-school-of-journalism-and-communication/demystifying-media-podcast?refid=stpr Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2Och6Oxpkhyo1nC7D6psHI Find more Demystifying Media talks on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiELNjgZJJI&list=PLoqXTlv_f5zEJifP55GP1ghtQjY3tzoI0 Watch our Q&As with media experts on fake news, data journalism, privacy in the age of Google, indigenous media, technology trends, Facebook algorithms, and so much more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTiuV9h-MKA&list=PLoqXTlv_f5zGu5TJeuL1SMBVCXlM4ViyL

The News Reporter of Whiteville, North Carolina is one of those iconic southern newspapers. Founded in 1896, the paper has a long history of serving rural Columbus County, including winning a Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service for its coverage of the Ku Klux Klan in 1953. Les High is the third-generation owner of The News Reporter. His grandfather, Leslie S. Thompson, bought the paper in 1938, and his father took over from him in 1959. Les took over from his father in 1994. Despite The News Reporter's multigenerational family ownership and long history of serving Columbus County, the paper was not immune to the economic forces that have impacted the media industry in recent years. Readership and advertising revenue were in decline. In April 2016, The News Reporter's staff decided it was time to make a significant change. With help of the University of North Carolina's Hussman School of Journalism and Media, they began to transform the twice-weekly print publication into a digital-first newsroom. Marketing Director Jenny Clore wrote about the transformation and the challenges The News Reporter's staff had to face for API's Better News initiative. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and  tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

When Joni Deutsch arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina to become the podcast lead at NPR station WFAE, she wanted to create something that captured the city's unique identity beyond just football and banking. To that end, she launched Amplifier, a biweekly podcast that highlights the region’s diverse music scene in September 2018. In early 2019, Deutsch wrote a report for the American Press Institute‘s Better News Initiative to share Amplifier's success and encourage other public radio stations to create local music podcasts of their own. Read the full report here. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

Chief Marking Officer Steve Yaeger and Managing Editor Suki Dardarian of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis discuss the challenges and benefits of hosting live events. Yaeger wrote about the Star Tribune's successful efforts in event hosting for the American Press Institute's Better News Initiative. Read his full report here. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It's All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) to share replicable strategies and  tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies and insights. For more news about the It's All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

It’s All Journalism is pleased to announce that it is partnering with the American Press Institute to produce a mini-series of podcasts around API’s Better News Initiative, which shares stories from newsrooms who are transforming themselves. Better News the podcast will appear as special episodes in the It’s All Journalism podcast feed, with the first episode debuting on Thursday, Aug. 1.

MEGAPHONE podcast aims to show you new trends, threats and solutions which activists and civic activists all around the world are faced with. We look for things which were not discussed before bringing you knowledge and inspiration for your work. --- amar Wilner is journalism advisor to the science fact-checking website Metafact, and a Ph.D. student in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Tamara’s research focuses on misinformation, media credibility, news literacy and health. She developed expertise in these areas while writing for outlets including the Columbia Journalism Review and Poynter.org, and consulting for organizations including the American Press Institute, Stony Brook University’s Center for News Literacy, and international development non-profit IREX. Tamar is also co-creator of an online news literacy game, Post Facto. Before entering academia she spent 15 years as a professional journalist, covering topics ranging from business and urban planning to environment and the media. --- This podcast was created thanks to the support of Open Society Foundations and Charles Mott Foundation.

Parse.ly's marketing team cut its staff back, reduced PR spending by 50% and scaled back content creation by half, all while increasing website traffic and leads. Here's how they did it... This week on The Inbound Success Podcast, Parse.ly VP of Marketing Clare Carr shares how her team revamped its approach to marketing and content creation and drove increases in traffic, leads and editorial coverage by productizing the company's data. Today, Parse.ly's unique, data-backed insights into how audiences are consuming publishers' stories are sought after by journalists and media companies alike, fueling the marketing funnel and driving growth for this software-as-a-service (SaaS) company. This week's episode of The Inbound Success Podcast is brought to you by our sponsor, IMPACT Live,  the most immersive and high energy learning experience for marketers and business leaders. IMPACT Live takes place August 6-7, 2019 in Hartford Connecticut and is headlined by Marcus Sheridan along with special guests including world-renowned Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith and Drift CEO and Co-Founder David Cancel. Inbound Success Podcast listeners can save 10% off the price of tickets with the code "SUCCESS".  Click here to learn more or purchase tickets for IMPACT Live Some highlights from my conversation with Clare include: Media companies use Parse.ly to understand how their stories are performing. Parse.ly has always analyzed the data from its customer portals (on the order of 100 million articles per month) and aggregated it to extract insights. Early on, the company published these insights in something called The Authority Report, which was distributed as a PDF. Now, it has built a dashboard, called Currents, that is updated in real time and which can be accessed by anyone on the web. Back when they were publishing The Authority Report, the team at Parse.ly used a public relations firm to send the report out to journalists, and it generated significant interest and press coverage. The challenge they had was that journalists increasingly came to them looking for information on specific data sets and timeframes, and that was time consuming to create. Now that they have Currents, the Parse.ly team has been able to reduce its spending on PR by around 50% by promoting the data through their own bi-weekly email newsletter. Clare estimates that every time the newsletter goes out, the company gets two to three editorial placements in the press.  Parse.ly's data shows that, on average, publishers get the bulk of their website traffic from Google and Facebook. But Clare points out that there are some other emerging referrers worth watching, including Flipboard and Instagram. By focusing on creating content that centers around the insights gleaned from its data (rather than other topics of interest to its audience), Parse.ly has been able to cut back its marketing team and produce half as much content each month while still seeing its website traffic grow. Clare conducted an experiment where she had her team stop producing new blog content for a month. Overall website traffic didn't decline but blog traffic and leads dropped to one third of their usual numbers during this time, proving that the articles the team was producing were getting results. To support the marketing team's consistent need for data and insights, Clare hired a data analyst who now works full time within Parse.ly's marketing team. The Currents product is a freemium offering that serves as a strong lead generator for the company. It just came out of beta in the fall of 2018 so the team is still learning how their customers use it and developing upsell strategies. Resources from this episode: Save 10% off the price of tickets to IMPACT Live with promo code "SUCCESS" Visit the Parse.ly website Check out Parse.ly's Currents product Connect with Clare Carr on LinkedIn Subscribe to the Parse.ly blog Subscribe to Parse.ly's data newsletter Listen to the podcast to hear exactly how Clare and the team at Parse.ly has gotten incredible marketing results by leveraging data. Transcript Kathleen Booth (Host): Welcome back to the Inbound Success Podcast. I'm your host Kathleen Booth, and today my guest is Clare Carr, who is the VP of marketing for Parse.ly. Welcome Clare. Clare Carr (Guest): Hi. Thanks, and welcome to our office Kathleen. Kathleen and Clare having fun while recording this episode together in Clare's NYC office Kathleen: I know. This is a first for the Inbound Success podcast. This is the first time in now 94 episodes that I am doing an interview with my guest and actually in the same room with them. Clare: We're here. You can't see it, but we're here. I'm very excited that I'm joining you for this one. Kathleen: Yeah, and amazingly, being a totally non-technical person, we somehow figured out how to make the video and the audio all work, even though we're in the same place. So I'm going to call that a win. But I'm really excited to have you as a guest for a couple of reasons. One is that, full disclosure, IMPACT is a client of Parse.ly. We use Parse.ly for our publisher analytics. We're building a brand publisher business in the company, and we felt like it would deliver a different set of insights and value to us than the other platforms we were using, so it's great to use in conjunction with them. So for that reason I'm excited to talk to you more. But also, my team and I voraciously consume your content. We are trying to be as sponge-like as possible when it comes to learning about how you build a media company, and I think that Parse.ly does a particularly good job of publishing content that delivers a lot of really good insight from that. Clare: Thank you. I've spent almost six years now trying to do that, so it's always good to hear when people see it. I think one of my favorite things is when a team member comes to me and says ... We have numbers and data, it's great, but I think one of the best feelings is a team member saying, "I was at a conference and so-and-so said how much they love our newsletter," or, "So-and-so said how much this post helped them talk to their boss about something." So we put a lot of heart and soul and effort into it, and we have numbers for it, and we also have emotions tied to it. So thank you for fulfilling my emotional side today. Kathleen: I was going to say, any good marketer, you have to have the data, but the best marketers I know are also very emotionally invested in the success of their strategy. I love that, and I can relate. About Parse.ly and Clair Kathleen: Before we dive into what Parse.ly is doing, and what you're doing with the marketing strategy here, maybe you could just talk a little bit about what Parse.ly is for those who are not familiar with it, as well as yourself and your background and how you came to be doing what you're doing right now. Clare: Yeah. Parse.ly works with ... Actually you are such a great example of a Parse.ly client. Typically we're understood very well in the media industry. A lot of media companies use our platform to understand how their stories are doing. I think your typical media reader, if you're not someone that works in the media industry, just assumes that every media company knows how many page views an article is getting, or that it's really easy for them to figure out which author is getting more readership, or more engagement. It's actually really challenging, and it's a big technical lift for those companies. So what we've done over the past 10 years or so is provide a way, and maybe someone's out there, I'm going to just preempt you, you're thinking, "Doesn't Google Analytics do that, or other systems?" And they do, you're not wrong, but they provide it for someone who's very trained in Google analytics, they provide it for an analyst team, or maybe a product team. But your typical writer or editor or content creator, they just don't have the bandwidth to understand an analytics platform soup to nuts, and they're not trained in it, and maybe they absolutely don't really need to be. So we make it very easy for them to have a data driven culture without needing to teach everyone how to use a very complicated and very technical platform. Kathleen: What you just said really struck a chord with me, because what first drove me to explore Parse.ly as a solution was what I would call my authors. So we do have Google Analytics, we also use HubSpot as your content management system, so we have a lot of data. And we actually have a team that is, I would say, fairly sophisticated in its ability to use data, because we're all marketers by trade. Clare: I was going to say, marketers, way more sophisticated than the typical media industry employee. Kathleen: Yeah. We're marketers writing about marketing, so it's not that we can't dive into these platforms. But the one thing that I was having a really hard time solving for was buy-in. Because unlike a traditional media organization, we don't necessarily hire a lot of people just to write for us. We have a requirement that everybody that works for our company, no matter what you do, whether you're the comptroller, whether you're a client-facing marketing account manager, or whether you're the head of editorial content, all of us, including me, has to write for our publication. And we try to work with them to find topics that, obviously, fit with what they understand and know. But I think our biggest challenge, honestly, is buy-in. Some of the team looks at that writing requirements as a burden, and it could be because they don't feel comfortable writing; others look at it and they think, what effect is this having? Like so what? So for me, one of the challenges is, how do I more effectively communicate the value that you as an author or a contributor are delivering to the organization? And the platforms that we had didn't actually give me good information at the author level for what the content was doing and how it's performing, and it didn't give me, as you've pointed out, an easy way for the authors to access it. So one of the biggest things that we did with Parse.ly as soon as we got it was create dashboards for each of our authors. And I love that the system has a way to create a URL that anybody can just plug into a browser, they don't need to be logged in, and they can see the performance of the content that they've written. Clare: Yeah. Just like I was saying before, everyone's ego is wrapped up in it, and when you know there's business value to it, you need to tap into that ego to get them to do things you ... You want it to be win-win. You want them to feel good about it, and then you want it to have an effect. And if you don't have something to show people, if you don't have a way to get them excited, there are big internal comes programs at many companies, and maybe they're not dealing with this exact problem, but that's why they exist. They exist so that you can get your own team excited and motivated and moving in the right direction. And we see that culture shift being ... So this is across industries, it's true in media, it's true of content marketers too, that once they see the data, once they understand it, and the easier you make that for them, the more they're onboard, and the more they're excited to be apart of it. We just hear that again and again, and it's true here too. It's true for my own team. So we create it, and then I make my team look at their own content and their own data, and they get just as excited about it. Kathleen: Yeah. The other interesting thing to me that we've started to layer on top of that is that we have external contributors who are not a part of our company, and obviously giving them access to our Google Analytics wouldn't really make sense, and so it's been a really easy way to communicate to them what they're getting in return for their time and effort that they're putting into creating articles. And then we also have sponsors who pay to contribute sponsored content, and I think having that ROI conversation is a lot easier when they can, on a self-serve basis, go in and see what sort of traction their sponsored articles are getting. Clare: Yeah, and hopefully it's not taking you- Kathleen: No time. Clare: Time to do it, which means- Kathleen: "Set it and forget it," as Ron Popeil would say. Clare: Yeah. And you asked about my background. The other thing I'll add is, I came from a B2B media company called Greentech Media, and it's since been acquired by Wood Mackenzie Verisk Analytics, and they are in the renewable energy technology industry. I was a number of things while I was there, but at the end of my tenure I was the marketing ... What was I? I was director of marketing and operations maybe? I ran a lot of the website promotion and a lot of the ... I started their Twitter feed eight plus years ago. Probably more now. I would go into Google Analytics every month and send out a report, and I understood it and I could sort of tell what was going on. But man, no one else good, or they just didn't have the time, again, to sort of care about it the way I did. And so that's how I found Parse.ly. I actually was a client there, and all of a sudden my editor is having conversations with me that I had been wanting them to have for years, and it was just so exciting to have them be able to understand the data in the way that I always had, but clearly just wasn't accessible to them in any way, shape, or form prior to having Parse.ly. So that was my introduction to the company as a very happy client. Then when they raised their series A, they were looking for their marketing, and I was really excited to focus fully on marketing. I'd been doing a lot of different things, and I really love the aspect of brand, and marrying it with the data side, and lead generation and demand generation, and it's been really fun to work with content creators from Wall Street Journal, to other content marketers. It's just sort of my favorite thing in the world to talk about this kind of stuff all day. How Parse.ly Has Leveraged Insights From Its Data Into Traffic and Leads Kathleen: Yeah, it's so interesting. And I could spend a lot of time singing the praises of Parse.ly, but what I really think is so great is what you guys have done with your data. So you have a lot of different companies that are using your platform, that gives you a certain degree of access to information about how content performs across different industries and topics, et cetera. It was after I became a customer that I started to feel like, I keep seeing Parse.ly's name popping up everywhere. And I really began to consume a ton of content, from case studies that you have on your website, to just news reports I was seeing that featured data that you had about where publisher traffic was coming from by channel, how different social media platforms were performing by publishers. There was just so much good information. So I was really excited to pick your brain on the strategy on that, because it sounds like it's really worked well for you as a company. Clare: Yeah. It started a very long time ago. Even the initial founding of the company, our cofounders were just super interested in how digital content was shaping people's opinions online. So from very early days, even before we had a product running, anything like that, they wanted to know ... I think their original question was actually around the 2008 election, and were more people reading about Obama or were they reading about McCain. And to be honest it was not something they could really answer at the time, but fast-forward 10 years, and that's something that we can absolutely use our data to look at today. And so from a marketing perspective they realized early on that one thing they wanted to do was to have that data available, to look at it, and to be able to answer interesting questions with it. Clare: So I believe our first effort was called ... We called it this for a long time, The Authority Report. And it was sort of your typical PDF, our cofounder and CTO was a part of it, I think we had an engineer working on it, and we looked at sort of the ... It's a simple quote-unquote question, but with a lot of implications of where traffic is coming from. And the very first one we did, Google I think was something like 40% of traffic, Facebook was 5%, 2%. Kathleen: Wow. Clare: It was low. Yeah, it was some sort of not very interesting number. And there was a lot of traffic coming within the network of publishers too, like to each other. And obviously we sort of kept that particular question very top of mind, and then expanded it into all these ... A lot of the strategy is just, keep asking questions. So once we've put that data out there we look at it every quarter. Now we actually have a live dashboard that people can come look at on our website. We have a product that people can actually log into and look up that data for themselves. And then we say, what else do people want to know about it? At a very high level that's how we've grown the content strategy over time. Reducing PR Expenses  Kathleen: When you were talking earlier about how when you first started distributing data ... Let me rephrase that, turning data into stories. Because that's really what you've done, is use the data you have to distill insights and tell a story about that, that's useful to your audience. When you first started talking about that, you mentioned how you were more reliant upon traditional PR to get that out into the world. Can you talk about how that began, and what that evolution's been for you? Clare: Yeah. We, very early on, noticed that when we didn't talk about ourselves, but when we talked out these big companies, like Google and Facebook have sort of been the big two drivers, that people pay more attention to us. So we really wanted to get in that conversation early, and over the years we've worked with a couple different ... We've had our ups and downs with PR. We've really tried to figure it out, and we've always felt that the data was sort of our foot in the door there. So our first goal ... And honestly I can't remember ... I don't think we were working with a PR ... No, we were, we were working with a PR consultant at the time. And we took the PDFs, and we would email them to people, and it was data that these journalists couldn't get anywhere else, and so they started quoting us. And then they knew over time that they could come to us for that stat. And what actually was the biggest pain point for us was, there was a while where we couldn't keep up with the amount of inbound interest in those specific numbers, because the journalists ... We would have it from the quarter before, but when a journalist wanted to write a story about it, they wanted it from the month before, or the very specific timeframe, and that was proving to be really challenging to get in the turnaround that they needed. And frankly a PR firm, or a PR person even, internally, couldn't really help. Kathleen: It would just be a game of telephone. Clare: Right. Call an engineer… "We need this yesterday" ... Kathleen: Right. Actually I should say game of telephone with a 100% markup. Clare: So that was the inspiration for this live dashboard we had, was to say, "This is the number one thing people ask of us." We actually don't want to spend all of our time and effort from a content team and content strategy perspective just saying what these numbers are over and over again, but clearly we want, from a PR perspective, to have them continue to be cited, and our name continue to be in the conversation. And so our senior data scientist decided, you know what, let's make this public. Let's just make it constantly updating. The number of ... People still will write to us, but instead of us having to go and run the numbers, we just point them in the direction of the dashboard, and easy. And that alone has just driven so much trust, and so much ... And then it gets further conversations going, like I said. So then someone will ask a deeper question, because they were able to get the answer to their first question so quickly. Now ... I'm skipping a couple steps here, but we have a newsletter that I lead, and I think when we send a story out through that newsletter, by doing nothing else other than sticking to about a biweekly newsletter schedule, I can count on, about, I would say two to three places minimum. But in really targeted, great outlets that we just adore having our name associated with. And I will say there's no work, quote-unquote now, because we've done all this work for five or six years to get it there. But it's just so exciting to see these publications you respect literally just take your blog post and do something with it, or come back to you and ask a deeper question, or respond to your newsletter and say, "I saw you mention this. Is this noteworthy? Should I cover it?" Clare: And then we have a PR firm that we work with, and they're wonderful, and they don't have to deal with this. So they no longer have to play telephone, they can work on more brand awareness or company initiative PR stories that don't have to deal with data. And from a financial perspective, if they had to be doing the data stories and the company stories, we would have to be paying twice as much. So it's just been a really nice way to keep that cost down, but also still have the effects be X amount what we saw eight years ago. More On Parse.ly's Data Kathleen: For anybody listening who might not understand completely the data that you're talking about, it's data around trends, and what people are writing about and reading, correct? Clare: Yes. Our system analyzes something ... I just saw the stat from our team - something on the order of 100 million articles a month, which is billions of page views, and it's people reading these news websites and content websites and media websites across the world. And so what we then do is say, in our back end system, how many of these people ... Each client can obviously, in their own day by day, "10% of my traffic comes from Facebook, 20 comes from Google, 15 comes from my direct sources," and you can see your own breakdown, but what we're able to do is see that and a network level, and say across the board, it's actually about 23%, I think, comes from Facebook, 50% of external comes from Google. Those are just external refers, not internal. And we can break down to LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, other search platforms. There's a lot of little aggregators that have been really growing in popularity. We like to emphasize that our aggregate numbers aren't things that people should try to match, necessarily, because it really depends on the audience and the type of content you have. But it does give this window into these big platforms, that frankly without this data no one would be able to see. So we are probably the best picture of how Google, and Facebook in particular, but also those other platforms, impact content and media online. And prior to that data, I think people were really unaware of, just fundamentally, how much it's changed the industry. I meant they're aware from an advertising perspective, but it's not just advertising. It's really how these companies are getting their readers. And they've had to adjust to that over time. Kathleen: For me it's been interesting, because obviously we have access, as you said, to our own analytics, and so we have a deep understanding of where our existing traffic is coming from. But I think any organization that wants to grow traffic, the question ... Yes, you can optimize for what you already know, but the bigger opportunity sometimes is what you don't know. I will share that one of the insights we got from looking at your data was how many publishers were seeing an increase in traffic from places like Flipboard. We didn't all of a sudden pivot and put a lot of resources into Flipboard, but I did create Flipboard magazine just as an experiment, just to say hm, let's dip our toes in the water and see what will happen, because it's working for others. It's things like that, that either I might not have been alerted to or it might have taken me a lot longer to make that move, that I think are really interesting opportunities that come out of having access to that aggregated data. Clare: Yeah, I like to think of it as ... A phrase I use is, you can't AB test content. Marketers like to test things, and we all sort of agree fundamentally, we should be, and you have to test these strategies. But there's so many options, there is so many out there, and there are so many things you could be doing. And to have set of data, or a system, to say "Here's your three best bets to try testing in," versus, "Man, I've just got to come up with something," having those three best bets is something that makes me feel much more confident in my strategy, and hopefully what we're providing to other people too. Instagram is the other one that we just had some data out on recently, that I was actually sort of floored by. Because Instagram is this huge platform, 500 million daily users or something like that I think, and they refer this tiny, tiny percentage of traffic back to media sites and to content sites. So you have marketers who are obviously very familiar with maybe their ad platform, maybe their influencer. Some people use influencers, some people don't. But I wanted to go digging for, okay, there's got to be some way of getting traffic from Instagram, just because aggregately it's not happening. And there are, and there are some companies that are seeing good results. And we also found that the link in bio tools are adding a sizable amount of traffic that we really wouldn't have caught if we weren't looking for it, and it was just such an interesting little tidbit. Then when we started talking to the people running these content programs, they're sort of like, "Yeah, without the link in bio tool, we wouldn't ... Between that and stories, those are our two sort of main sources." Then we also got to talk to some of our clients about how they actually are doing their Instagram strategies. So again, it sort of started at data, and then we found this really interesting thing, we got people to pick it up and talk about it in the social media world, and these are people that are on our newsletter list. And then finally we got these really cool examples of what people are actually doing in content on Instagram. And that all flowed from having access to data in the first place. Kathleen: Yeah, that is really fascinating to me, because I've been kind of personally obsessed with exactly that for us. Which is, we've been using Instagram very casually. We use it more as a culture tool and a recruiting tool than anything else. But I've been stalking other publications' link in bio strategies, and I will say personally I go down the link in bio route all the time with The Today Show. They do a really good job with it. And it's something that I would love to use, so it's fascinating to hear that you're seeing... Clare: Yeah. We had a webinar though a while ago, and it's interesting, because it's like from 2017 I think, and it was interesting to listen to them talk about it, because they said something like, "We're noticing this little traffic source called Instagram." And I've heard from them, and I think they actually did a case study with Instagram directly. I think they've just seen huge amounts of success in it. Obviously they're Vogue, they're style and fashion, it really just sort of hits all the notes there in terms of the right audience. But the article I was talking about, we looked at Harvard Business Review, and just even what you can see on their feed, and I just thought their strategy was fascinating. Harvard Business Review is not what I associate with Instagram. Kathleen: Right, not the most visual ... Clare: Yeah. But what I think really works for them is, they have evergreen content. So they weren't doing breaking news, they weren't trying to keep up with something. That's something I think a lot of marketers can tap into with their content on Instagram. Because you don't need to, necessarily, maybe post every day, or keep up with stuff, but if you can keep reuse content, and then tap into these methods that get people actually to click back, then maybe it's a place to explore. Kathleen: Yeah, I love what you said earlier about picking the two things to experiment with, instead of, marketers in my opinion, the ones I know, including myself, can easily fall victim to shiny penny syndrome, and get stretched really thinly and accomplish nothing, and so it is really helpful if you have data that can help you hone in on those ... We were talking about this earlier with my team, the 80-20 thing, the 20% of things that are going to give you the 80% of results. Clare: Yeah. That's why from our own content strategy, like I said, we sort of never varied from using our data. Because a lot of people have come to me with good intentions and sort of said, "Why don't we talk about this on the blog," or, "Why don't we ..." this is actually a really common one I get, is "Why don't we do more hot takes." Like something happens in the industry, why don't we write our opinion on it? And again, good intentions, they're not wrong, in that hot takes can be super effective for some companies. Certainly getting your opinion and your brand voice out there can be very powerful, but my stance has always been, "Hey guys, here's our data. We write a post about traffic from Facebook and how it's impacting the world of content, we get 10,000 plus views." If we write a post about what GDPR is doing to publishers, no one reads it. So I can easily say no to that, and it allows me to keep a super narrow focus from a marketing perspective, and just sort of never vary from it. Or be very focused on what those tests are, and then get a really good glance of, nope, this isn't going to work either, we're not going to try this again. Kathleen: Yeah, and GDPR, writing about GDPR or anything like it, has a ton of competition. I know, because we write about it. Whereas you have no competition for your own stuff. Clare: Yes, absolutely. That's a big part of it too. Again, those topics, it's not that anything is bad about the idea of them, but we can just so quickly see that this other thing works so much better for us. We're a small team. We don't have a ton of dedicated ... Like you said, we use people internally at the company to write freelancers, contributors, and you have to be super dedicated about how you divvy up those resources if you're going to get what you want out of it. And I keep that really top of mind when considering opportunity costs of our own time. How Parse.ly Has Staffed Up To Provide Insights On Its Data Kathleen: Let's talk about your team for a second, because you mentioned something really interesting to me before we got started, which is, not just what writing about data has done for you from a visibility and a reach standpoint, but what it's meant in terms of how you staff. Clare: We're so meta. We use our own data, we look at our data, we write about data. One of the things that I'm super proud of this year is that we actually have been working with a smaller team within the marketing and content departments specifically. That's meant we've had to produce about half as much or even less content than we did in the prior six months, and that was really hard for me, because I think for a number of reasons, frequency is still very important. This is not a pitch for anyone out there to cut their frequency if frequency works in their workflow. But it was just not something that we had the capacity for at the moment, and we also just wanted to sort of see what would happen. And so instead we really dug into the data. I wrote a post about it, I think, in January, sort of looking back to 2018 and seeing what really worked and what really didn't, and what are we going to commit to this year. And we've written, like I said, I think about half as many posts, and we've had just as much traffic. And that has been one of the most rewarding things I've had happen all year, because it sort of ... I love when we can eat our own dog food and prove our own theories right. And we will be increasing our frequency. This isn't to say we're going to stick to this. It's actually made me able to make that argument internally. Even here, I still have to make that argument internally for content. And we will be increasing the frequency. Another related stat is, and I will actually be writing a post on this, is that we took a month off from content. Kathleen: Oh wow. Clare: Yeah. So we didn't really announce it. I sort of looked at what we had to do and I said, "I'm going to try something. I kind of want to level set, and I want to know if all these things I'm saying from a marketing and positioning perspective are true. And also we've got some other priorities, so let's take April off, and let's just not worry about content. And then we'll come back to it in May. Kathleen: That was a daring move on your part. Clare: I think I undersold how daring it was, and I sold some of the other projects that we would get to do instead. And some of them were just, that's a good chance to clean out some salesforce stuff. It wasn't very exciting other work, but I did it, I finished it, and then I looked at the numbers. And our overall ... This is what was so interesting to me. The overall site traffic to our public website, Parse.ly, didn't really change much. There wasn't a huge impact on it. Blog traffic was way, way lower. I think a third or something that we would normally see. But the blog traffic is still a small percentage of overall site traffic. But here's what's so interesting to me. Leads were down almost exactly in line with the blog traffic. And those leads don't necessarily convert on the blog. So we have forms on the blog, the forms, they were a little lower, but it wasn't really even that noticeable. But the other lead forms across the website, the demo forms, pricing forms, we're a B2B business, so these things are huge for us, those were all down precipitously. It's technically still correlation, not causation, but we obviously restarted our content in May, and leads are back up. And it's just, with such a good opportunity to sort of show our own team we mean it when we say content works for our clients. We mean it when it's not just about volume and growth and scale, but it's about business objectives for those companies as well. And I'm excited to sort of say that we've proved it, even if it hurt a little bit to do it. Kathleen: At your own expense? Clare: Yeah. Kathleen: That's interesting. And you also added a data scientist, or a data analyst, to your team, right? Clare: Yes. I was able to ... And this was one of those sort of, we were in the right place at the right time. One of our account managers, who has been with the company for years, and has always had a very strong interest in this side of the business, she taught herself SQL and how to sort of pull some of these numbers that I still can't get into those systems can use, and I said, we're a little bit low on staff, but if I could have one person who's just doing data, I can make everything else work. I can work with freelancers, I can work with the content workflow, I can figure it out using internal people. And that has made a huge difference, I think, to those numbers, posting in half but getting twice the results. And again, that was just because I was able to see from our own data that these data posts work. So I said, give me the one person. Kathleen: Yeah, who makes it all possible. Clare: Can make it possible. And we can write about it. How Parse.ly Has Productized Data Kathleen: That is so interesting. I love how you guys are doing it, and I think the most interesting to me is that, not just that you're mining the data and turning it into these insights that have become almost like a product in and of themselves, but that you've built a dashboard, so that your audience could access the data in a self-serve manner. That's a really interesting approach to doing it. Clare: Yeah, I should probably name it by name otherwise my product team will kill me. We also have ... We did this initial text with just a dashboard that you can access on the public website. It was just a single page you could see the numbers, and that is still there. But now we also have a product called Currents. When you sign up for it, it's a freemium model, and it's also for me a lead gen tool as well, and you can go in and look up any topic online and see how people have been reading about it. So it's totally self-serve now. If you want to see how much attention people are paying to Game of Thrones, you can see it in Currents. If you want to see how much attention people are paying to Donald Trump you can see it in Currents. And of course any sort of niche topic that you might write about too. Then of course the flip side of that, to your point, is now we have a product that's individual dashboards where people can see their own data, and this other dashboard where people can see the aggregate data, and so you have both the, I know what's going on in my audience, but also now I know what's going on with everyone's audience, and I can tap into that. That product came out of beta last fall, so it's still nine months or so, and we're just starting to really see how people use it, and it's really exciting. So I'm excited to see more of what people do with Currents. Parse.ly's Clients Kathleen: Just so that everybody who's listening understands, we've talked a lot about the aggregate data. Can you just give my listeners a sense of the type of media company slash publications that use your platform, so that they understand the breadth of where that data is coming from? It's big and small, it's across a range of industries, right? Clare: Yeah, so major media companies, think of your local newspaper, their parent company is probably a client of ours. So we work with Berkshire Hathaway, and Gatehouse Media, Advance Digital, which are some of the major newspaper owners. Then of course, like I mentioned, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, some of the major ... Now they're certainly very digital players. Then you have online only publications like Slate, Bloomberg, and of course B2B outlets. A huge variety of industries. And it's funny, occasionally you'll see a domain name, I think there's Farmer's Journal, I forget the exact title of one of the companies, but there are very niche B2B sites using this. And then marketers, like I said, like yourself, and Hello Fresh, and Convene, and Artsy, TheLadders ... It's really this wide variety of different types of content. The way our Currents product works, which is super cool, is that it reads all of the articles that people read online, and then it uses natural language processing to understand what those articles are about. So that's how we can say, if you want to know how much attention Donald Trump is getting online, we look at every article out there, and our system is smart enough to say, "This article is about Donald Trump, and about Kelly Anne Conway, and here's how those things relate," and we can parse that all out and give you data on it. Which is also, if anyone was paying close attention, how our name came to be, which is a pun on data. Kathleen's Two Questions Kathleen: Yeah. It's also just incredible how timely the product is, given everything that's happening in the world, and all the talk about news and the role that media plays in our lives. So lots of interesting stuff here. I can talk forever about this but we don't have all the time in the world, so two questions for you before we wrap up. One is, when it comes to inbound marketing specifically, is there a particular company or an individual that you think is really just killing it right now? Clare: Well I know you've talked to them, but I think that the name that gets brought up the most, and I get why, Drift, they just really ... I think this play ... I don't know, I haven't seen a real huge breakdown of this, but this sort of write-the-book play, where you literally write a book. And I think Uberflip is also doing some interesting stuff here, and then you use that book for all your content, but you also get speaking positions out of it, you really don't have to say that much that's different. I think they have such strong positioning in these ways that really speak to marketers' needs, that they have just crushed it from that sense. And to my knowledge they don't have to use that much data, so I would love to sort of learn from their playbook, and maybe find our ... Kathleen: Write your book? Clare: Yeah, it's been a long time dream of mine to write a book. So I would name them, I think they're sort of the obvious ones. I'm trying to think of anyone who is sort of off the beaten path a little bit more. Give me a second, if someone comes to me I'll share. Kathleen: Yeah, we can come back to that. I bet you have some clients that probably are crushing it. Personally, how do you keep up with digital marketing and all the new developments? Because there is so much, and pretty much every marketer I know, that's the number one pain point, is "I don't have the time to stay on top of it all!" Clare: It is. Actually the woman we were talking about, the data analyst that just joined the marketing team from the account management team, that was one of her big questions. She said, "What do you read every day?" Because we had been working together very closely on her stories and on editing them, and when I attempted to add industry trends going in she goes, "I want to do that, but I just don't know where to find them yet." So I read a lot of newsletters, I love newsletters, we write about newsletters, so again, very meta, write my own. But a lot of ... Frankly I actually try to bring a lot of media tactics into the marketing world, because I don't think they're used as much in marketing, which is somewhat ironic, because media companies have the biggest audiences out there. And obviously some people are picking up on that, but there's still a lot of companies that haven't figured that out. So the Wall Street Journal CMO newsletter, The Atlantic's The Idea is a great one, Neiman Labs, American Press Institute. There's one that's like One Good Idea, I'm forgetting who officially sends that one out, and they just dive into what one company did. Kathleen: Oh, okay. I was going to say, it sounds like Quartz Obsession. Clare: Well Quartz Obsession is just a fun read. Kathleen: Yeah. Talk about going down the rabbit hole with one thing. Clare: Yeah. We actually had them on our podcast talking about their newsletters. That was a really cool thing to hear, how they think through their obsession newsletters. Way more work than this. Kathleen: Yeah, exactly. Clare: Than I have time for. So yeah, newsletters would probably be one of my biggest led. And then we have a Slack channel internally where we try to share articles with each other, and just read. I don't know, I don't think there's a shortcut. Maybe that's why I love content marketing so much, is I love reading a lot. Kathleen: Yeah, I was just saying on a recent episode that I've now done almost 100 of these interviews, and the best marketers I know, and that I've interviewed, just are naturally super curious, and can't get enough. They're big readers, they do it in their free time, they listen to podcasts, they read newsletters, they're always just consuming, for their own sake, and that kind of has side benefits. Clare: Yeah, and I think the biggest things that I've learned ... And then the places I've seen the most success in my own career have been taking things from one industry and applying them to another. I think there's this sort of idea that you have to follow what other companies have done, and certainly there's this nice scalability to knowing exactly what the basics are, and you need to have that at some level. But then, I don't just like to read the marketing stuff. My favorite book that I've read recently is called The Power of Moments by the Heath brothers. Someone else recommended to me, Annie Duke has a book about decision-making, and how we consider luck and skill, and sort of taking these concepts that have nothing to do with marketing, or may be very tangential, or even fiction right, and making sure that I'm not separating my brain when I read that stuff, when I'm thinking about it, how can this also apply to my marketing and professional life. How to Connect With Clare Kathleen: Yeah. Love it. Well if someone's listening to this, and they want to learn more about Parse.ly, or they want to check out Currents, or they just want to check with you, what's the best way for them to do that online? Clare: The best way is for them not to spell it like the herb, is pretty much the only advice you need. It's Parse.ly, and we are fortunately, thanks to a lot of articles and this data that we are getting written about, hopefully somewhat easy to find. Currents is available for free. If you come to the website you're able to sign up for it. And if you have a content program and are interested in your own Analytics dashboard, we'd love to speak to you. I will be gone on maternity leave so someone else will have to get back to you, but ... Kathleen: Yeah, you can't see this, but I'm sitting across from Clare and I will attest to the fact that she's probably got a month or less. Clare: Yeah, it's very clear that I will be going on maternity leave soon. Our team, we actually do a lot of events, and I'll now shout out Kathleen for helping us out. Kathleen is hosting an event tomorrow in the city, in New York City, and we love connecting people that do content, work, and programs together. That's one of our big initiatives for the year as well, and then creating content out of it. So if you are, particularly in New York City, but also we do this in other places as well, and ever want to come to a Parse.ly event, please, please let us know, we'd love to have you. Kathleen: Yeah, it should be fun. I'm looking forward to meeting all of these other people who are facing the same challenges I am. You Know What To Do Next... Kathleen: Well if you're listening and you enjoyed this episode, or you learned something new, as always I would appreciate it if you would leave a five-star review for the podcast on Apple Podcast, and if you know somebody else who's doing kickass inbound marketing work, you can tell it's getting to be that time, Tweet me, @WorkMommyWork, because I would love to interview them. Thanks so much Clare. Clare: Thanks for having me.

Deez Links is "a dailyish link to cool shit happening in & around the media industry." Each day, Delia Cai - also Growth & Trends Editor at Buzzfeed - sends out one link. Just one link. She really sells it, in the way you'd want a particularly well-informed and fun friend to sell it to you. It's working out for her - Deez Links turned three in February, and was recently voted fourth most popular media newsletter, after Nieman Lab, Axios and American Press Institute.  Delia guests on the podcast to talk about how she wanted to take the quick wit of a Snapchat streak and turn that into a newsletter; how extra her third birthday celebrations for Deez Links were, but the community she built loved meeting in IRL, so actually, it was just enough; and the joy of having a passion project. Here's my take on how an enjoyable side project can rev up your creativity. -- How has your industry moved from analogue to digital? Each episode, creative guests tell host Suchandrika Chakrabarti how the internet has revolutionised work. Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/freelancepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freelancepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/freelance_pod_ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreelancePod/ YouTube: https://goo.gl/chfccD

Strategies from Great and Powerful to Flying Monkeys - Unleash Some Magic in Your Management Interview by Chicke Fitzgerald of the Game Changer Network as a part of the Best of the Game Changer series, showcased on C-Suite Network When Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion approached the great Wizard of Oz they assumed that their leader would wave his magic wand and solve their problems, leaving them off on their merry way. But that's not how a leader inspires a team, and that's not how a team finds success in the wonderful land of Oz. Instead, the Wizard guides them on their journey, reminding them of their own unique skills and abilities so they can accomplish their dreams. These unique and easy-to-use tools lay the foundation for great teamwork and inspiring management. You'll create a more effective workplace using the Wizard's easy-to-follow leadership principles, inspiring and encouraging both leaders and team members alike. BJ Gallagher is a Sociologist, best-selling author, dynamic workshop leader and charismatic keynote speaker. She conducts seminars for women's groups, as well as professional organizations and corporations. Her topics include: leadership skills for women, male/female communication styles, how to manage your boss, thriving on change, and tapping into the creativity of diversity. BJ writes business books, women's books, and gift books.  BJ and her books have been featured on CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer, the Today Show with Matt Lauer, Fox News, PBS, CNN, and other television and radio programs. She is quoted almost weekly in various newspapers, women's magazines, and websites, including: O the Oprah magazine, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, First for Women, Woman's World, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, Financial Times (U.K.), the Guardian (U.K.), Stars and Stripes, CareerBuilder.com, MSNBC.com, ClubMom.com, SavvyMiss.com, among others.
 In addition to writing books, BJ also conducts seminars and delivers keynotes at conferences and professional meetings across the country. Her corporate clients include: IBM, Chevron, U.S. Department of Veterans Administration, John Deere Credit Canada, Volkswagen, Farm Credit Services of America, Raytheon, US Department of Interior, Phoenix Newspapers Inc., the American Press Institute, Infiniti, Nissan, Atlanta Journal Constitution, among others. BJ is the former manager of training and development for the Los Angeles Times, where she was responsible for management development, sales training, customer service seminars, diversity training, specialized programs for women, and the development of high potential managers. Her website is http://www.bjgallagher.com/ The Game Changer is featured on C-Suite Network.

Betsy O’Donovan, an assistant professor of journalism at Western Washington University, and Melody Kramer, senior audience development manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, join producer Michael O'Connell to discuss a new report on metrics in journalism from the American Press Institute, why they've always mattered and why veteran journalists will embrace more easily the priorities newsrooms believe matter most.

Joy Mayer and Lynn Walsh of Trusting News join It's All Journalism Producer Michael O'Connell to explore why people don't trust the news anymore, why journalists should care deeply about it and how newsrooms and reporters alike can take simple steps to demystify the news process.

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell talks to Dana Coester, a professor at the Reed College of Media at West Virginia University, who recently published a study for the American Press Institute about how some publications are redesigning their newsrooms to make them more collaborative and positive work spaces.

It's the age-old question: We listen, but how well do we hear? Cole Goins, a journalist, facilitator and media consultant with the American Press Institute, joins producer Michael O'Connell to discuss how expanding and deepening listening practices can help journalists build trust and improve their coverage in communities that are questioning the processes reporters use to tell their stories. 

Gwen Vargo, director of reader revenue with the American Press Institute, joins producer Michael O'Connell to discuss the finer points of how to get readers to first click on the articles reporters spend so much time creating, and then to take it a step further and get them to subscribe. 

NEW MIKE KANE CAST - iTunes|Android|Spotify In this special episode, I got the privilege of talking with Sam Ford, Director of Cultural Intelligence at Simon & Schuster. Sam's range of expertise is incredible, and includes a few shared passions: Intellectual life, Kentucky, and, of course, professional wrestling. Sam shares his small-town roots and early love of the USWA out of Memphis, and shows how he has combined that love of pro wrestling with a deep knowledge of comparative media to become an expert who remains a fan! If you've ever turned on a TV set, this episode will inform and entertain you! (From samford.wordpress.com) Sam Ford is Director of Cultural Intelligence for Simon & Schuster, a CBS company. In addition, he is leading various initiatives of the Future of Work in Kentucky with the MIT Open Documentary Lab, the University of Southern California Annenberg School’s Civic Paths team, and other partners, and is a member of the Kentucky team taking part in the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP), the first U.S. region to ever be accepted to the program. As a Knight News Innovation Fellow with Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, he is co-leading the Community Stories Lab with Dr. Andrea Wenzel–work which received the inaugural Research Prize for Professional Relevance from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in 2018. Sam also serves as a research affiliate with MIT’s Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing and as an instructor in Western Kentucky University’s Popular Culture Studies Program. He is also co-founder of the Artisanal Economies Project. With Henry Jenkins and Joshua Green, Sam co-authored the 2013 NYU Press book Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture, which was released in paperback in Spring 2018. The book has also been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Italian, Swedish, and Polish. It was named one of Strategy+Business’ 2013 Best Business Books and voted as a “Top 10 Best Marketing Book You Read This Summer” by the readers of Advertising Age. He is also co-editor, with Abigail De Kosnik and C. Lee Harrington, of the 2011 book The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era as well. He frequently publishes academic work on media fandom, transmedia storytelling, professional wrestling, soap operas, the marketing and communications world, and a range of other subjects.  In 2015, Sam launched and ran the Center for Innovation & Engagement at Univision’s Fusion Media Group (as FMG’s VP, Innovation & Engagement), which he ran through the end of 2016. In that role, he helped manage relationships with a range of academic, industry, nonprofit organizations, and other key communities that are focused on innovation and experimentation in storytelling or new ways of building deeper relationships with key audiences and communities. He also collaborated with teams throughout the portfolio company to foster, build, and scale new approaches to storytelling and audience engagement. The Center was the subject of a Harvard Nieman Lab feature, and projects the Center played a key role in designing were honored with a Shorty Social Good Award and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Before joining Univision/Fusion Media Group, Sam worked for strategic communications and marketing firm Peppercomm from 2007-2015, where he was named both 2014 Digital Communicator of the Year and a 2014 Social Media MVP by PR News, as well as 2011 Social Media Innovator of the Year by Bulldog Reporter. During that time, Sam served as both a member of the Board of Directors of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and as co-chair of their Ethics Committee. From 2005-2008, Sam was co-founder and later research manager of the MIT Convergence Culture Consortium. He also acted as co-organizer of the MIT Futures of Entertainment conference series from 2006-2012. Sam has been a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Inc. He has also written for Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, Advertising Age, The Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Harvard’s Nieman Lab, Knowledge@Wharton, Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter, Tribeca, Portfolio, Chief Marketer, CMO.com, PRWeek, PR News, The Public Relations Strategist, Communication World, O’Dwyer PR, Firm Voice, PropertyCasualty360, Global HR News, TABB Forum, SLAM! Sports, and various other publications. He began his career as a reporter and columnist for various Kentucky newspapers and, in 2006, won a Kentucky Press Association award for Best Feature. Sam has appeared in documentaries Soap Life, Who Shot the Daytime Soap?, and VICE’s Lil Bub and Friendz and has been quoted in/on, or had his work cited by, a wide range of publications/shows, including The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, Mashable, CNN, APM Marketplace, BBC World Service, PRI’s TheWorld, CNBC, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Quartz, Fortune, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, CIO, Hollywood Reporter, Les Inrocks, Asahi Shimbun, Nikkei, DePers, Harvard’s Nieman Lab, American Press Institute, Knowledge@Wharton, The Washington Times, HLN, Venture Beat, AdWeek, MediaShift, ESPN: The Magazine, Télérama, Mental Floss, Boing Boing, Slashdot, Buzzfeed, Metro, Reader’s Digest, CableFAX, Soap Opera Weekly, The San Jose Mercury-News, and MIT Slice of Life…and most proudly as trivia on Jeopardy! and NPR’s Ask Me Another, as well as The New York Times crossword. In addition to being a featured speaker at South by Southwest on several occasions, Sam has spoken or moderated at a wide range of in-person and virtual events, including National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE), Social Media Week NYC, Future of Storytelling, Front End of Innovation, Back End of Innovation, Media Insights & Engagement Conference, Planning-ness, Annual Insurance Executives Conference, Media Days Munich, NeoTVLab in Argentina, Cartagena Inspira in Colombia, Consumer Culture Theory conference, Console-ing Passions, Flow, and Social Media for Utilities, as well as events for MIT, the University of Southern California, Brown University, UC-Berkeley, Northeastern University, Aberystwyth University in Wales, Western Kentucky University, ESOMAR, the Public Relations Society of America, CTAM, the Advertising Research Foundation, the Association of Cable Communicators, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, PR News, CableFAX, the Popular Culture Association, the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, the Association for Corporate Growth, the Luxury Marketing Council, the American Association of University Presses, the Association of Management Consulting Firms, the International Association of Business Communicators, the Association of National Advertisers, MarketingProfs, the Kentucky Press Association, the Kentucky Travel Industry Association, the Corporate Communication Leaders Forum, Donate Life America, Social Media Today, and a range of other forums. Sam received his Master’s degree from MIT’s Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing and a Bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University as part of the Honors Program, where he majored in news/editorial journalism, communication studies, mass communication, and English, with a minor in film studies. Currently, he serves as a member of the inaugural MIT Graduate Alumni Council. He is also past chair of WKU’s Department of Communication Advisory Council and a member of  WKU’s Popular Culture Studies Program Curriculum Committee and the WKU Department of Communication Ad Hoc Curriculum Committee. Previously, he served as a member of WKU’s Young Alumni Council and WKU’s Advertising+Public Relations Professional Advisory Committee. Sam is also on the editorial board of USC’s Case Studies in Strategic Communication, the Organization for Transformative Works’ Transformative Works and Cultures, and Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal. He lives between New York City and Bowling Green, Ky., with wife Amanda and daughters Emma and Harper.

The buzz: “The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful” (Jonathan Zittrain). If your business is reviewing social media channels to determine where to focus your people and time, you may be dismissing Twitter as not a serious tool. Facebook has the most users. LinkedIn is for serious professionals. Twitter is in-between. Per the American Press Institute, 79% of its members use Twitter to get the news, 36% to pass the time, and 19% to network. But 19% doesn't mean you should omit Twitter as a social selling tool. The experts speak. Sarah Goodall, Tribal Impact: “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm” (Winston Churchill). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “One of my favorite things is to have a three-hour conversation over coffee with someone” (Andy Grammer). Michael LaBate, SAP: “The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet” (Gustave Flaubert). Join us for Insider Secrets: Twitter for Social Selling – Part 2.

The buzz: “The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful” (Jonathan Zittrain). If your business is reviewing social media channels to determine where to focus your people and time, you may be dismissing Twitter as not a serious tool. Facebook has the most users. LinkedIn is for serious professionals. Twitter is in-between. Per the American Press Institute, 79% of its members use Twitter to get the news, 36% to pass the time, and 19% to network. But 19% doesn't mean you should omit Twitter as a social selling tool. The experts speak. Sarah Goodall, Tribal Impact: “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm” (Winston Churchill). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: “One of my favorite things is to have a three-hour conversation over coffee with someone” (Andy Grammer). Michael LaBate, SAP: “The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet” (Gustave Flaubert). Join us for Insider Secrets: Twitter for Social Selling – Part 2.

The Virginian-Pilot has been sold to Tronc Inc., parent company of the Daily Press, officials said on Tuesday, May 29. Tronc also owns the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and the Baltimore Sun among other publications. We'll unpack what this means for local journalism with a panel of experts. We'll talk with Rick Edmonds, reporter for the Poynter Institute, Earl Swift, former Virginian-Pilot reporter and Jane Elizabeth, Director of the Accountability Journalism Program at the American Press Institute. Elizabeth also created and managed The Virginian-Pilot's first digital news team. And then later on, we'll switch gears and hear the fascinating story of Leroy Graves, who worked his way up from being a Williamsburg maintenance worker to being the leading upholstery conservator in North America and Europe.

Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director of the American Press Institute and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and W. Joseph Campbell, Professor at American University's School of Communication, discuss President Donald J. Trump's contentious relations with the press, including his dubbing of the news media an "enemy of the American people" with host Carol Castiel.

Is it okay for reporters to say that President Trump "lies?" Should journalists regurgitate each tweet from the President? Does emerging media in the 21st century require new coverage strategies for the news media? One of the foremost authorities on the subject of journalism, Tom Rosenstiel of the American Press Institute, takes on these questions and others as he joins Michael on the "Mean."

Google and Facebook made front page news this week about their efforts to address the rampant fake news stories on their websites. Veteran reporter and former American Press Institute executive Carol Ann Riordan speaks with our teenager about why everyone needs to fact-check before believing or sharing stories and how to spot bogus articles. Our elementary school student asks the real burning question: Is Riordan related to the author of the Percy Jackson series?

A survey found 6% of Americans trust the media The Media Insight Project, a new study from the American Press Institute and the Associated Press Center for Public Affairs Research, found that 6% of people in the United States trust the media. Is this widespread distrust justified? Guest: Sue Prestedge, head of the journalism program at Mohawk College thescottradleyshow

Medical doctors can hold our lives in their hands. But with great power comes great responsibility, and doctors owe it to their patients to provide accurate information and treatments based on science and evidence. This is the standard we expect and take for granted; yet one doctor, Stanislaw Burzynski, has been skirting medical ethics and scientific protocols for decades with his controversial and unproven cancer treatments, which he claims without evidence, can destroy cancer cells. The Center for Inquiry, which produces this podcast, has worked to expose Burzynski’s treatments and for the FDA to reinstate restrictions on his dubious medical trials. This week, Point of Inquiry welcomes science journalist Tamar Wilner to discuss the most recent progress in the Burzynski case, and what it’s like to pursue the hard truth within such a murky and emotionally fraught situation. Wilner is a frequent contributor to the Columbia Journalism Review and a consultant for the Fact Checking Project at the American Press Institute; she’s written numerous articles on controversial science issues including her recent Newsweek feature, “Cancer ‘Visionary’ Stanislaw Burzynski Stands Trial for Unprecedented Medical Malfeasance.” She’s also been featured at Skeptical Inquirer with a piece entitled “Five Things I Learned Writing about Stanislaw Burzynski.”   A further explanation of Burzynski’s treatments, the lack of science behind them, and his run-ins with medical authorities can be found in a feature by Dr. David Gorski in the March-April 2014 issue of Skeptical Inquirer

On this week's It's All Journalism podcast, Producer Michael O'Connell interviews Editor Angie Drobnic Holan about PolitiFact's mission, the steps the website's staff goes through to determine the truthfulness of candidate's claims and their approach to covering the 2016 presidential race. She also discusses how PolitiFact and other organizations, like the American Press Institute, are bringing the fact-checking philosophy to newsrooms across the country, teaching journalists to use those skills to cover not just political campaigns, but the entire governmental process.

Mark Stencel, a former managing editor for digital news at NPR and senior editor at both The Washington Post and Congressional Quarterly, has authored a report for the American Press Institute on the importance of fact-checking, especially in presidential campaigns.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. The American newsroom is quickly evolving, changing the way people get information on the major events and issues in world around them. Gone are the days when viewers had to huddle in front of the TV to watch the evening broadcast. With the sophistication of disrupters like BuzzFeed, Gawker and VICE, and the coming of age of millennials, today’s news is often provided via high-velocity headlines on easy to use online platforms. But how do these modern news media players impact journalism as a whole? Are these popular news sites overly sensationalist, or simply making journalism more accessible to the masses? Do they have an agenda? Can they match traditional news outlets in depth, substance, and accuracy? And, does the mixing of hard news with lighter fare dilute their product or strengthen it? Rocco Castoro, Editor in Chief of VICE; Max Read, Editor in Chief of Gawker; and Shani Hilton, Executive Editor for News for BuzzFeed joined the Institute of Politics to discuss media in the 21st Century. These pioneers of modern journalism reflected on the nature of their work, how they view their roles as disrupters, and what’s next for journalism. The conversation was moderated by Tom Rosenstiel, Exective Director, American Press Institute. This is event was co-sponsored by the International House Global Voices Program.

Guest, B.J. Gallagher, is a widely published author, speaker, and sociologist from Los Angeles California. Her books have been featured on the Today Show, CNN, CBS Evening News, and a host of national and Internet radio shows. B.J. conducts seminars and offers keynote presentations to cooperate clients, such as IBM, Chevron, Pheonix Newspaper INC, and The American Press Institute, just to name a few. Her international best-seller, A Peacock in the Land of Penguins, has sold over 360,000 copies in 23 languages. Additionally, the titles of all her books beckon the attention of all personal growth enthusiasts: Being Buddha at Work; If God is Your Co-Pilot, Switch Seats, and, most recently, It’s Never Too Late to Be What You Might Have Been. For a weekly dose of B.J.’s wisdom and wit, subscribe to her blog at the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bj-gallagher/

Jeff Sonderman learned early in his journalism career that you have to keep teaching yourself and finding ways to learn outside the classroom: trying new tools, reading about the latest developments, listening to podcasts. “That's on you now after you graduate," he said. "There’s less of a sense of ‘I got a degree, I know journalism, I’m good for the rest of my life.’ It’s only going to keep evolving.� Jeff is the deputy director of the American Press Institute, an educational non-advocacy, nonprofit organization affiliated with the Newspaper Association of America. He is an adjunct faculty member of The Poynter Institute, and previously a digital media fellow there. He also teaches digital journalism at Georgetown University. His early awareness of the limitations of formal training and willingness to experiment have taken him far, far from where he planned to end up. When Jeff came out of journalism school in 2004, social media didn’t really exist yet. Facebook was Harvard-only. YouTube had another year until it rolled out. “It's a lot on the fly,� he said. “You come out of j-school after going through two to four years of this really focused preparation process for the world, you think you're entering and suddenly you enter this media world that is changing, that every year or two is shifting drastically from what it was before.� Jeff went to the Missouri School of Journalism for what was then called the news editorial program, a track that prepared students to write and edit for newspapers. “I thought I would work my way up to a political reporter in a state capital or at the New York Times at the national desk,� he said. Instead he landed in Scranton, Pa. He worked as a reporter, city editor and Web editor at The Times-Tribune. He created the paper’s first Twitter account. In 2010, he was recruited to work for TBD.com, a hyperlocal news site that covered the D.C. area. After years of working as a journalist, Jeff was brought on board at API this year to help build a new version of the institute as a think tank, focused on conducting research, training, convening thought leaders and creating tools for journalists. “We’re on a quest to help journalism become more sustainable and do better, more innovative projects and make money, which is what we all are into,� he said. API’s root mission is to protect public service journalism. Jeff likes to tell people that a truly free press is a press that can afford to be sued. “If somebody wants to sue and claim libel to stop [an organization] from publishing something that they don't want published, there's got to be an institution or some backing that can stand up and say ‘No, we're going to publish this.’� API is focused on all forms of journalism, but works a lot with newspapers companies, often tackling how to do better work with less resources. A challenge faced by papers of all sizes. When people think about newspapers, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal come to mind, but there are about 1,300 papers across the U.S., according to Jeff. Only three are papers with national reach. As this period of transition continues, one of the things Jeff foresees is different markets presenting news in different ways. “For the past several decades nearly every market looked the same,� he said. “There was one major morning newspaper that had a monopoly. There was maybe an alternative paper, a few TV stations.� The media landscape is becoming more diverse and more accommodating to the audiences it serves. “Now, you're starting to see home grown emerging media sources in different places," he said. "In small rural areas in the Northeast there are nonprofit news startups that are community driven, mom-and-pops that start blogging. Big foundation funded startups in California, and The Texas Tribune, places like that. Communities are starting...