Showing posts with label news media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news media. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

“The path back to trust is going to happen at the local level”

"At a time when public trust in every major institution except local public libraries is below 50%, local television news has some advantages that other forms of media lack.

That was the message from Seth Geiger, president and co-founder of SmithGeiger Group, a consulting firm that works with media organizations. Geiger spoke Friday at “Reinvent: A Video Innovation Summit” at Northeastern University.

According to survey data that Geiger presented, local television news is trusted by about 41% of the public — lower than in previous years, but far ahead of the 29% who say they trust national television news. Ironically, he added that social media is the most used platform for news even though it is the least trusted.

“The path back to trust is going to happen at the local level”
“The path back to trust is going to happen at the local level”
“Usually if you don’t trust something, you don’t use it. But that’s not how this functions. That may feel like a woe-the-republic moment for you,” he said, observing that social media is the top go-to for news among every age group except those between 55 and 64. (Presumably that would hold true for those older than 64 as well, but that demographic was not included in his charts.)"
Continue reading the article online -> 

You can find the survey presentation -> https://www.rtdna.org/news/rtdna-publishes-study-on-trust-in-local-news-elections-coverage

Friday, December 13, 2024

Final days to share your input to the Franklin Community News Survey

Final days to share your input to this survey. 
  • Where do you get your Franklin News? 
  • What types of news are you looking for?
Survey closes on Sunday, Dec 16 at midnight

Franklin TVFranklin Public Radio, and Franklin Matters are working together striving to advance the greater good, bringing us together as a community, so that our focus is not on what divides us, but what brings us together. To that end, we need your help with the following survey questions. 

Please fill out (online -> https://bit.ly/FCCA_NewsSurvey ) or via paper copy (and send to Franklin TV) so we can evaluate our services for the community and enhance as necessary. 

Your thoughts are important to us. 

Thank you!

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Your input is requested for the Franklin MA Cable News Awareness Survey

Franklin TV, Franklin Public Radio, and Franklin Matters are working together striving to advance the greater good, bringing us together as a community, so that our focus is not on what divides us, but what brings us together. To that end, we need your help with the following survey questions. 

Please fill out (online -> https://bit.ly/FCCA_NewsSurvey ) or via paper copy (and send to Franklin TV) so we can evaluate our services for the community and enhance as necessary. 

Your thoughts are important to us. 

Thank you!

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Your input is requested for the Franklin MA Cable News Awareness Survey

Franklin TV, Franklin Public Radio, and Franklin Matters are working together striving to advance the greater good, bringing us together as a community, so that our focus is not on what divides us, but what brings us together. To that end, we need your help with the following survey questions. 

Please fill out (online -> https://bit.ly/FCCA_NewsSurvey ) or via paper copy (and send to Franklin TV) so we can evaluate our services for the community and enhance as necessary. 

Your thoughts are important to us. 

Thank you!

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

How to find local news you can trust


A News Literacy Week workshop
 

national news literacy week

NewsLiteracyWeek.org
JAN. 22-26, 2024

presented by the news literacy project and the ew scripps company

Support news literacy by donating today.

follow nlp on facebook follow nlp on twitter follow nlp on instagram follow nlp on linkedin subscribe to nlp's youtube channel follow nlp on flipboard follow nlp on tiktok

Visit us at newslit.org, checkology.org, newslitnation.org and rumorguard.org.

The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy.

The News Literacy Project
5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20015

Monday, May 8, 2023

The Guardian: "The digital media bubble has burst. Where does the industry go from here?"

"Toward the end of Traffic, a new account of the early rock n roll years of internet publishing, Ben Smith writes that the failings of Buzzfeed News had come about as a result of a “utopian ideology, from a kind of magical thinking”.

No truer words, perhaps, for a digital-based business that for a decade paddled in a warm bath of venture capital funding but never fully controlled its pricing and distribution, a basic business requirement that applies to information as much as it does to selling lemonade in the school yard or fossil fuels.

Buzzfeed News, a pioneer of the internet news business that walked away with a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 2021, said it was shutting down its newsroom on 20 April after shares in the company tumbled 90% since the company went public. Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti said the company “can no longer continue to fund” the site.

But that was just one of the pieces of bad news hitting the digital media sector."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) -> 

Sunday, August 28, 2022

More Perfect Union: 057 - The Local News Crisis (audio)

In this episode, the group is joined by Stephen Sherlock of Franklin Matters, Alan Earls of the Franklin Observer, and Martin Luttrell, former long-time reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, to dive into the issue of "The Local News Desert" - the dissolution of smaller local news outlets, discussing the decline of readership seen by newspapers, the economics of small businesses, the importance journalism plays in your community and the online future for regional reporting.

If you'd like to learn more about Steve Sherlock and the news Franklin Matters brings to the Franklin community, you can visit their here:   https://www.franklinmatters.org/

If you'd like to learn more about Alan Earls and the reporting done from Franklin Observer, you can visit them here:   https://franklinobserver.town.news/

Audio file -> https://more-perfect-union.captivate.fm/episode/057-the-local-news-crisis

Franklin.TV: A More Perfect Union (audio)
Franklin.TV: A More Perfect Union (audio)


Monday, July 18, 2022

Reminder: first session of "How to Spot Misinformation Online" Monday, Jul 18 at 1 PM

Join Steve Sherlock to walk through an online course from the Poynter Institute and MediaWise on how to spot misinformation online. 

Sign up at the Senior Center to participate for these session whether in person or via Zoom. 

When: 
Monday, July 18 - 1 PM (part 1)
Monday, July 25 - 1 PM (part 2)

“This free short course from MediaWise for Seniors will teach you how to tell what’s true and false on the internet. By looking at examples of political, health, travel and climate misinformation, you will learn techniques for identifying false information and how to seek out trustworthy sources. 
Christiane Amanpour, Joan Lunden, Lester Holt, Hari Sreenivasan and Dave Jorgenson — MediaWise Ambassadors — will also pop in to share their advice as experienced journalists to help you navigate information on platforms like Google, Facebook and more.”

The online course is listed as taking 1-2 hours. We have scheduled 2 one hour sessions to allow for discussion and following links to research current examples along the way.  

How to Spot Misinformation Online - 2 sessions at Franklin Senior Center
How to Spot Misinformation Online - 2 sessions at Franklin Senior Center

You can register with Poynter Institute and take the course on your own 

If you want to attend via Zoom please use the form here ->   https://forms.gle/QzD4b9qwZayM42cv9

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

How to Spot Misinformation Online - 2 sessions at Franklin Senior Center - Jul 18 & 25

Join Steve Sherlock to walk through an online course from the Poynter Institute and MediaWise on how to spot misinformation online. 

Sign up at the Senior Center to participate for these session whether in person or via Zoom. 

When: 
Monday, July 18 - 1 PM (part 1)
Monday, July 25 - 1 PM (part 2)

“This free short course from MediaWise for Seniors will teach you how to tell what’s true and false on the internet. By looking at examples of political, health, travel and climate misinformation, you will learn techniques for identifying false information and how to seek out trustworthy sources. 
Christiane Amanpour, Joan Lunden, Lester Holt, Hari Sreenivasan and Dave Jorgenson — MediaWise Ambassadors — will also pop in to share their advice as experienced journalists to help you navigate information on platforms like Google, Facebook and more.”

The online course is listed as taking 1-2 hours. We have scheduled 2 one hour sessions to allow for discussion and following links to research current examples along the way.  

How to Spot Misinformation Online - 2 sessions at Franklin Senior Center
How to Spot Misinformation Online - 2 sessions at Franklin Senior Center

You can register with Poynter Institute and take the course on your own 

Monday, March 14, 2022

The Guardian provides another view to US news

A couple of good articles on topics we don't always find in the US new media

"How COVID shook the US: eight charts that capture the last two years"
Death is a topic not well discussed and perhaps even more so when associated with COVID-19. The counting process can be problematic. Everyone needs to be using the same definitions and even in MA, the definition of a COVID death is changing. One thing is clear, the disease is deadly.

one of the 8 charts in the article
one of the 8 charts in the article

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)


"Sandy Hook review: anatomy of an American tragedy – and the obscenity of social media"

"Even in a country now completely inured to the horrors of mass shootings, the massacre at Sandy Hook remains lodged in the minds of everyone old enough to remember it. Ten years ago, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fired 154 rounds from an AR-15-style rifle in less than five minutes. Twenty extremely young children and six adults were killed.

It was the worst elementary school shooting in American history.

Elizabeth Williamson’s new book is about that “American Tragedy”, but more importantly it is about “the Battle for Truth” that followed. In excruciating detail, Williamson describes the unimaginable double tragedy every Sandy Hook parent has had to endure: the murder of their child, followed by years and years of an army of online monsters accusing them of inventing this unimaginable horror."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

Note: my wife taught kindergarten for 20+ years here in Franklin so the Sandy Hook tragedy hits close to home. 

Thursday, February 10, 2022

“What do you think is the strongest argument for the other side?”

"In recent years, the number of nonprofits and initiatives that could be categorized under a concept called “bridging” has expanded in the U.S.: Millions of Conversations, The People’s Supper and Good Conflict are just a few. Some efforts build on conflict resolution practices at a large scale (think social psychology) or individual (think marriage counseling), and all aim to create strong conditions for talking and working together across various fault lines.

Looking at this expanding list, it’s easy to wonder what journalists — who are faced with their own challenges in reaching people with shared conversation and facts — might learn from them. But why, amid all other pressures on their work and livelihood, might they want to?"
Continue reading the article online
https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/articles/journalism-bridging-monica-guzman/



MÓNICA GUZMÁN
https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/articles/journalism-bridging-monica-guzman/

MÓNICA GUZMÁN - BRIDGE BUILDER | AUTHOR | JOURNALIST
MÓNICA GUZMÁN - BRIDGE BUILDER | AUTHOR | JOURNALIST

Sunday, December 26, 2021

How the Media Covered Voting Rights in 2020


M+R's Media Relations team is rounding out its 2021 Mediamarks Labs series focused on better understanding communication trends from 2020 and planning for the future. Today: media coverage on voting rights, what stories rose to the top, and how people engaged with that coverage.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
M+RFree advice for nonprofits
How the Media Covered Voting Rights in 2020
By Michelle Blundell and Aki Camargo  |  Dec 23, 2021  |  Tags: elections media mediamarks

Read time: 8 minutes

Elections are big news in any year. In 2020, the election—and just as important, the stories told about the election—took on exceptional significance.

First there were stories of the historic voter turnout, and people forced to line up for hours across the country to cast their vote. Then came the false cries of fraud and a refusal to accept the election results as legitimate.

Now we're seeing many Republican-dominated state legislatures advance restrictive and often racist measures that take power away from people to cast their vote. Protecting our fundamental right to vote will only grow more urgent in the months ahead, particularly in advance of the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential election. 

That's why our team is rounding out our 2021 Mediamarks Labs series by taking a close look at the trends in last year's coverage of voting rights—specifically the battle to protect, expand and realize every American's right to vote. 

As always with this series, the hope is that communications professionals will keep the lessons of how coverage of the issue of voting rights shifted in 2020 in mind when charting a course for the future, especially as 2022 midterms fast approach.

Community stories trickled up to national attention

From absurdly long voting lines, to the USPS removing mail collection boxes for mail-in ballots, voter suppression was rampant in 2020. Stories that honed in on a state's efforts to block our freedom to vote had people paying attention, driving up engagement on social channels.

For example, Mother Jones' investigative story on Kentucky's drastic reduction of polling places in predominantly Black neighborhoods was shared widely on Facebook (320,000+ shares). Similarly, CNN's story on USPS' efforts to remove mail collection boxes in communities across the country was among the top 5 voting rights stories, when looking at the number of Facebook shares.

What's more, of the top 20 national stories on voting rights shared on Facebook, more than a quarter were dedicated to looking at voter-related issues in our communities. 

Voting rights issues affect the whole nation, but first and foremost, they start in our communities. These issues are as much a state issue as they are a federal issue. And it's critically important to tell these stories. It helps us better understand complex words like "voter suppression" and see the real, harmful impacts of politicians and billionaires who work to actively block the freedom to vote for Black, Brown, Indigenous people and many other important communities who deserve equal access to the ballot box. 

And together, amplifying the stories of voters and activists on the ground is crucial to understanding the bigger picture of voter suppression and the fight for voting rights nationwide. 

Big names drove big coverage 

Some of the most shared articles related to voting rights on social media platforms (such as Twitter and Facebook) featured public figures like Stacey Abrams, Mark Zuckerburg, and late U.S. Representative John Lewis, and celebrities like LeBron James. 

While all of these figures played a different role in the realm of elections and voting, the historic actions they took earned them meaningful feature stories in media outlets in the lead up to and after the election.

A majority of the outlets we looked at, including ones like Rolling Stone and The Guardian, dedicated in-depth coverage to looking at the historic efforts of people like Lewis and Abrams, and what those efforts meant for today's elections. These stories also made clear the long way we still have to go in ensuring all Americans have an equal say in who's elected to make decisions about issues that impact our lives.

Celebrity activism in voting rights was at a high, and the media followed. More than a quarter of the top 20 stories shared on social media were a result of a high profile or celebrity voice speaking out on voting rights. Specifically, two of the top 20 articles with the most Facebook shares focused on LeBron James' important efforts to advance the right to vote for people who are formerly incarcerated.

It's no surprise audiences gravitate towards stories that feature a well-known figure. And whether it's a celebrity or politician, readers tend to contextualize their understanding of a given issue through key influencers or voices that dominate such a field. 

"Unexpected" big-name voices like LeBron James can help stoke that curiosity even more. In our minds, that's a good thing. The more people following (and hopefully engaging with) an issue that impacts every aspect of our lives—from the quality of our schools and roads in our communities, to our access to healthcare and good jobs—only makes our democracy stronger.

Lifestyle outlets continue to engage in politics

Outlets like Vogue, Teen Vogue, and Vanity Fair were once considered lifestyle-only publications, catering to an audience that enjoyed light-hearted content. But in the last several years, we've continued to see a real shift and investment at lifestyle publications in looking at hard news that impacts our lives—from voting rights and immigrant rights to reproductive health. In 2020 alone, the lifestyle outlets we looked at in Mediamarks, which included just a small sampling of these outlets, dedicated a total of 114 articles to issues on voting rights.  

Vogue's feature story on Stacey Abrams' leadership and advocacy to fight for equal access to the ballot box, which was among the top 20 articles shared on social media, was a perfect example of putting voting rights and political news front and center:

Audiences of lifestyle outlets are increasingly engaged in both the political and social worlds. The personal is political, and one does not have to be a policy wonk to engage with what's happening in the world. 

Looking ahead as nonprofits pitch these outlets in the future, honing in on how lifestyle, gender, and reproductive health impact voting rights will be crucial. Connecting the dots between the personal and political for readers will ensure they understand how voting rights are woven into all aspects of their lives—and will hopefully spur even more activism and engagement.

The media shined a light on under-reported communities

While it was disappointing to see unfounded claims of election fraud become a big part of the narrative around the 2020 election, a bright spot was the coverage dedicated to elevating often under-reported communities—from individuals who are formerly incarcerated, to tribal communities—and their intersection with key issues like voting rights. These stories often drew attention to the barriers that marginalized communities still face when it comes to accessing the ballot box. 

In our work with the Declaration for American Democracy—a coalition of 240+ organizations who have all come together to fight for the freedom to vote—we saw firsthand the attention reporters were paying to lifting up the voices of under-reported communities. It helped contribute to the urgency around needed state-level reforms to ensure all people could easily and safely vote during a pandemic, and around legislation like the now-called Freedom to Vote Act, which would transform our democracy into one that is truly of, by, and for the people.

National outlets such as Teen Vogue, The New Republic and TIME not only dedicated meaningful coverage to Native communities and the unique challenges they face when it comes to voting rights, but also highlighted the important role they play in critical elections across the country.


We saw similar trends of robust national and local coverage of individuals who are formerly incarcerated, particularly in the Florida fight to restore critical voting rights to people with felonies. 

While in the past these have been treated like niche issues, they have far-reaching implications for many important communities and elections. Broadening their coverage is incredibly important in order to make meaningful change. 

Unfortunately, there's still a long way to go in elevating these communities even further as well as the language the media uses when talking about marginalized communities. With continued education with reporters, the hope is that there can be a stronger shift towards person-first language, moving away from words like "felons," which can be dehumanizing, and instead towards language like "people who are formerly incarcerated" that center and respect people and protect their dignity. (Here's a resource we find particularly helpful, from our friends at the Vera Institute of Justice.)

As the midterms fast approach, we have the opportunity to build on the 2020 coverage that honed in on the challenges many Americans still face to exercising our voting rights, but also celebrated great wins like historic voter turnout and lifted up more voices of Black, Brown, and Native voters, among other marginalized communities. The hope is that we only go up from here, and the voices and stories we put in front of the media to lift up will continue to contribute as we work towards a democracy that gives an equal voice to all of us. Onward!

*A quick word about methodology: We use Muck Rack for a lot of our work at M+R, and that includes Mediamarks. The data in this post is based on a comprehensive Muck Rack search to pull media hit data aligned with our search terms from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

We pulled articles from a universe of 100 outlets. To choose the outlet pool, we gathered the outlets that have higher Unique Visitors per Month (UVM) and Mozrank scores. They are a mix of regional, national, and international newspapers, magazines, broadcast channels, digital news sites, and wires.


When Michelle isn't driving communications strategies to secure press for nonprofits, you can find her touring the wineries and breweries of Virginia. Michelle can be reached at mblundell@mrss.com.

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