“His sixth life term was for my attempted murder. … I wish every day we could go back to June 27th and have it be like it was with my coworkers and me working in our newsroom and just try to tell the stories from our community. … That’s what keeps me going is trying to honor my colleagues. I struggle every day with PTSD and depression and anxiety … It’s something that I don’t think will ever go away.”

–  Paul Gillespie, Capital Gazette

“We need this backstop of federal protection in the event that local authorities decline to act whenever a journalist is attacked … it will send a strong message to the American people that violence against anyone, particularly journalists, seeking and reporting the truth on behalf of the public, will not be tolerated.”

–  Dan Shelley, RTDNA

Guests: Paul Gillespie, Capital Gazette and Dan Shelley, RTDNA

In this first episode of News Take: Free Press Focus, a subseries of the News Take podcast, we hear from RTDNA CEO Dan Shelley and Capital Gazette Photojournalist Paul Gillespie about the dangers that journalists face on the job and what can be done to combat the threat of violence. Gillespie is one of six survivors of the 2018 shooting at the Capital Gazette in Maryland and speaks on his experience and the importance of shielding journalists from harm. Dan Shelley speaks to RTDNA’s major priority in passing the Journalist Protection Act, a law that would make assaulting a journalist a federal crime. With extensive experience in the media industry, both Gillespie and Shelley illustrate the significance of journalists as a whole and what we, as a community, can do to support them.

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Speaker bios:

Paul Gillespie has been a photojournalist at Capital Gazette Communications since 2000. He is a 2019 Pulitzer Prize recipient and was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year alongside the staff at Capital Gazette. Gillespie is one of six survivors of the 2018 shooting at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, in which he lost five close colleagues. He is one of two survivors who still work for the publication today.

Dan Shelley is the President and CEO of the Radio Television Digital News Association, RTDNA, the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to broadcast and digital journalism. He has an extensive background in digital media, including his previous role as Senior Vice President, Digital Content Strategy at iHeartMedia. Since the Journalist Protection Act was introduced in 2018, RTDNA has heavily advocated for passing the legislation.

Related links:

Journalists Matter Project – Faces of the Capital Gazette

The Journalist Protection Act – Senate press release

RTDNA – Journalist Protection Act Advocacy Toolkit

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Send us your suggestions

Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Senior Counsel & Director of Public Policy, Charlotte McBirney, at charlotte@newsmediaalliance.org.

News Take Production Team:

Host and Executive Producer: Charlotte McBirney, Senior Counsel & Director of Public Policy, News/Media Alliance

Production Support, Editing & Distribution:

Georgi-Ann Clarke, Social Media & Content Manager, News/Media Alliance
Lindsey Loving, Director, Communications, News/Media Alliance
Kayla Singer, 2023 Summer Intern, News/Media Alliance

Audio & Video Engineer: Current Media Group

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The post News Take: Free Press Focus: Preventing Another Capital Gazette Shooting: Why We Need The Journalist Protection Act appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

On October 10th, the Supreme Court declined to revisit the landmark First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, which provides vital First Amendment protections to journalists and the public. The case, Don Blankenship v. NBC Universal et al., requesting the precedent be revisited, concerns a former coal baron who was convicted of a federal conspiracy offense and who sued a number of news outlets for their erroneous reporting that he was a convicted felon, even though his offense was classified as a misdemeanor. Lower courts ruled against him, finding that the outlets did not make the statements with actual malice, but the attorneys for the plaintiff urged the Supreme Court to reconsider the decision and overturn NYT v. Sullivan. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case, however Justice Thomas wrote in a concurrence “[i]n an appropriate case, however, we should reconsider New York Times and our other decisions displacing state defamation law”.

The post Supreme Court Declines to Revisit NYT v. Sullivan, though Justice Thomas Wants to Revisit it in Future appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Today is the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, a day to recognize and appreciate the journalists and reporters who strive to keep us informed and connected to the world. To show gratitude, let’s make sure to support our local news industry and the reporters who risk their lives to report the truth.

Learn more about the day, including this year’s theme, “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights” on the UNESCO site.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn and join the conversation – #WorldPressFreedomDay  #supportlocalnews

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Guests: Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post and Dan Schaub, McClatchy

“Is there another product you can purchase that is literally updated throughout the day, 24/7 that you can read in multiple formats? Probably not.”

– Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post

Regarding print or digital news consumption: “It’s not ‘or,’ it’s ‘and.’ Our mission is to enhance and improve the communities we serve and to bring to life free speech in each and every local community. And whichever platform that happens on, that’s great. Today’s digital reach is a multiple of 10x any reach we ever had when we just relied on a printed material to go to a home. We’re doing substantially better at taking our journalism to our markets because we’re using the “and” theory.

– Dan Schaub, McClatchy

What is the role of the print product in an age when people are increasingly consuming news digitally? What challenges are newspapers currently facing in satisfying the demand for the print product? What are the operational and/or cost pressures newspapers must contend with? How do newspapers find people to do the multiple hands-on pieces of production and delivery? How is consolidation in the print industry impacting business decision-making? What are the challenges for newspaper delivery, and what does it looks like in the not-too-distant future? How can newspapers’ delivery networks and distribution knowledge be valuable on a macro scale?

These questions and many more are the focus of this episode of News Take. News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with The Washington Post’s Vice President for Distribution & Customer Care, Gregg Fernandes and McClatchy’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations, Dan Schaub, about the role and value of the print newspaper product, as well as how they are innovating and evolving the product to continue to meet changing reader needs and demands. Fernandes and Schaub give their honest takes about resetting consumer expectations of the print product in a 24/7 news cycle, as well as how they have gotten creative with ways to produce and deliver the print newspaper more efficiently and cost-effectively. They also talk about how “the original gig economy” – newspaper delivery – is best positioned to capitalize on the growth of the sector as retailers and others get in on the game.

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Speaker bios

Gregg Fernandes is the Vice President for Distribution & Customer Care for The Washington Post Company. He has more than 30 years of experience in the newspaper industry and has worked in all capacities of Circulation and Marketing. Gregg is responsible for all aspects of The Washington Post’s relationship with its customers, including consumer marketing, delivery operations and customer service.

Dan Schaub currently serves as The McClatchy Company’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations. This role was designed to provide the necessary leadership and focus as McClatchy works to serve its print readers and grow McClatchy’s digital subscription base while offering an array of distribution services to homes and retail outlets throughout the McClatchy’s markets.

Watch the next episode: The State of Advertising and Local News 

Watch the previous episode: Committing to Product Thinking in the News Industry: Putting Readers First

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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The post News Take Episode 108: Print, Logistics and Delivery in a Transitional Age appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Guest: Feli Carrique, Executive Director, News Product Alliance

“Anything that you build or create for an audience to solve a user need and support your organizational mission, is a product.”  

– Feli Carrique, News Product Alliance

What is news product and product thinking, and why is it important in journalism? How can newsrooms begin to incorporate product thinking into their content? What are the challenges to adopting a product mindset?

On this episode of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with Executive Director of the News Product Alliance, Feli Carrique, about news product and the increasingly popular practice of product thinking in journalism and news publishing. In this informative discussion, Feli explains what news product and product thinking is, as well as how having a product mindset and putting the reader first can help improve content engagement and performance. She also shares some of the biggest challenges to adopting product thinking, as well as some of the things that excite her the most about the use of product thinking and where it has the potential to make the biggest impact.

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Speaker bio

Feli Carrique is the Executive Director of the News Product Alliance, a community for people who strategically align business, audience and technology goals while integrating journalism ethics. Feli is an Argentinian journalist and product thinker working at the intersection of media, technology, and sustainability. In her previous role as Innovation Director at SembraMedia, she worked with news organizations across Latin America, Spain, and the United States to promote innovation and led product design and systems development for the organization. She was also the lead analyst on the recent “Inflection Point International” report published by SembraMedia, which analyzed the innovations, challenges, and threats facing news entrepreneurs across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.  Feli is also a Professor at the Catholic University of Argentina, where she co-created the first news product class in Latin America.

Related:

News Product Alliance Product Kit

Watch the next episode: Print, Logistics and Delivery in a Transitional Age 

Watch the previous episode: Tapping Into the Potential of Blockchain for News Publishers

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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The post News Take Episode 107: Committing to Product Thinking in the News Industry: Putting Readers First appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Guest: Julien Genestoux, founder and CEO, Unlock

“I think right now the web is ‘sick’ of its business model, from the fact that we monetize everything for attention. … What blockchain brings us is actually the ability to think about alternative business models, the ability to think about things in other ways, to say OK, who owns what piece of content, how it is owned, who gets access to what, and do that in a transparent protocol way rather than a platform-owned way.”    

– Julien Genestoux, Unlock

What is blockchain and how do NFTs work? How can news publishers use blockchain to grow revenue? What would a membership model based on NFTs look like, and what benefits could it offer over the traditional advertising revenue model? What is Web3 and why do we need it?

On this edition of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with founder and CEO of Unlock, Julien Genestoux, about the potential opportunities and uses of blockchain technology by news publishers. In this candid discussion that takes a critical look at the current state of the Web, Julien reviews the basics of blockchain and why it could offer a more secure and more exciting alternative to the attention-based, platform-driven experiences found on today’s Web. He then provides a look at what lies beyond the initial applications, to the potential of blockchain specifically for news publishers, for purposes such as monetizing content and using NFTs in membership models.

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Speaker bio

Julien Genestoux is founder and CEO of Unlock, an access control protocol built on a blockchain that enables creators to monetize their content or software without relying on a middleman. He describes himself as an entrepreneur, unconditional web advocate, and a hacker. He has built two profitable start-ups, one of which was Superfeedr, which became one of the leading real-time web APIs and was later acquired by Medium. At Medium, he led the company’s SEO effort and quadrupled the share of traffic it receives from search. He co-authored the W3C WebSub protocol and spoke at numerous international conferences and events. He talks about NFTs, Web3, crypto and the Open Web.

For more information about Unlock:

Contact Julien: @Julien51 on Twitter and Julien Genestoux on Facebook and LinkedIn

Visit the Unlock website

Watch the next episode: Committing to Product Thinking in the News Industry: Putting Readers First 

Watch the previous episode: Protecting Journalists Reporting on Russia’s War in Ukraine

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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The post News Take Episode 106: Tapping Into the Potential of Blockchain for News Publishers with Julien Genestoux appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Guest: Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Program Director, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

“For journalists outside of Ukraine, regardless of where they are from, they still play a critical role because the world needs to pay attention to that, and they’re explaining that to their audiences in way that is easier for them to understand the nuances and the problems of the conflict. They’re bearing witness, and we need as many witnesses as possible for something like this. For today, and for the record, for generations to come.”
– Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Committee to Protect Journalists

Typically, News Take is where we talk about the latest innovation and get into the weeds about trends taking place in the news media industry. But in this episode, we turned to a more serious topic, which is how journalists are covering the war Russia is waging against the Ukraine.

Since Russia’s first attacks on Ukraine in late February, dozens of journalists have been injured or killed while reporting on the war. Journalists are literally risking their lives to bring the latest news and information about the war to people around the world. So while we could talk about the latest news products, the dire situation in the Ukraine is really the biggest thing happening in the world right now, and what we do as news publishers literally impacts what people know and how people perceive the war, so we felt it needed and deserved our attention here.

On this special edition of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Program Director, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), who shares details about the situation on the ground in the Ukraine, including the environment for journalists; the threats to press freedom in the Ukraine and Russia (as well as around the world); the role of journalists from other countries reporting on the war; how journalists are navigating and combating misinformation and propaganda about the war; how they are staying safe; and what we can do to help.

This episode was recorded on April 21, 2022.

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Speaker bio

Carlos Martinez de la Serna has been with CPJ since 2018. Prior to CPJ, he worked as a reporter and digital journalist in the U.S., Spain, and Japan, covering issues including current affairs, biomedical research, and North Korea’s nuclear program. He is a founding member of the mapping startup Carto, co-founder of the nonprofit organization porCausa, and a former director of digital innovation at Univision News. Martinez de la Serna is a research fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and a former John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University.

Watch the next episode: Tapping Into the Potential of Blockchain for News Publishers 

Watch the previous episode: Encouraging and Sustaining Diversity in News Media 

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The post News Take Episode 105: Protecting Journalists Reporting on Russia’s War in Ukraine appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Horne stated, “The Russian government’s efforts to propagate lies and obscure the truth have been rejected by the international community:  governments, the private sector, and civil society have taken independent action in an unprecedented manner to reject efforts to sell Putin’s war as justified.”

According to the statement, the White House has imposed sanctions on individuals in Russia and the Ukraine found to be knowingly sowing doubt among the public through spreading disinformation about the war, and is providing assistance to increase digital safety for the media.

The Alliance applauds the White House, as well as U.S. businesses and organizations – including the news media – that are calling out the Russian government for attempting to mislead and divide its people through spreading disinformation and lies about their attacks in the Ukraine.

“The critical role of the press in communicating accurate and truthful information about Russia’s attacks on the Ukraine must be protected,” said Alliance President & CEO David Chavern. “News publishers are committed to reporting the facts and not allowing disinformation and government corruption to obscure the realities of Russia’s unthinkable and inhumane war. We must do whatever we can to support their continued brave efforts to report the truth, which is the best solution to combating disinformation and lies spreading online and on social media.”

The Alliance stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and supports the hard-working journalists reporting on the war – especially those on the ground in the Ukraine – who are risking their lives to deliver the news when we need it the most.

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Barbara, who is a member of the News Media Alliance Board of Directors, was named Gannett’s Chief Legal Officer in 2015 and also served as interim chief operating officer in 2019. She had served as the company’s Vice President & Senior Associate General Counsel since 2009 and joined the legal staff of Gannett in 1985. She has written and lectured on the First Amendment and has taught communications law at George Washington and American Universities. Before joining Gannett, she practiced law with Satterlee & Stephens. In 2012, she received the First Amendment Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The post Barbara Wall to Receive William J. Brennan, Jr. Defense of Freedom Award appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

AleksandarGeorgiev / iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Journalists Maria Ressa, CEO of Philippine digital media outlet Rappler, and Dmitry Muratov, founder and head of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their investigative journalism and ongoing battles to protect freedom of expression and the press in their home countries, the Philippines and Russia, respectively.

According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee announcement this morning, “Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.”

Ressa has previously been arrested and imprisoned for reporting news exposing government corruption and violence in the Philippines. Muratov’s newspaper has endured threats and several of its journalists have been killed for their reporting on corruption and illegal acts by those in power in Russia.

News Media Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, stated, “I can think of no two more deserving recipients of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize than Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov. We should all recognize and applaud the sacrifices that these journalists have made and the bravery they’ve shown while fighting to protect the freedom of expression and the press – our freedoms, which preserve our rights to know the truth and for journalists to report the news, expose corruption at the highest levels, and hold those in power accountable.”

The Committee further stated, “The Norwegian Nobel Committee is convinced that freedom of expression and freedom of information help to ensure an informed public. These rights are crucial prerequisites for democracy and protect against war and conflict. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov is intended to underscore the importance of protecting and defending these fundamental rights.”

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