220 Word in Black's journey from a pilot project to a public benefit corporation

Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy have become recognized and respected news media analysts with their highly listened to podcast series: “What Works. The future of local news.”  However recently, Clegg a three-decade Boston Globe veteran who helped get a few Pulitzer Prizes for the paper and Kennedy a Northeastern University journalism professor who writes the Media Nation blog, have released a critically acclaimed book entitled: “What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate,” that explores how a number of news media operations seem to be on their way to finding sustainable local journalism business models.

Some of the local media companies they examine, include the Sahan Journal, a digital publication reporting on Minnesota’s immigrant communities, the Storm Lake Times Pilot, a legacy print newspaper in Iowa, published by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen, who developed a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model,  the New Haven Independent , a multilingual, digital news project that expanded its audience through radio and others.

In this episode of “E&P Reports” we spend 20-minutes with Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy the authors of the new book: “What Works in Community News,” to learn how they selected the featured nine media operations and why they believed these are worth exploring to find models for sustainable local journalism. Clegg a seasoned editor and local news media entrepreneur along with Kennedy a respected professor of Journalism also offer advice gleaned from the book to news publishing executives on how to navigate the challenging and ever-changing local news media ecosystem.

In September 2023, E&P reported on the Arizona Newspapers Association and the Arizona Broadcasters Association merger.

In the past year, there have been several legacy newspaper and public media mergers, such as Chicago Public Media's acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times, The Steinman's "gifting" of their 150+-year-old Lancaster, PA newspaper to the local public broadcasting outlet and the Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle becoming part of Dallas-Fort Worth's KERA Public Broadcasting operations.

Many news media pundits predict that, in the very near future, we will see more broadcasting and newspaper newsrooms working as one to compete for larger audiences and achieve new economies of scale to achieve sustainable business models.

For this reason, E&P sought insights from the Radio Television Digital News Association's CEO & President Dan Shelley on how the RTDNA is helping journalism survive in today's complex local news media ecosystem. Topics discussed in this episode of "E&P Reports" include the fight for cameras (and microphones) in courtrooms. Should the news media industry police itself in defining who is a journalist? We also explore the growth of citizen journalism, its impact on local news media outlets and more.

Dan Shelley is president and CEO of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and president of the RTDNA Foundation. Previously, Dan was senior vice president of digital content strategy for iHeartMedia, senior vice president at Interactive One (part of Radio One), director of digital media at WCBS-TV, New York and an executive producer for WCBS-TV News.

Recently, Public Media Consultant Tom Davidson wrote an op-ed published in “Current,” the industry’s quarterly trade magazine, “decrying the lack of awareness in public media about Press Forward, the $500 million foundation effort to reinvigorate local news.”

Since then, National Public Radio (NPR) published its own white paper to support public media, and the Public Media Content Collective (formally the Public Radio Program Directors Association) added a panel to their fall conference that addresses the same issues.

However, Davidson still sees a major disconnect within public media on how the industry itself sees its place within the local news media ecosystem, which can impact accessing the ever-increasing national philanthropic support of local journalism.

Davidson believes: “It starts with understanding that serving a tiny portion of your market (and the wealthiest, whitest portion of your market) isn’t going to work” when it comes to proving the value you provide within a society being impacted by “news deserts” and “ghost papers.”

However, Davidson sees hope for a change within the public media world, as some broadcast outlets are acquiring local newspapers and others are expanding their news operations to serve a broader, more cumulative audience within their local markets.

In this episode of “E&P Reports,” we go one-on-one with well-known digital media consultant, Knight fellow, professor of journalism, Gannett’s past director of new product development and past senior director of public broadcasting, Tom Davidson, who “pulls no punches” during this frank discussion on the challenges that public media faces today and how it can continue to be a viable, self-sustaining part of local journalism.

On February 4^th, 2024, the president of Rebuild Local News and co-founder of Report for America, Steven Waldman, penned an op-ed for E&P Magazine entitled “In defense of (some) old media. Writing off legacy media will lead to bad public policy.”  In the very first sentence of the piece, Waldman took aim at the January 24^th, 2024 article, “Is it time to give up on old news?” which was penned and published by Jeff Jarvis, author and former professor and director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. In the article, Jeff Jarvis stated, “Giving more money to old media is throwing good after bad.”

Jarvis stated, “The old news industry has failed at adapting to the internet and every one of their would-be saviors  —  from tablets to paywalls to programmatic ads to consolidation to billionnaires  —  has failed them. Hedge funds have bought up chains and papers, selling everything not bolted down, cutting every possible cost and taking every penny of cash flow home with them. The one thing the old companies are still investing in is lobbying.”

Within Waldman’s editorial, he countered by stating that he disagrees that it’s time to dispense with “legacy” or “old” media by writing, “First, even generalizing about 'old media' is absurd. That category includes about 7,000 local news entities of different shapes, sizes and ownership structures, including most Black and Hispanic newspapers.” Waldman also said, “So the real problem must be the big city dailies. Except in his piece, Jarvis (who is an old friend) noted that The Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Advance publications (Newhouse family) in Alabama ‘seem to be surviving or better.’ So ‘old media’ is pathetic ...  except for the ones that aren’t. And we should only invest in nonprofit media ... except for the for-profits we like.”

In this episode of “E&P Reports,” we bring together two well-known media experts, Steven Waldman and Jeff Jarvis, in one interview. These two gentlemen have publicly disagreed on major issues and have been getting the lion's share of exposure in representing the news media industry to the national press. They are becoming high-profile advocacy spokespeople on opposite sides of several current, significant legislative matters debated at state and federal levels.

Topics discussed include:

·      The reasons behind recent major media company layoffs (such as the LA Times, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated) and shutdowns (like the 10-month start-up to shuttering of the Messenger).

·      The impact of corporate and hedge fund newspaper ownership on local communities and what can or should be done to give others a chance to own these local titles.

·      Public media’s entrance into local newspaper ownership and how this may become the norm in the coming months.

·      Addressing the “hard questions” about current legislation and whether the government should or should not become involved in helping save legacy media.

·      And more.

As reported by E&P in May of 2023 (“Ghost papers: Journalists find themselves alone or with just a few left in the newsroom”), UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics, Penelope Muse Abernathy stated, “Although the exact number is hard to pin down, we estimate, based on news accounts and industry data, at least 1,000 of the 7,200 newspapers still published in this country — and perhaps as many as 1,500 — have lost significantly more than half of their newsroom staff since 2004. As a result, they have become ‘ghost newspapers’ with drastically curtailed reach and journalistic missions.”

The article mentioned Abdulla Gaafarelkhalifa, who became the last remaining journalist at the St. Cloud (MN) Times, a Gannett-owned news brand that has served this city of nearly 70,000 since 1924. Gaafarelkhalifa told E&P that he found the responsibility and demands of his job as the last employee to be so overwhelming that it took a toll on his physical and mental health. So he publicly announced that he’d be taking some time off from the job — not to shame his employer, but to be transparent with the public about his leave.

E&P has also reported on other communities that have suffered from downsized Gannett newsrooms, like Hutchinson, KS, a city of over 40,000 that had the family-owned, Pulitzer Prize-winning Hutchinson Newsfor years. Gannett bought the newspaper from the Harris family in 2016 and laid off most of the news staff, creating such a void that a local high-school junior, Michael Glenn, became frustrated with their coverage. In 2023, Glenn recruited a team of journalists and started the competing Hutchinson Tribune, where some days he out-reports the Gannett property ten to one on local stories.

However, things at Gannett seemed to be changing recently, with more and more announcements of local reporters, managers and sales reps hired at the United States’ largest media company.

On this episode of “E&P Reports,” we get the inside story on Gannett Media’s major hiring frenzy from their chief content officer, Kristin Roberts, and chief revenue officer, Jason Taylor. We learn about what is being called their “turnaround plan,” which has created hundreds of new local news media industry jobs in dozens of their markets across the U.S. Both Taylor and Roberts directly address the negative reporting that has been pointed at this media empire and how they are both bullish on the company’s plans to continue serving their readers and advertisers.

Darren Samuelson, a seasoned journalist known for his insightful political reporting, first made his mark at Politico, a Washington-based digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton. During his nearly 10 years there, Samuelson demonstrated a keen ability to dissect complex political issues and provide readers with comprehensive analysis.

After establishing himself as a respected figure in journalism, Samuelson embarked on a new chapter in his career after being recruited in April of 2023 by The Messenger, a 50 million dollar digital news startup founded by part-owner of The Hollywood Reporter and The Hill, Jimmy Finkelstein.

For 10 months, Samuelson focused on his work as part of a team of over 200 journalists with a mission to become a national, politically-centered news brand that would cover politics, business, entertainment and sports.

Finkelstein stated in his first interview that he was creating an alternative to a national news media that he says has come under the sway of partisan influences. The site would be free and supported by advertising revenue, which he projected would be over 100 million dollars at the end of the first year.

But alas, that did not happen as news reporting began to reveal The Messenger facing major financial headwinds just 10 months after startup. Axios posted a story on January 4^th, 2024, that The Messenger was seeking an additional 20 million dollars to remain in business.

A few weeks later, on January 31st, the news media industry learned that The Messenger was shutting down when Finkelstein emailed its 300-plus employees, stating, “We exhausted every option available.” He went on to state that he was “personally devastated.”

In this episode of “E&P Reports,” we go inside the newsroom of the now-defunct digital news startup, The Messenger, by going one-on-one with their former senior editor, Darren Samuelson. We learn first-hand about The Messenger's initial 50 million dollar mission to become the unbiased, new national news source and how the hundreds of journalists reacted to their recent firings just 10 months after startup.

On Tuesday January 23, 2024, one of the 100-plus reporters who was laid off via Webinar from the Los Angeles Times, stated it was “like a drive-by,” as it was clear that very few at this iconic 142-year-old newspaper had any idea, that in a matter of minutes, they were told that more than 20% of their staff was to be let go.

And when events like this take place within a unionized newsroom, the workforce looks towards their guild leadership for help and support. Those tasks fell quickly on the shoulders of Matt Pearce, an 11-year veteran reporter at the Times and for past 4-years President of the Media Guild of the West, a chapter of the NewsGuild-CWA, representing over one-thousand journalists at the Los Angeles Times along with the Dallas Morning News, Arizona Republic, Southern California News Group, Austin American-Statesman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Phoenix New Times and Desert Sun and other properties.

It was only five years ago when the news team cheered when they were introduced to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the American transplant surgeon, billionaire, businessman and bio scientist who returned the paper to local ownership after 18 years, when he purchased for $500-million dollars, the Times, along with the San Diego Union-Tribune, from Chicago-based tronc. 2018 reporting directly after the deal was announced, stated that Shiong had “grand plans to restore the Times to greatness, stating: ‘The legacy of this paper is important to save, so what price is that worth?”

Shiong announced the hiring of well-respected executive editor, former Wall Street Journal and Time Inc. Exec Norman Pearlstine along 80 new staffers, that including New York Times columnist Sewell Chan and former Slate editor in chief Julia Turner. It was later reported in The Wall Street Journal hat Shiong by investing strongly in news assets would easily achieve profitably by massively growing their digital subscriber base. In 2019 Shiong proclaimed: “I have made a decision to invest what it will take to make sure that the Los Angeles Times remains a viable business for at least another 100 years. When we get to five million ultimately, that will make that possible.”

In July of 2023, the digital subscriber base was reported at slightly over 500-thousand, when the Times announced the launching of De Los, a new brand focused on identity and culture targeted to English-speaking Gen Z and millennial Latinos in the U.S. However, on January 23, 2023, it looks like this new venture will cease, since the union’s negotiated “first in, first out” departure strategy reportedly resulted in that a large portion of those layoffs, included newly hired diverse staffers.

In this episode of “E&P Reports,” we finally get an inside look at the newsroom of the LA Times, just a week after the surprising firing of over 20% of their unionized workforce from News Media West Guild president, Matt Pearce. We learn about how the firing process took place via Webinar, how the Union reacted to the unexpected downsizing, and what they are doing now in retaliation.

As publisher of the Chattanooga Times in 1877, Adolph Ochs (who would later purchase the New York Times) added a slogan to the paper's masthead: "To give the news impartially, without fear or favor." This quote remains on top of current issues of the Chattanooga Times Free Press today, now owned by WEHCO Media.

WEHCO, a fourth-generation, family-owned, 115-year-old newspaper company, is under the leadership of the founder's grandson, Walter E. Hussman, Jr., who proudly prints that exact phrase on the top page 2's Statement of Core Values, within their flagship paper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. At the bottom of the space, Hussman displays a quote from his father, the late Walter Hussman, Sr.: “A newspaper has five constituencies, including first its readers, then advertisers, then employees, then creditors, then shareholders. As long as the newspaper keeps those constituencies in that order, especially its readers first, all constituencies will be well served.”

Hussman explained that he began displaying those values in each edition in 2017 because of his increasing concern at the loss of public trust in news reporting. He cited a Gallup Poll with the Knight Foundation that surveyed 20,000 people in all 50 states, revealing this lack of trust was worse than ever and at record lows. Gallup now does the same yearly poll, which recently showed that confidence in newspapers was down to 16% — a new record low. 

“Our family thinks a center to explain the virtues of impartiality, fairness and objectivity in news reporting is greatly needed,” states Hussman. “Hence, this is our reason to trademark the name 'Center for Integrity in New Reporting.' And we decided the first thing to do is reward the best examples of that in news reporting across all news media, print, broadcast, cable television, and digital.”

With this in mind, Hussman is announcing that the new Center is hosting the inaugural "$100,000 of Awards for News Reporting," which consists of four individual $25,000 awards (print, broadcast, cable & digital), for "The most fair, impartial, objective news reporting that has the courage to not fear and the discipline to not favor."  The Newspaper Association Managers organization will judge entries.

The call for entries begins on Monday, January 29^th, 2024. Entries can be submitted online at JournalismAwards.unc.edu (Note: This link will be live on 1/29/2024). Questions can be sent via email to JournalismAwards@unc.edu.

In this episode of “E&P Reports,” we chat with WHECO Media CEO Walter E. Hussman, Jr. about his fourth generational family commitment to supporting fairness in journalistic reporting and how those tenets have motivated their family foundation to offer $100,000 in cash prizes to recolonize the best in fair, impartial and objective news reporting.

The Word in Black website states a mission: "To be the most trusted news and information source for, about, and by Black people.”

Founded on June 7, 2021, just after the entire world witnessed the tragic death of George Floyd, 10 of the nation's most prestigious Black legacy newspaper publishers joined together to launch a collaborative online news presence to work together to serve their local readers and combine their resources and content into a single branded platform.

Word in Black was initially incubated inside the Local Media Foundation (LMF), a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Local Media Association. As of January 1, 2024, as part of the original plan, the foundation has sold the assets to Word in Black's newly formed public benefit company. It will continue to provide support as a shareholder in the new entity.

Today, Word in Black boasts a newsroom with 10 full-time journalists and freelancers covering topics including health, education, finance, climate justice, religion and more — all outlined in their recently published Impact Report.

The 10 founding newspapers include:

·      AFRO News

·      The Atlanta Voice

·      Dallas Weekly

·      Houston Defender

·      Michigan Chronicle

·      New York Amsterdam News

·      The Sacramento Observer

·      The Seattle Medium

·      The St. Louis American

·      The Washington Informer 

In this episode of "E&P Reports," we explore Word in Black. This three-year-old online news collaboration includes 10 of the most prestigious Black newspapers in America that announced its transition to public benefit company status. Appearing along with Nancy Lane, co-CEO of the Local Media Association, whose foundation helped incubate the project, are founding members: Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, CEO and publisher of AFRO News, Elinor R. Tatum, publisher and editor-in-chief of the New York Amsterdam News and Patrick Washington, CEO/co-Publisher of the Dallas Weekly.

Chris Lytle, best-selling author of "The Accidental Salesperson" and "The Accidental Sales Manager," walked into an am radio station in 1972 with a political science degree, hoping to secure a news reporting job. The manager stated that the newsroom was full and offered Chris a sales job, which he accepted. That changed the course of his career forever.

Ten years later, after mastering the art of media sales, he started his own consulting business, Instant Sales Training. It has helped thousands of reps excel and hundreds of media companies grow their top-line revenues through decades of industry change and disruption.

Chris states on his website that he has a mission to "make successful people and companies even more successful." He advises you to "choose to become an expert. Become known for what you know and not just what you sell, and watch your sales, customer retention and referrals go through the roof." 

After conducting more than 2200 seminars throughout the English-speaking world through the decades, Chris is still a sought-after speaker, trainer and consultant who continues to produce weekly sales training materials accessed by thousands online.

In this episode of "E&P Reports," we go one-on-one with media sales training icon Chris Lytle, who advises on the traits, abilities and techniques that will continue to help produce winning salespeople and sales teams, within any media company. Chris also comments on how today's media consolidation has helped move the local sales process from a winning consultive approach to a reversal back to "commodity selling."