Is local news access tied to how much money you make?

Sarah Stonbely is the director of the State of Local News Project at Northwestern University. And her lead in this story for The Conversation says so much: “Is local news readily available in your town? Do reporters still cover your school board and other municipal meetings? If you answered yes, you are likely wealthier than the average American, and you live in or near a metro area.”

The State of Local News Project at Northwestern University has come out with its latest report, and it shows the disparity between the haves and have-nots when it comes to local journalism.

The problems are manyfold, but Stonbely smartly writes, “The main challenge for news outlets in have-not communities is the migration of advertising money from the printed page — where it made up roughly 80% of news organizations’ income — to the screen, where it now makes up less than 20%. This decline in ad revenue, a trend for the last decade-plus, has forced many outlets to rely on audience funding, philanthropy, cost-cutting or some combination of the three. In communities with little disposable income to put toward news subscriptions or donations and no local philanthropies, cost-cutting becomes the only option. This creates a self-reinforcing spiral of lower quality and declining readership and, ultimately, closure.”

Meanwhile, wealthier communities are better positioned to sustain local news.

The project’s data shows that counties where the average household income is more than $80,000 can support 10 or more news outlets. Meantime, counties with household incomes of $54,000 or less are more likely to be news deserts.

The data offers up more examples of the differences between haves and have-nots, including the correlation between high-speed broadband and news access.

However, the project does offer hope.

Stonbely writes, “One is collaboration. For example, in Colorado, the national nonprofit news outlet The Daily Yonder has hired a reporter based in a rural community to write stories about life there and share them out with both local and national organizations.”

Other lifelines include things such as philanthropy and public policy, such as some states (New Jersey and California, for example) trying to support local journalism.

If you get a few free moments, check out the report.

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER

Suddenly, you’re a newsroom leader. Now what?

This dynamic, in-person, five-day workshop will focus on the critical skills that new managers need to help forge successful paths to leadership in journalism, media and technology.

Read more and apply now.

Hasan’s new challenge

Earlier this year, Mehdi Hasan announced he was leaving MSNBC after the network surprisingly canceled his Sunday night show, a decision that angered his faithful viewers.

He said at the time that he was leaving to “look for a new challenge.”

Well, he’s found one. Hasan is joining The Guardian US as a regular columnist.

Hasan told Semafor’s Max Tani, “I have been poring over columns in the Guardian since I was a teenager. Now I get to write some of my own, in what is perhaps one of the busiest and biggest news years of my lifetime. It’s a huge honor and a privilege.”

In a statement, Guardian US editor Betsy Reed said, “We’re proud to provide a platform for his incisive political commentary, relentless advocacy for human rights and free speech, and fearless accountability for those in power. Mehdi is the latest addition to a stellar, expanding roster of opinion writers here at Guardian US, and I look forward to his contributions in the months ahead.”

Tani wrote, “In recent months, the Guardian’s US arm has been staffing up, adding several well-known columnists and an investigative unit. It’s part of a larger uptick in interest in the US media market by established UK media players.”

Hasan’s first column was published Wednesday: “Biden can end the bombing of Gaza right now. Here’s how.”

Two worth your time

I want to call to your attention two really good pieces in The Hollywood Reporter.

First up, Scott Feinberg with “‘Schindler’s List’: An Oral History of a Masterpiece.”

I’m often skeptical of “oral histories” because they are so hit-and-miss in terms of talking to people who actually were there and could give a true history. But this oral history is superb because it talks to many of the major figures, including director Steven Spielberg, actors Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley and Embeth Davidtz, and composer John Williams, among others.

Read it for yourself, but I do want to highlight this quote from Spielberg: “Antisemitism always lurks in a very shallow water table. It’s just under the ground. And every once in a while, it seeps up through the surface, into all of our lives and the news cycle, where we are publicly aware of what people are saying against Jews.”

These are one of those times.

Speilberg later added, “Since 2016, antisemitism has joined racism, xenophobia, homophobia and all these maladies and cultural afflictions in the air at eye level. I think it’s here to stay — and I think it’s a good thing that it’s here to stay. Everybody wants it to go away because it’s uncomfortable to deal with it. It needs to be uncomfortable, because the only way we can find a solution to the way people treat the Jews is for it to always be part of the conversation.”

The other THR piece I wanted to point out is Lachlan Cartwright’s Q&A with former CNN boss Jeff Zucker.

These days, Zucker runs RedBird IMI, a joint venture between Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital and UAE-backed investment fund IMI. RedBird IMI recently invested in Media Res, a TV studio and motion picture company, and the sports business site Front Office Sports. And they’re trying to buy the U.K. newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.

As far as CNN these days, Zucker told Cartwright, “CNN was an incredible part of my life, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we did there for almost 10  years, but I’m on to a new part of my life and a new phase. I don’t watch much television news at all, including CNN.”

Zucker talked about his current and future plans for RedBird IMI, as well as his thoughts on Chris Cuomo, The Messenger, and how CNN should cover Donald Trump.

Good interview

Shoutout to CNN’s Manu Raju for his walking-and-talking interview with Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, who is the House judiciary committee chair. Raju asked Jordan about the former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, who has been charged with lying about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine and who was a key part of the House Republicans’ impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden.

Here’s the clip of Raju talking to Jordan.

New York Times D.C. correspondent Glenn Thrush tweeted the clip and wrote, “No one’s better than Manu at asking straight questions and not accepting non answers — in an even-handed but forceful way. Master class.”

More layoff news

The latest media company with major staffing cuts? BuzzFeed. The digital media company is reducing staff by 16%.

In addition, BuzzFeed has sold Complex to livestream shopping platform NTWRK for $108.6 million. BuzzFeed acquired Complex for $300 million in 2021.

In an email to staff, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wrote, “Digital publishers are facing multiple headwinds in the current market, and our recent revenue performance reflects the fact that a bundled portfolio approach is not aligned with current advertiser or platform trends. More importantly, our performance does not reflect the value or future growth potential of our individual brands. The changes we are making to reduce the size of our business and administrative teams will position each brand to operate more autonomously. Moving forward, we will focus on bringing each of our brands to market with a focus on their differentiation for our advertising and platform partners.”

Axios’ Sara Fischer wrote, “As part of the all-cash deal, BuzzFeed will retain ownership of some of Complex's popular franchises, including First We Feast, which produces Complex's popular YouTube program ‘Hot Ones.’”

Peretti said in the statement, “The changes we announced today will enable an exciting next stage for our company, with increased focus on our iconic brands — BuzzFeed, HuffPost, First We Feast and Hot Ones, and Tasty; a more efficient cost structure and operational model; and the ability to accelerate innovation powered by AI and interactive content formats. I look forward to sharing more in the coming months.”

Check out this story by The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin for more.

In the running

It’s not unusual for politicians to go into TV after their political careers stall or end. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are full of former governors and senators and representatives, not to mention all the former staffers of said politicians.

But what about the other way around? What about those who try to go from TV into politics? It’s not unheard of, but it’s less common.

Former CNN anchor John Avlon is trying to join that much smaller list. Avlon announced Wednesday that he’s running for Congress in New York’s first district as a Democrat. The seat, which is in Long Island, is currently held by first-term Republican Nick LaLota. Avlon is just one of several Democrats vying for the chance to unseat LaLota, who easily won his seat in 2022.

Avlon, the former editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast, joined CNN as a senior political analyst and anchor in 2018. He left the network earlier this month.

In a video announcing that he was running for office, Avlon said, “Right now, our democracy is in danger. This election is not a drill. It's up to all of us to step up and get off the sidelines.”

Avlon once worked for then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

But in recent years, he has been a fierce critic of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

He told The New York Times’ Nicholas Fandos that it is his goal to get involved and help oust the “MAGA minions who are not even trying to solve problems in the national interest. … The seriousness of the times really sunk into me.”

Will Kiley, a spokesman for LaLota, told the Times, “Avlon knows nothing about Suffolk County other than Sag Harbor croquet matches and summer cocktail parties in Bridgehampton.” He called Avlon a “Manhattan elitist.”

Getting in the game

Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy reports that Amazon Prime Video is paying an estimated $120 million for exclusive rights to an NFL playoff game after the 2024 season. (The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint first broke the news that Prime was getting a playoff game.) You may remember that Peacock had the exclusive rights to an NFL playoff game this past season. Peacock paid $110 million for their game, which turned out to be the Miami Dolphins against the eventual NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Prime has shown a Thursday night NFL game each of the past two seasons, and paid $100 million to stream the NFL’s first-ever Black Friday game between the Dolphins and New York Jets last Nov. 24.

Apple Sports

Apple introduced a new free iPhone app for tracking sports scores. The app is called, simply enough, Apple Sports, and is already available for download for users in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

Apple services chief Eddy Cue told CNBC’s Kif Leswing that the app is meant to be fast and used several times a day, adding, “You want your scores basically to be real time. You want them to be really easy to get to. And nothing else is getting in the way. And that’s the primary purpose of the app.”

Media tidbits

• Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor Bret Baier is in Ukraine, where he interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Fox News said the interview took place less than a mile and a half from Russian positions. The interview is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. Eastern today on Fox News. Here’s a preview of the interview. On Friday, Baier’s “Special Report” will have a segment on the war, including interviews with Ukrainian citizens.
• The Indianapolis Star’s Holly V. Hays with “Gannett, IndyStar announce $2 million investment to grow local reporting and sales staffs.” Gannett chief content officer Kristin Roberts said in the story, “I’ve got maximum ambition for local journalism … and I want this newsroom to achieve that ambition. If we get this right, we will be the model for saving local journalism in all of America. We will be the team that has done that, the IndyStar will be the team that has shown the rest of the industry how to do that.”
• Cool stuff from the National Press Photographers Association: “Want to photograph the April solar eclipse? Randall Benton knows what to do: Prepare. Pack. And drive.”
• NewsNation has signed anchor Ashleigh Banfield to a multi-year contract extension. Banfield — whose 35-year career in journalism includes stints with, among other places, CNN, MSNBC and ABC News — hosts her own show, “Banfield,” weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern.
• Peter Wallsten, who has been at The Washington Post since 2010, has been named the Post’s investigations editor. Here’s the official announcement.
• For CNN, longtime media critic David Zurawik with “This overshadowed Trump ruling may be the one that matters most.”
• Here’s a scoop from Mother Jones’ Dan Friedman: “With Its Top Investor in Jail, a Pro-Trump Social Media Site Suffers Mass Layoffs.”
• The Washington Post’s Cat Zakrzewski with “Employees prevented Musk from breaking federal Twitter order, FTC finds.”
• For Awful Announcing, Daniel Kaplan with “Experts doubt antitrust challenge to ESPN-Fox-WBD streaming bundle: ‘It’s a win for consumers.’”
• Poynter’s Kristen Hare with “Press Forward announces local expansion.”
• I missed this last week. Jane Ferguson, an award-winning foreign correspondent for “PBS NewsHour” and contributor to The New Yorker, was named the inaugural winner of the Neal Conan Prize for Excellence in Journalism, which comes with an unrestricted $50,000 cash grant. The prize honors the legacy of acclaimed NPR radio journalist Neal Conan and is awarded to mid-career journalists who share the same values that Conan exemplified during his career.

Hot type

Just one item here today because I really want you to see it. It’s heartbreaking and depressing, but it is important. The New York Times Opinion section — through words, video and photographs — shares the experiences of the homeless. The Times goes to the tents, shelters, cars, motels and couches of America.

The story says, “Lori Teresa Yearwood, a journalist who lived through years of homelessness, spoke of the ways we discount those without shelter. ‘Society created a new species of people, and we carefully crafted an image of them: one of broken passivity and victimhood, people in need of constant scrutiny and monitoring,’ she said in a 2022 speech. ‘When we shift and widen the perspective of the unhoused, that’s when things radically change.’ Ms. Yearwood collaborated with Times Opinion on this project before her untimely death in September.”

Please look at it: “A Life Without a Home.”

More resources for journalists

• Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders (Seminar) (May) — Apply by March 26.
• Reporters Toolkit (Seminar) (May 7-June 11) — Apply by April 28.
• Got a story you’d like to write for Poynter? Email [email protected] with your idea, approximate timeline and word count.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].