My kids love YouTube. I do not. So one day, when I saw my son watching a video with other people playing a video game, I asked him – Why do you watch that? Why not just go play a video game?

He looked at me and, without pause, responded with this – Why watch home decorating shows? Why not just go decorate our house?

Well played, middle schooler. 

For me, there is something wonderful about watching other people decorate – the quest to find the right house, the predictable debacles, the remarkable transformation (without pesky drywall dust that gets everywhere) and of course, the always-needed break from the news. 

This week, I wrote about a new program from West Virginia University and the West Virginia Press Association that I’m thinking of as “Fixer Upper” for local news.

NewStart is a one-year fellowship that wants to find and train a new generation of local news owners. They hope to match that new generation with the current owners of local, profitable weeklies across the country who are ready to retire.

You can read more about NewStart here.


Gerri Peterson, left, bought the Hooker County Tribune when she was 22 and just out of school. She’s run it as the publisher and editor for 11 years. (Image via Gerri Peterson)

While you’re here....

• In case you missed it, check out these 2019 Edward R. Murrow Award winners, which feature a strong showing from local news. Here’s what Dan Shelley, executive director of RTDNA, told Poynter: “Every single day, in every state of this union, there are responsible journalists working hard to hold the powerful accountable, to serve the public by reporting stories that often serve as catalysts for positive change, and who strive to live up to the exalted Murrow’s standards, which he once distilled down into three simple sentences: 'To be persuasive we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful.’” 

• The Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times (which Poynter owns) have launched investigative journalism funds. 

• Last week I got to be part of our very first Reporting Workshop for Rising Stars. You can follow the first class here. This week I’m at Poynter’s Women’s Leadership Academy. You can follow this class and the many that have come before it on Twitter. 

• And if you’re headed to Nashville later this week for LION, I’ll be there!

See you next week!