Hi! I’ve been saving these links for a while now and picked the best, most interesting and relevant to share with you this week. 

Before they get stale …

You know how every time our industry tries to survey our national diversity numbers, the biggest issue is newsroom leaders/corporate people not responding? (Enter rant here about how messed up it is for an industry that prizes transparency to refuse to offer transparency.) Well, that’s true at the state level, too, according to a report out last year from NC Local News Workshop and UNC’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media. 

But that’s not all they shared from a 2022 diversity audit for North Carolina. Here’s a “what we learned” piece from Shannan Bowen and Erica Perel, the full research and recommendations from a panel of analysts who are all people of color. One tip: “DO NOT take on the work yourself if you are a person of color in the newsroom unless you are allowed to perform it full-time with compensation.”

Check out this report from the University of Vermont on statehouse reporting programs that are led by universities. The report counts 17 programs and notes that last year, 250 student statehouse reporters produced more than 1,000 stories for 1,200 outlets in 17 states. 

If you’re not yet following the work of LION Publishers, you really should. This industry org made up of local independent online news publishers offers a very clear window into the newsrooms and people working to build what’s next in local journalism. Here’s a recent piece that explains why the future of local news isn’t just about funding. Read “Why dollars alone won’t save the local news industry.”

Speaking of the future of local news, you have until Feb. 15 to apply for the American Journalism Project’s Local News Incubator. “Individuals and small teams with ideas for new local news organizations can apply for this 18-month incubator, which will provide both startup capital and expert counsel. For this cohort, we will select up to four individuals or pairs. Founders will receive $400,000 to pursue their startup full time and spend 18 months researching, developing an editorial strategy to fill the local news and information needs they identify in a given market, fundraising, coalition-building and preparing to launch an organization.” Learn more here. 

I’m excited to see what comes out of Scripps’ first cohort of its Journalism Journey Initiative, “which aims to retain accomplished journalists in the industry by redeploying their reporting skills for video-driven reporting platforms.” Here’s the first class.

And finally, ProPublica announced last week that it’s launching an investigative reporting hub in the Northwest. “This hub will be the fifth in a growing network of state and regionally based ProPublica investigative offices, including the Midwest, South, Southwest and Texas. These teams of reporters and editors provide critical reporting at a time when local accountability journalism is increasingly scarce.”

I will have a lot more to share about this, but I’m so excited that applications are now open for the 2023-24 Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship, which I co-lead with Benét J. Wilson. Here’s a look at this year’s truly excellent class and the newsrooms they’re in, and one of the projects that came out of the previous cohort. I’m happy to answer your questions!

Finally, a correction from last week. I called George Santos a senator instead of a representative, and that was a lie. OK, it was an error, and I do regret it! Thank you to the sharp-eyed readers who alerted me. 

That’s it for me. My eldest got his learner’s permit in December and now drives me around every day. I hope your 2023 is thus far equally thrilling 😅

Kristen