In a piece for The Atlantic, Ted C. Fishman examines the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating economic effects on state and local governments, the threat to democracy and how a loss of local news compounds the problem. “The loss of essential services…
Author: Beth Hatcher (page 4)
Should journalism be part of general education?
Should journalism basics be part of general education? Poynter is examining the public’s increasing role in news coverage as traditional media numbers decline and smartphone technology becomes more ubiquitous. “The increasing power of cellphones coincided with the decreasing presence of…
The prevalence of Southern news deserts
This New York Times opinion piece by Margaret Renkl cites local news research by UNC Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Abernathy in a look at the prevalence of news deserts in the American South. Framed around…
French magazine interviews Penny Abernathy on COVID-19’s media effects
The effects of COVID-19 on the media industry are being noticed around the world. Alexis Buisson, New York correspondent of Télérama, the leading French magazine on the media, interviewed Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Abernathy for…
UNC Table Stakes participants part of latest round of Facebook grants
Several of our UNC-Knight Foundation Newsroom Initiative Table Stakes participants — past and present — received funding as part of the Facebook Journalism Project’s $16 million in relief funds for local news. The grants include $10.3 million awarded to 144…
Project Oasis mentioned in article about The New York Times’ call for local news support
This Poynter article by Kristen Hare spotlights an online campaign recently launched by The New York Times encouraging people to support their local newsrooms. The campaign, launched ahead of World Press Freedom day, combines the members of several organizations of…
Case study: Sesame Street
Sesame Street looks nothing like its humble beginnings. More than 4,000 episodes after its 1969 start, Sesame Street’s home is premium cable, not public broadcasting. Throughout its history, Sesame Street has leaned toward being adaptable. While its partnership with HBO…
Forbes cites Penny Abernathy in COVID-19 coverage article
This Forbes piece examines a paradox of the coronavirus pandemic: While COVID-19 is one of the biggest stories of a generation, spiking readership and viewership of almost every type of media, advertising dollars — still a main revenue source for…
UNC Table Stakes participants ‘heroes’ for their COVID-19 coverage
A recent Q&A with PEN America spotlighted the COVID-19 coverage of Scalawag Magazine, a member of Cohort 1 of the UNC-Knight Foundation Table Stakes Newsroom Initiative. Part of PEN America’s “Local Journalist Heroes” series, the piece highlights the work of…
Covering COVID-19: How one small weekly is coping
Poynter’s Kristen Hare examines how a two-person weekly in Virginia — the Greene County Record — is innovating to cover the COVID-19 pandemic in a piece that cites the U.S. News Deserts research of UNC Knight Chair in Journalism and…