Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media
UNC Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Abernathy joined news researchers from around the country in a Sept. 9 Tow Center for Digital Journalism webinar “Redefining the Local News Crisis: Deconstructing the News Desert.” The webinar, the…
Those of us who have been in the media industry for years have seen it grow and change in unexpected ways. And, those who pivot successfully amid a shifting landscape often have to demonstrate extraordinary grit and discipline to get…
Penny Abernathy’s research on news deserts has influenced the national conversation over the future of journalism, writes Ferrel Guillory in a column for EducationNC, in which he offers commentary on a recent lecture by Martin “Marty” Baron, executive editor at The…
UNC Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Abernathy will take part in a virtual panel discussion, “Redefining the Local News Crisis: Deconstructing the News Desert,” sponsored by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at the Columbia Journalism…
The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) featured a Q&A with Penny Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, where she covers everything from the impetus behind her U.S. News Deserts…
Better News recently featured the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a project the paper modeled after lessons learned in our UNC-Knight Foundation Table Stakes Newsroom Initiative. The newspaper used a “mini-publisher” model to form a group of nearly 15 people from…
A key Table Stakes essential is partnering to expand capacity and capabilities at a lower and more flexible cost. Several participants of the UNC-Knight Foundation Table Stakes Newsroom Initiative are accomplishing this by utilizing resources from the Report for America…
This can be a scary time to be in local news, as the economic effects of COVID-19 are exacerbating the challenging circumstances that are already stripping newsrooms of employees and resources around the country. However, it’s those very challenges that…
CBS This Morning featured UNC Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Abernathy in a segment focused on Wyoming’s Casper Star-Tribune, which has cut the number of days it prints the newspaper from seven to five weekly, making…
As legacy news models continue to struggle, digital startups appear promising. However, while barriers to publication are few — no printing press or delivery trucks needed —digital startups face challenges as they build brands from scratch. This Medill Local News…