Pope Leo XIV meets with AP, praises press freedom and journalism

A merger between MuckRock and Sunlight Research Center will help slimmed-down newsrooms investigate local governments, public officials, and more, from Nieman Journalism Lab. https://lnkd.in/gmKGkaZe

Last week, news lobbyists flocked to the Hill to lobby for what they describe as "legislation to protect and support quality journalism” — which may very well include the embattled Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. In her latest blog post, Policy Director Lisa H. Macpherson breaks down why Public Knowledge and other policy advocates continue to oppose this bill, and the better options available to protect news publishers in the Digital Era. Read more below: https://lnkd.in/eb8MDPbj

In our latest publication, Claire Roney, Daniel Wiesner, Andreas Riedl, and Jakob-Moritz Eberl examine how the evolving conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic shaped audience expectations of journalism in Austria. Traditionally defined by roles such as Informer and Watchdog, journalists took on additional roles during the crisis—most notably as Collaborators with health officials, Science Communicators, and Fact-Checkers. Drawing on three waves of data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project, the study analyzes audience expectations of nine journalistic roles. Results show strong support for emerging roles like the Fact-Checker and Science Communicator, reflecting a heightened demand for accuracy and scientific clarity. Yet, audience expectations fluctuated over time, mirroring shifts in public trust and the fading rally-around-the-flag effect. The findings underscore the context-dependent nature of audience demands and highlight the need for journalism to remain flexible and adaptive in times of crisis. This article comes from the 2024 #IJPPconference and will be part of the IJPP special issue! Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e5ezikkf

The report of the Worlds of Journalism is officially released! More than 300 researchers from 75 countries participated in WJS3. Our survey confirms that journalism is under pressure. Journalists worldwide are often undercompensated, and more than one-third engage in secondary employment. Economic pressures on news organizations have intensified in most countries. Nearly half of journalists have been targeted with hate speech, while psychological, physical, and digital threats are more prevalent in the Global South than in the Global North. Website: https://lnkd.in/gEDcZ5mX Full report in PDF: https://lnkd.in/gRGB_vrk Glad to be part of this amazing team of scholars! Celeste González de Bustamante Jeannine E. Relly Vanessa Bravo Herrera Thomas Hanitzsch Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova Edson Tandoc LAURA STRELOW STORCH Kérley Winques Lourdes Cueva Chacón Ammina Kothari Tim Vos Mia Grünewald Summer Harlow Dasniel Olivera Jesus Arroyave Sallie L Hughes

Here is another thought-provoking conversation aimed at exploring how journalists can make their work more meaningful, relevant, and influential in today’s rapidly changing media landscape. It focuses on strategies for effective storytelling, the responsibility of journalists to report stories that create real societal impact, and how the media can bridge the gap between information and transformation. The session will emphasise accuracy, credibility, and depth in reporting, while also examining the role of digital tools and innovative platforms in expanding journalism’s reach. Ultimately, the event seeks to inspire journalists to go beyond breaking news, toward stories that inform, engage, and drive positive change in their communities. We have got seasoned journalists- *Daud Olatunji, Editor Platform Times News Paper* and *Ojuroungbe Sodiq of PUNCH Newspapers* will be doing justice to the topic. The training comes up on Thursday 30th Of October, 2025 via Google Meet. Time: 10:00 AM (WAT) To be part, kindly save the link below and click to join on the said date. https://lnkd.in/gi674gj8

Journalism should not be "neutral"? what, why! Modern mature democracies are built on the assumption that an informed public is essential for self-governance. Within this framework, the media is often described as the fourth pillar ,an institution meant to observe power, mediate public discourse and hold authority accountable.Much of modern media discourse treats neutrality as the essence of good journalism. Yet over time neutrality, as often practiced, risks detaching the press from the very people it claims to serve and the professional culture of journalism has come to prioritise “neutrality” and “objectivity” as its highest virtues, often at the expense of moral and political engagement. But democracy itself is not "neutral" , it's a political project rooted in the idea of people’s sovereignty. It is a political arrangement animated by the ideals of equality, participation, and justice. When journalism claims to be “above politics,” it risks abandoning the very terrain it exists to serve, along with upholding transparency, dignity, and the democratic aspirations of people. Journalism, therefore, cannot exist outside politics - it operates within it, shaping how citizens understand power, policy, and justice.Yet in a democracy, which is inherently political, absolute neutrality risks becoming a form of disengagement. To report “objectively” without acknowledging where power lies or whose voices are marginalized is, paradoxically, to take a side -often the side of the status quo. I would argue that journalism’s highest calling is not to remain equidistant from power and the public, but to consciously align with the "public interest'' and "people centric journalism" should be prioritised with "subjective approach" towards societal issues- to give voice, visibility, and verification to those who are otherwise unheard. Here lies a crucial distinction: a reporter documents events, a journalist interprets them in relation to the public good. A reporter may inform, but a journalist contextualizes -connecting fact to consequence, and consequence to accountability. *Views expressed are strictly Personal. If journalism exists to serve democracy, shouldn’t its commitment be to people, not to an illusion of neutrality that often serves power instead? #PublicInterest #MediaEthics #NewsCulture #Democracy #PeopleCentricJournalism

💬How can your news organization engage with your community when it feels like no one agrees on anything? Local newsrooms do incredible work, but collaborations with researchers or civic leaders often fall flat due to mismatched expectations or communication styles. Our report, “A Community of Collaboration,” explores how local journalists can foster deeper, more effective and more relational — not transactional — partnerships with non-news experts to bring richer stories to your community. Learn strategies to: ✅ Build trust with outside collaborators ✅ Set clear expectations ✅ Create impactful, audience-centered journalism Your newsroom can do more with a little help. Explore the report https://hubs.ly/Q03P06Kt0 #CommunityEngagement #LocalNews #APIreports #API

The forum exposes journalism's central paradox: only trained professionals possess the expertise to restore media credibility while they lack the institutional support and economic resources to deploy it effectively. The panelists celebrate innovations like nonprofit outlets, but these cannot achieve the scale needed for comprehensive accountability journalism. India exemplifies this crisis: quality digital outlets like The Wire and Scroll.in reach limited educated audiences through subscriptions, while millions consume partisan television spectacle. Professional competence alone cannot overcome structural problems in the wake of diminishing advertising revenue, corporate capture, platform monopolies, and other pressures. Until journalists acknowledge they need societal support, and funding with genuine autonomy - their journalistic integrity remains necessary but not of much use to reclaim the institutional trust that credible journalism requires. #media #journalism

Australians and people the world over rely on local journalism to keep them informed. But the industry is in crisis - with more than 200 local newspapers in regional Australia significantly cutting their services or closing during the COVID pandemic alone. Deakin's Professor of Communications Kristy Hess and Research Fellow Angela Ross have partnered with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to find innovated solutions to this problem. Read more about this collaborative research project in The Conversation ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g8VdxNVv

Why have audiences of traditional media plummeted? How do they get informed, what do they consider to be news, and where do they turn to find it? At the iMEdD International Journalism Forum, four journalists discussed how influence has shifted from traditional media to social media and newsfluencers.    📖 Read the article by Phoebe Fronista https://lnkd.in/d8m-fQYP 📺 #iMEdDIJF25 sessions now available on YouTube