Editor and Publisher Reports

JournalList.net is a non-profit membership organization that originated and currently maintains the trust.txt reference document. Trust.txt is a simple page of code with the goal that it would be used worldwide to distinguish legitimate news organizations from non-legitimate ones. The idea of having a universal code that achieves mass adoption by digital platforms is not a new one. Back as early as 1994, before the internet reached widespread use, a company called Nexor initiated the robots.txt reference document to aid early search engines, like WebCrawler, Lycos and AltaVista, to correctly crawl and index page contents correctly within any Website. Today it is estimated that over 90% of global sites have this file placed within their route directly that anyone can see (https://www.nytimes.com/robots.txt, https://www.cnn.com/robots.txt ). Just a few years ago, the ads.txt file was created by The Internet Advertising Bureau to allow online buyers to check the validity of the sellers from whom they buy for int

The Radically Rural Summit started in 2018 as a partnership between The Keene Sentinel and a local non-profit called The Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship. This organization provides space, tools and connections to assist in the successful development of entrepreneurs who are committed to building a vibrant community. Each year Radically Rural hosts an event with a mission to help share ideas and build networks tailored to rural communities and give a stage to those who have found solutions to rural problems so that others can learn and implement them in their communities. This year’s event will take place on September 22 and 23rd, 2021 and will specifically feature sessions focused on sustaining community journalism, which will include Building Trust: Measures to secure faith in local journalism Funding News: Media organizations successfully find philanthropic help for their missions Crazy Good: Tools to make you a better – and more efficient – journalist In this episode of E&P reports, Publis

Perhaps you know Henry Scott from years in senior management positions at the New York Times or as VP/ CMO at Creative Loafing. However, you may not know that Henry decided in 2012 to move to West Hollywood, California to start a digital-only local news presence he called WEHOville.com. In 8-years, he built a viable, profitable business with a sizable audience consuming award-winning content across multiple platforms. Then, just a few months ago, Scott sold the site to enter the world of media consulting, hoping to help others gain the same success he did as a local "news disruptor."  As part of this mission, he has crafted a lengthy, fact-filled manifesto he calls: "Want to Launch a Local News Website?  Been There. Done That. Here’s What You Need to Know.” In this 20-page, 11,000+ word document, Henry Scott offers actionable, real-world advice for anyone who wants to enter the world of news publishing as a pure play digital-only platform. Sections within the document include: “Where’s the Money?” “What is

With a mission to “investigate inequality with and for the people who are affected by it,” The Center for Public Integrity(CPI) is one of the oldest nonprofit investigative news organizations in the country. Over the years, their reporting has led to hundreds of law and policy changes, forced the federal and state governments to release information critical to the public interest, and held corporations to account for abuses of power.  It was also recognized with the Pulitzer Prize and countless other news publishing industry awards. CPI collaborates with other organizations, particularly local news outlets, to publish data-driven and narrative journalism that reveals the causes and effects of inequality and exposes discriminatory systems in employment, housing, health care, education, and access to democracy. Recently CPI announced the appointment of Paul Cheung as their new Chief Executive Officer. Cheung's background includes 20 years of experience in leading industry digital transformation working for NBC

Overstory Media Group (OMG) is a startup media group that operates newsletter-based local media outlets and currently manages ten local brands in British Columbia, Canada. Recently they announced plans to hire 250 new journalists and launch 50 new outlets within the next 24-months. The growth is financed by Canadian tech entrepreneur Andrew Wilkinson who partnered with a local digital journalist Farhan Mohamed to manage OMG.  OMG will provide salaries, benefits, and legal support for the journalists they hire and rely exclusively on local advertising as their primary revenue stream and hopes to add an audience revenue model in the future. In this episode of “E&P Reports,” Publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Canadian digital news disruptor Observer Media Group’s CEO and Co-Founder Farhan Mohamed about their business model, editorial focus and plans for expansion across North America. Related Links: Overstory Media Group (OMG) OMG’s flagship platform: Capital Daily Editor & Publisher’s July 202

Greg Little has been a journalist since his first efforts at a small newspaper while he attended junior high school. His career has spanned five decades, winning a number of awards for reporting that helped an Indian reservation in Montana stop violent crime to stopping illegal dumping of sewage sludge in Tennessee. He has worked for large companies and family owners and spent time teaching journalism. Today he currently lives in Mariposa, California, with his wife, Nicole where they own the Mariposa Gazette, the oldest continually published weekly newspaper in the state of California.  Greg recently published a book called “-30- Why Small-Town American Print Journalism is Anything But Dead,” a book he describes as an “outline on how the road of journalism can sometimes be bumpy. But along the way, the business of small-town journalism can also be rewarding.” The book also speaks to why local journalism is so important in America and why it must survive. Little gives real-world advice to up and coming journal

On June 16, 2021, U.S. Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona, and Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, introduced H.R. 3940, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (LJSA) for the 117th Congress, a bipartisan bill that seeks to help local newspapers sustain financial viability through a series of three tax credits: A local newspaper subscription credit that incentives Americans to subscribe A local newspaper journalist compensation credit that provides publications the ability to hire A local newspaper and local media advertising credit that provides small businesses financial flexibility to spend on advertising in local newspapers and media Five weeks later three senators, Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, introduced the bill to the U.S. Senate as co-sponsors. Today the bill has wide bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. In this episode of “E&P Reports,” publisher Mike Blinder discusses LJSA with Alan Fisco, president of America’s Newspapers, Dean

In January 2021, the Google News Initiative, in partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), kicked off the GNI Ad Transformation Lab: A six month program to help Black and Latino news publishers in the U.S. and Canada advance their advertising strategies and grow digital revenue. Twenty-eight different organizations participated in the program. Over the six-month period, each publisher received coaching to address their organization’s path for business growth, including improving digital publishing tools and advertising capabilities and developing new digital skill sets. Participating publishers were advised on better methods for digital content distribution, better optimization tactics, how to maximize their digital advertising and programmatic capabilities, and most importantly, how to act on these improvements to attract more advertisers and generate incremental revenue s

If you have been involved in any form of production and operations over the past three decades, odds are you have spoken with the Southern Lithoplate's (SLP) Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Steve Mattingly. Mattingly joined SLP in 1989 and helped this small, privately-held North Carolina lithoplate manufacturer become one of the leading consumables suppliers to North American printers and one of the top five largest manufacturers in the world. During those 30-plus years, Mattingly has been a voice for the operations sector as a board member of the international newspaper group as well as a frequent speaker at many industry conferences. In this episode of "E&P Reports," Publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Mattingly to gain his insight into the future of the still vital production / operations sector of the news publishing business. Topics include how the industry consolidation will affect bottom lines and what the future is for print as a profitable platform for news content.

  Hearst Connecticut Media Group (HCMG) has made a big investment in a new online platform offering statewide news called: CTinsider.com. The new site provides a mix of original content and articles selected from across all 24 HCMG sites, offering hard news, features, sports and opinion columns. The articles CTinsider.com are chosen by a central editorial team working with editors from each site who also suggest what content should go statewide. The new site will likely augment the growing reader revenue being achieved by the entire group which now boasts more than 1,000 percent growth in its digital subscriptions since September 2019. Print and digital subscriptions have also increased by 18 percent during the same time period. In this episode of “E & P Reports,” Publisher Mike Blinder chats with Group Publisher & President, Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Mike DeLuca along with VP of Content &, Editor-in-Chief Wendy Metcalfe about the new website along with what it took to realize such strong pr

Ryan Dohrn is a well-known industry sales coach who has traveled far and wide helping media companies of all sizes perform better (and he writes our monthly Ad Sales Life column). On his website, it states, “Ryan actively sells print, digital, broadcast, event sponsorships, exhibit space, and radio.” On his Twitter account, his description reads: Ryan Dohrn is a “motivational speaker, 28-year sales and marketing strategist.” And on the top of his LinkedIn page, there are just six words: “Sales Strategist – Keynote Speaker – Emmy Winner.” There is no question that when you watch Dohrn speak, there is always a true transference of positive energy emitting from him In this episode of “E&P Reports” publisher Mike Blinder chats with Dohrn about how ad sellers should adapt to a post-pandemic world. Dohrn offers actionable advice on how we can find, recruit, and keep sales talent. What are our best target business categories to prospect? How do we interact properly in a new Zoom world and use it to your advantag

Juneteenth is widely considered the final “nail in the coffin” of slavery in the U.S. The New York Times reported that the first written reference of the term occurred in the Galveston (Texas) Daily News. Owned by Southern Newspapers, the masthead proudly states it is the oldest newspaper in Texas, published since 1842. Even the original announcement of General Granger’s words freeing the slaves was recorded on the pages of the Daily News.   Daily News publisher Leonard Woolsey states that their company has been “pushing lawmakers, editorializing, and promoting Juneteenth’s accent for as long as anyone can recall.” They even published a special 150-year magazine a few years back and have worked with local community members, as well staff members, to lend their voices to help move the important day to the national spotlight.   In this episode of “E&P Reports,” publisher Mike Blinder chats with Woolsey and the Daily News’ editor Michael Smith about what it was like to report locally in a city that quickly g

According to Google, the word “unpublish” is defined as a verb that means “to make content that has previously been published online unavailable to the public. As in ‘The magazine first amended and then unpublished the article.” Years ago, publishers did not face problems of information permanence when a daily printed product was quickly discarded the next day. But more and more news publishers today are receiving requests from individuals to remove, obscure or significantly alter once-accurate information published about them in the past. In some cases, these requests are happening many years after a story was initially published online. A recent survey also suggests that more than 80 percent of North American news publishers believe all news organizations should follow a set of standard guidelines about what information can and cannot be removed from their archives. But are such standards being compiled? Exploring this issue is Deborah Dwyer, PHD candidate UNC Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Me

Please Follow this Podcast Series For 15 years, Ken Doctor has been preaching innovative news publishing business models through Newsonomics, his own company and website. Six months ago, he started his experiment Lookout Local, which launched with Lookout Santa Cruz, the company’s first site based in Santa Cruz County, Calif. Doctor’s intention with the site is to show the industry his vision on what is needed to be the local news leader this decade. Today he boasts over 12,000+ email followers and just under 1,000 paid website subscribers after just three months of putting his content behind a paywall. Lookout Local was started with $2.5-million dollars donated by the Knight Foundation, Google News Innovation Challenge, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, and various other foundations. One of his news publishing competitors is Dan Pulcrano, CEO of Metro Newspapers and owner of Good Times a free-circulation weekly newspaper based in Santa Cruz. Pulcrano recently penned an editorial claiming that the $2.5 mi

What do two millennial media execs from New York City do when they move to Texas? They buy a small market weekly newspaper and transform it into the center of the community. And how do they do this? By purchasing and renovating a building to house not only the newspaper’s office but a restaurant/ bar/ coffee shop and banquet center called The Sentinel. In this segment of “E&P Reports” Publisher Mike Blinder interviews Max Kabat the co-founder of a New York City-based brand consultancy firm, who along with his Emmy Award-winning, documentary filmmaker wife, Maisie Crow, purchased The Big Bend Sentinel, a weekly newspaper in Marfa, Texas. After purchasing the newspaper just two years ago, they are funding a vibrant newsroom and building their audience up with out-of-the-box thinking that not only creates revenue but connects their publication with the community. Related links: Big Bend Sentinel: https://bigbendsentinel.com The Sentinel (Restaurant) Website: https://www.thesentinelmarfa.com  

In the June 2021 Editor and Publisher cover story, editor-in-chief Nu Yang takes an in-depth look at how a number of Minneapolis journalists covered the events from George Floyd’s death to the conviction of the police officer deemed responsible. In this edition of E&P’s Vodcast series “E&P Reports,” publisher Mike Blinder has a frank discussion with the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s editorial management on what it was like to run a newsroom remotely, while covering one of the biggest stories of our time. Moreover, with all the global attention focused on their city, was it hard to hold to journalistic standards of balance of fairness in each story filed? Plus, with reporters receiving death threats and being shot at with rubber bullets, how did they maintain safety for each team member in the field? As they reflect a year later, how did the incidents and issues effect the Star Tribune’s own feelings and policies on diversity and inclusion? Learn what it was like to manage a newsroom through crises with S

For years, many media companies used remnant inventory as reciprocal trade in order to receive in-kind goods and services, such as prizes or meals. But what if there were new start-up companies willing to give you equity in their business in exchange for being able to market to your readers and viewers? That opportunity is now available from a new venture capital firm called Arrandale Ventures. Founded by two industry veterans, Zach Richner (Richner Communications) and Jeremy Mims (Spoken Layer/OwnLocal), Arrandale Ventures’ job is to seek out growing B2C and B2B startups that serve local residents, businesses, and governments, and match them with marketing services across a national footprint of local media. Today, they have hundreds of media companies onboard who are gaining equity in exchange for the advertising services they provide. In this segment of “E&P Reports,” publisher Mike Blinder chats with Richner and Mims about how their new venture capital firm works, and what the benefits and risks are f

Raymond Alcide Joseph is arguably one of the most remarkable news publishers in our industry today. In 1971, while working as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, he founded, with his brother Léo, the Haiti Observateur, a weekly newspaper and 24/7 website that publishes in four languages (Haitian Creole, French, and English). Today, it remains the free voice of the Haitian people.   For five years, Joseph served as Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., and during the massive 2010 earthquake, he was essentially the functioning government since the capitol, Port au Prince, was substantially damaged, and the country's elected leadership could not be reached. Joseph is credited by The American Bible Society as the original translator of the New Testament with the Psalms from original languages and French to Haitian Creole. His autobiographical book, "For Whom the Dogs Spy," reveals Joseph’s insider’s account—having served under four presidents—of Haiti’s struggle to build a democracy during the tyrannical reign of d

Alec Johnson is the fourth generation to manage Johnson Newspaper Corporation, owners of the Watertown Daily Times, a newspaper serving New York's North Country region since 1861. Today the Johnson family's media company has five daily publications, several weeklies, and magazines. They have a solid commitment to multimedia with a company-wide website, NNY360.com, that serves the entire region with news and classifieds. In 2019, Johnson made the difficult decision to shutter the Ogdensburg Journal, one their publications that dated back to 1858, serving a city of 10,000+ residents along the St. Lawrence River. However, starting in June, the paper will begin to print again. In this segment of ‘E&P REPORTS' Publisher Mike Blinder discusses with President & COO Alec Johnson why the company decided to bring back the Journal and their strong commitment to printing a quality product in a growing digital world. Johnson Newspaper’s Webiste NNY 360: https://www.nny360.com

In 2018, ten former employees of The Denver Post started The Colorado Sun in response to multiple layoffs after the Post's acquisition by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital. Initially started with a combination of financial and technical support from Civil, a blockchain platform for news organization and from a Kickstarter campaign, The Sun was able to hire the staff and build the business disrupt the news ecosystem of this major market. Today the Sun remains journalist-owned and is growing audience relying on member support and sponsorships in order to pay the bills. And now, thanks to help from The National Trust for Local News the Sun has purchased Colorado Community Media, which has 24 weekly and monthly newspapers serving eight counties including and surrounding Denver.  In this segment of “E&P Reports” E&P Publisher Mike Blinder chats with Larry Ryckman Editor at the Sun, along Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro Co-Founder at The National Trust for Local News and Senior Research Fellow at the To