The University of Texas at Austin has selected Rachel Davis Mersey to serve as the next dean of the Moody College of Communication. Mersey, who holds the Everett D. Collier Centennial Chair in the School of Journalism and Media at UT, begins her new appointment effective immediately. more

It may be pushing the season for a year-end column but I’d like to share updates on several stories from 2023. Besides, I only recently mailed Christmas cards. I’m pleased to report that three local news ventures I wrote about, including an online startup and two brave newspaper projects, are doing well and slowing the spread of news deserts in Washington. more

"If we want politicians to be held accountable in local elections, corruption to be detected and exposed, and small communities to thrive, we need local journalists. We need the state and federal government to help save local news." — Chance Phillips, Opinions Editor, The Crimson White more

States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, has launched Utah News Dispatch to provide free, non-partisan coverage of the state issues that most affect Utahns’ daily lives. more

January 11, 2023 - News leaders told a U.S. Senate subcommittee that journalism is at risk of being snuffed out by tech giants that apparently care more about growing profits than preserving this cornerstone of democracy. Wednesday’s hearing focused on the latest threat to the battered local news industry, artificial intelligence systems scraping and regurgitating the work of print and broadcast journalists with little to no attribution or compensation. more

PAGE Cooperative has announced that Kevin Craig will be joining the organization as its next chief executive officer.  Most recently, he served as SVP/director at The Arena Group where he helped Parade magazine with its transition from print to digital.  more

January 10, 2023 - Today (Jan. 10), the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. ET, on “Oversight of A.I.: The Future of Journalism,” which will explore the impact of the growth of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) technology on publishers’ ability to provide high-quality journalism and possible oversight mechanisms to help protect and sustain quality journalism. more

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule on Jan. 9 revising its interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) classification provision to determine whether a worker may be considered an independent contractor. The rule will require that workers be considered employees rather than contractors when they are “economically dependent” on a company. more

Region’s largest news organization takes aggressive growth stance in an era of shrinking news resources. more

A Kentucky newspaper has sued the state’s biggest city to get access to police records cited in a federal investigation. more

January 9, 2024 - The artificial intelligence start-up said that it collaborated with news organizations and that The New York Times, which accused it of copyright infringement, was not telling the full story. more

Editorials, letters, columns, cartoons, endorsements and other forms of commentary are increasingly disappearing from America’s community newspapers. In fact, entire opinion sections are disappearing in all too many places, a sign the rest of the newspapers may soon follow. more

A new study asked thousands to evaluate the accuracy of news articles — both real and fake — by doing some research online. But for many, heading to Google led them farther from the truth, not closer. more

Lauren Rosenberg started working at the News Messenger on Jan. 2 and will be covering all sports in Marshall, Harrison County and Marion County. more

Her first day with The Dallas Morning News will be Monday, Jan. 22. more

A warm America's Newspapers welcome to our newest member. more

January 5, 2023 - As AI transforms the media landscape, a blend of technology and human touch will be the key to success. more

Here's an idea to steal and adapt: The Henrico (Virginia) Citizen added 9,000+ email subscribers and generated $34,000 in reader revenue in one year. more

Erik Wemple’s coverage of the Scranton, Pa., newspaper’s sale reflected a daily newspaper journalist’s take on the newspaper world [“Could the local news crisis get any worse? Look at Scranton.,” Tuesday Opinion, Dec. 19]. There is another view. more

"In the New Year, I’d invite you to consider dieting your information consumption." — Leonard Woolsey, The Daily News, Galveston, Texas more