Julie Rafferty’s Post

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Did you know there are currently more than 200 U.S. counties without any local newspapers, digital sites, public radio newsrooms or ethnic publications? One is in New Jersey-Salem County. This data comes from researchers at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, who are worried that an additional 228 counties are at substantial risk of becoming news deserts in the coming years. This is something we should all be aware of because news deserts are bad news for democracy. The absence of strong independent journalism, whether location- or topic-specific, makes it very tough to find trustworthy news on topics that matter. Corruption is also a lot harder to uncover and root out when watchdogs don’t exist. At NJ Spotlight News we are reminded every day of the importance of truth-seeking reporting and analysis, especially during this important election year. We want to do everything in our power to provide the reliable, data-driven news that you need to make good decisions, engage with your community and thrive. But we need your help. NJ Spotlight News would not exist without the contributions of our readers. When you contribute to our state-wide newsroom, you enable all of us to be better informed, connected and empowered during this important election year. Your support and our commitment together can create real change and is an important vote of confidence to our news team. Today is World Press Freedom Day. We strive to serve our New Jersey communities with independent journalism that’s free of outside bias. World Press Freedom Day is a reminder of how important it is to foster solutions that make our communities and world a better place to live. At this time in our current world climate, this day is truly quite significant. Join us as a member and help keep journalism in New Jersey strong.

This week is my birthday week and in lieu of a traditional birthday fundraiser on Facebook, I want to request that you make a donation to your local PBS station. If you don’t know your station you can easily find it at pbs.org! It is a pivotal time in our American democracy and a pivotal time for media. Northwestern determined that there are 204 counties in the US that are currently news deserts, with no newspapers, local digital sites, public radio newsrooms, or ethnic publications. Another 228 counties have been identified as having substantial risk of becoming news deserts. Many, many more have only one weekly source of local information. This means that these communities are receiving no or very little information on what is going on right at home in their community. And the news they are receiving comes from national outlets or those tied to major markets…not focusing on how our regional and national issues impact them directly. And the impact of this lack isn’t just seen locally. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, “local news collapse has likely led to lower voter turnout and bond ratings, and more corruption, waste, air pollution, and corporate crime.” The bright spot in this bleak outlook is public media. We are the ONLY source that is consistently available across the country, not just in major cities but in your local community. It is our very purpose to serve locally…to be a voice for each community and to tell local stories. But public media can’t do it without the support of those very communities. So please, consider making a donation to support the future of information. I will leave you with an extremely powerful sentiment by the outgoing president of America’s Public Television Stations, Pat Butler: “We have reached a point where our divisions are so deep, our discourse so rancorous, our understanding of basic facts so contentious, and our very institutions of government so poorly understood, that our democracy itself seems endangered. No less an authority than the Father of Our Country warned in his Farewell Address of a destructive spirit of partisanship which, in his words, “agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.” President Washington’s prescription for such civic ills was a well-informed citizenry. “Promote, then, as a matter of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge,” he wrote. “In proportion as the structure of government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” That’s what we do. And we do it very well.” Thank you for reading 🤍

Can you support The Conversation’s unique model of quality journalism and help us bring people together? The Conversation has a simple goal: to strengthen our democracy by providing everyone with better information. That’s why we work so hard to make our journalism sober, clear and readable. We work exclusively with academics to share their knowledge and research as widely as possible. We give away our journalism for free to readers and republishers. Instead of building a paywall and charging subscribers, we rely on the kindness of people like you to help fund our not-for-profit newsroom. We know that social cohesion is damaged by the misinformation, disinformation and hot-takes circulating in digital media. We want to be part of the solution, a media outlet that brings people together by publishing useful information that helps us to be our best selves. Now we need you to help us by donating to our annual campaign. In past years we’ve been blown away by your generous response and today we ask that you give again in 2024. All Australian donations are tax-deductible. And if you can’t afford to help but you value and enjoy what we do, please help us by sharing this post. With your help, we can reach even more people. https://lnkd.in/g28SVke

Where there was hope in local news in 2023, it came from LION: Local Independent Online News Publishers members and others like them. Details in the 2023 Annual Report; I'm incredibly proud of the team we've assembled here, and the work we've been able to do. Much more remains, so Watch This Space, but: It's important to note what we've accomplished already. https://lnkd.in/gsKEvU9f #annualreports #nonprofits #localnews

Institute For Fiscal Studies does #watchdog journalism in election time In this pre #ukelection2024 period, where there are debates between politicians and manifesto launches, the role of journalism and holding politicians to account on what they say and promise is crucial. Some journalists do it accurately, others don't and give politicians a free pass. Others, especially in the UK #printmedia are partisans and will support a particular political party on the basis of ideology, and avoid scrutiny of their preferred party, or at least bury it within the paper, pages away from the headline, whilst subjecting the party they don't like to overbearing scrutiny. Sometimes politicians actively avoid scrutiny by skipping hard-hitting interviews. Think of Boris Johnson missing the debate on climate change, and then skipping the Andrew Neil grilling in 2019. However, a non-journalistic and non-media company is providing as good a scrutiny of politicians and their economic manifestos, the #thinktank Institute of Fiscal Studies. The IFS only deals in economics, they don’t take any cultural or civil society policies into account, just numbers. Each major UK political party has released their manifesto, where they claim its fully costed and they claim X money raised from Y resource will pay for Z policy. The IFS has stepped in and provided a non-biased review and analysis of each manifesto, from Labour to the Conservatives, to the Greens to Reform and shown firstly, if the money they claim they can raise actually makes sense, and how much money the policy actually needs. Almost in every case, they've found that the maths doesn't add up, and pointed to mathmathical shortfalls, and outlined consequences to those. Some are worse than others by pure maths terms. This level of analysis I've found extremely enlightening, as it shows an impartial take on expectation vs reality and how far apart they are. This kind of work isn't really journalism, its academic investigation, its economic forecasting, number crunching etc. However, it has the same effect of journalism, and #watchdog journalism a phrase that media academic Silvio Waisbord pioneered, which informs the public on what to expect, based on pure economic analysis. Whilst it's not journalism in its purest sense, it's been used as a primary source for #journalism, being reported in numerous online publications, bringing it directly to readers who are interested in how promises match up, based on impartial calculations. In elections especially, we need cold, hard, impartial scrutiny, when so much can be disguised by fanciful oratory, and populist rhetoric. I think these kind of thinktanks boost #publicservicemedia in carrying out watchdog journalism, and make the public aware of exaggerated promises and provide a dose of realism at a time where PR political campaigns are creating a lopsided reality. #uk #election #politicalmanifestos #publicrelations #economics #economicanalysis #politics

Real reporting from Tucson Sentinel is the antidote for fake news — and right now, your gift to support nonprofit independent local journalism will be matched, 2-1! https://lnkd.in/gkePYbuV Give your tax-deductible gift today — and through the end of the year, every donation (up to $1,000 per individual) will be TRIPLED by NewsMatch (an important initiative to strengthen selected nonprofit newsrooms funded by a group of national foundations) and the generous local supporters of our Community Challenge Fund. This is a great opportunity to help us produce more of the award-winning accountability journalism you have come to expect from the Sentinel. That's right: each dollar you give to support truly local independent journalism about Tucson will be matched. Twice. And even better, if you sign up right now to give monthly, each dollar you give through all of 2024 will be matched. Pitch in just $25 per month to our experienced local reporters, and NewsMatch & the Challenge Fund will give another $600 to TucsonSentinel.com's hardworking reporters like Jim Nintzel, Bianca Morales and Paul Ingram. We want to keep growing in our 15th year, and bring you and the rest of Tucson and Pima County even more deep-digging watchdog journalism. We can do that with your help. This is the type of journalism that just cannot wait. If we don't tell these stories, who will? #journalism #tucson #news

Why should journalists care whether readers see nonprofit news as distinctive? It comes down to the values of trust and credibility — and of convincing audiences that those qualities are worthy of support. It should matter to the public that in order to get nonprofit tax status, news organizations by statute must serve the public interest — they must be “organized exclusively and operated primarily” for an education, charitable or social welfare purpose. The challenge: Find a way to make it clear to their communities that there is a nonprofit news difference. https://lnkd.in/e_gG7KZm

Great news for local journalism! The Associated Press will launch an independent sister organization to raise at least $100 million to expand state and local news. This move aims to address the growing void in community reporting and ensure critical stories are told. The AP Fund for Journalism has already been established, but is awaiting IRS approval. #Journalism #LocalNews #CommunityStories #APNews

What’s the secret sauce to any successful business? Not the strategy. It’s the way the strategy is articulated. That’s why respect for Evan Smith remains at an all-time high and this interview with him is a masterclass in articulating strategy vs. just having a strategy.