The MJC Newsletter: May Rowing Together Edition | | |
Hello, journalists and journalism supporters.
Happy May! April got away from us, so we’re sending lots of good stuff to make up for it (and if you can’t see it all, click the link at the bottom). Last week saw still more anti-media moves from the president. There has been plenty of push-back — and public media outlets say they will fight an executive order to cut funding for public radio and television.
We are all in this together, and it’s great to see the Star Tribune publishing supportive letters for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And in case you missed this in March, Pew Research says Americans are more likely to support than oppose federal funding for NPR and PBS. If you’ve been putting off renewing your membership with your favorite public media outlet, now is a good time to show them some love.
Here’s all the stuff we have to keep us all rowing together:
- Events to help you keep doing great work, including an upcoming MJC webinar on accessing open records and public meetings
- Our students’ work in local newsrooms this summer
- There are some great jobs out there!
- Lots of recognition for Minnesota journalists
- Readings to make you laugh, cry, think
The MJC is: Ben Toff, director and lead researcher, Gayle (G.G.) Golden, associate director of student educational initiatives, Regina McCombs, associate director of outreach and training and Meg Martin, associate director of pretty much everything.
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May 20 @ 11:30 a.m. via Zoom
We’re continuing our series of sessions crafted by our nonprofit and member-supported news community, unofficially dubbed the Journalism Alliance of Minnesota (JAM) — and all are welcome! Three experts on Minnesota’s open records and meetings laws — MaryJo Webster, Don Gemberling and Brandon Stahl — will walk you through ways to identify the records you might need for a story, how to get them, how to negotiate costs and what to do if your requests are denied.
REGISTER HERE
| Did you miss the first JAM session, featuring MPR News' Kaila White, folks from the Texas Tribune and cameo by Southwest Voices’ Melody Hoffmann? Watch the replay any time: How local news orgs are reaching younger audiences — and how you can, too. | | | We’re hosting the second symposium in our series on the 80th anniversary of the Minnesota Poll, this one focused on the role of journalism in covering public opinion. It’s May 28, with speakers from The Washington Post, Axios, FiveThirtyEight and a keynote from Susan Herbst, former president of the University of Connecticut. It’s a small, daylong event, and we plan to write about what we learn when it’s all over. Stay tuned! | | | Interesting events elsewhere | | |
Tight deadline: The American Press Institute is holding its second Local News Summit of 2025 on June 11-12 in Denver, “How might local media bridge civically-oriented coverage and conversation across generations?” Learn more and request an invitation via this form by this Wednesday — May 7.
Feel the need to brush up on the Constitution? The Big Ten Law Schools are presenting weekly Rule of Law in 2025 webinars: Citizenship and Immigration (May 7); What is the ‘Rule of Law’? (May 14); and more. Free, but preregistration is required. (Sadly, they’re not being recorded.)
Monday, May 12, the fundraising org Candid is hosting a virtual training session on finding a diverse group of funding sources to keep your organization afloat. “Funding beyond federal: How to diversify funding to ensure stability in uncertain times” is free and scheduled to begin at noon Central. Register to attend.
May 14: AI for Freelancers is an Online News Association event covering “AI basics and how tools can help you be more efficient with story pitches and pitch letters, manage your workflow, brainstorm story ideas, write FOIA requests, do research and more.”
Poynter and the Carter Center are hosting an hourlong session on Covering Vulnerable Sources: A Mental Health Reporting Project Webinar. It’s free, virtual and scheduled for May 20.
On May 27, the National Press Club will host a virtual session that will resonate with Minnesota journalists: Covering rural & urban health disparities. It’s free, but you need to register to access the Zoom link.
If you’re interested in learning digital security fundamentals, the Freedom of the Press Foundation is doing a webinar on June 3. You’ll need to apply to participate in the training by May 30.
Mark your calendar for the Minnesota SPJ dinner on Thursday, June 26 to celebrate the winners of the annual Page One Awards contest at Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis. “We’re especially excited to honor the winners of the inaugural A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism in Minnesota contest, which will award journalists and their newsrooms $15,000 in prize money.”
Here’s a free tip sheet and online self-directed course from Poynter: “Understanding U.S. Immigration from the Border to the Heartland.”
Minnesota is The Spot for journalism conferences this summer: We’ve already hosted several large ones — and now there are more on the horizon. Mark your calendars, and let us know if you’re planning to attend any of them – we’d love to connect!
Bonus! If you have high-schoolers in your life who are interested in journalism, here are a couple great opportunities:
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Scholarships, fellowships and awards
ProPublica is looking for an early-career data journalist for a data reporting fellowship.
SPJ’s Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Public Service Journalism “is intended to enable a mid-career journalist who specializes in fact-based commentary or analysis to have time away from daily responsibilities to pursue in-depth reporting projects. Fellows may use the funds to enrich their knowledge of a public interest issue through courses, independent study or travel.” Deadline: June 19
Want to make international connections to your local reporting? “The Pulitzer Center’s global reporting grants support in-depth, high-impact reporting on critical issues that are often overlooked in the media. This is our ‘catch-all’ grant, so there are no restrictions on topic or reporting location. Staff and freelance journalists are eligible.” Rolling deadlines.
A monster list of 2025 grants is here.
– Meg
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It's great to see local folks getting some of these fellowships and grants.
Congrats to Dené K. Dryden and Olivia Estright of the Rochester Post Bulletin for being named to ACHJ’s inaugural class of firearm violence reporting fellows.
Freelance journalist Jeffrey R. Young of St. Paul and Erin Adler of the Star Tribune have been named higher education media fellows at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars.
Congrats to Eden Prairie Local News on its Spark Fund award from the Tiny News Collective.
In the news…
Got news we should share? Send it our way!
St. Paul native Kathleen Hennesey has been named as the new editor of the Star Tribune. She was a deputy politics editor at The New York Times for the past three years after working at The Associated Press. Also from the Strib: Longtime general counsel Randy Lebedoff has retired.
Congratulations to Euan Kerr on his retirement from MPR News! Euan started in 1985 as a research assistant, covered Minneapolis City Hall, the arts (as reporter and editor) and most recently was an editor for regional reporters across the state. Listen to his final interview with host Tom Crann.
Speaking of Tom, he’s moving from hosting All Things Considered to Classical MPR.
MinnPost events get a shout-out in the Editor & Publisher article, “Events are driving local news forward — and the results are measurable.” And the collaborative work of MinnPost and the Sahan Journal was highlighted by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Fast Company named the Star Tribune one of the most innovative companies in media and news for 2025.
Lots going on at Project Optimist! They joined the 19th News Network, launched the new Central Minnesota News Collaborative with KZYS, were featured for how they used their Press Forward grant and founder Nora Hertel (with our Ben Toff) presented at the Local News Researchers Workshop at UNC.
Happy 40th anniversary to Minnesota Women’s Press last month! They teamed up with Unidos MN to create a “Know Your Rights” project in English and Spanish.
And so much terrific journalism being recognized…
Two Pulitzer Prize connections worth getting excited about: Big shout out to all the local folks who worked on the latest season of “In the Dark: The Killings in Haditha,” which was named the winner in audio reporting (it also won a 2025 Peabody Award). And congratulations to David Guttenfelder, a freelance photojournalist based in Minneapolis, for being a finalist for his work with The New York Times covering the war in Ukraine.
Great local representation at the National Headliner Awards! The investigative team at KARE 11 continues to knock it out of the ballpark, with first places in TV investigative and consumer reporting. Congrats to A.J. Lagoe, Gary Knox, Steve Eckert, Dave Peterlinz and Kelly Dietz. Other winners included first place in education writing for the Star Tribune staff, plus awards for columnists Karen Tolkkinen and Jon Bream. MPR News staff placed for news video, radio documentary and radio news series.
Minneapolis-based producer Allison Herrera’s podcast “Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land” for APM Reports won a Webby nod.
Katie Thornton, an independent producer based in the Twin Cities, received a media criticism award for “Jesus Take the Dial” in Rolling Stone, placed for an NYU literary reporting award and is a finalist for a Newhouse School Mirror Award.
MPR and KARE took home Gracies from the Alliance for Women in Media. Congrats to Angela Davis and the team at MPR News for Behind the Scenes of DJs: Women Setting the Vibe and to Jana Shortal at KARE 11 for her work anchoring Breaking the News.
Want to see great work from up-and-coming journalists? Take a look at the 2025 Student Production Award Nominees from the Upper Midwest Emmys. Students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, St. Cloud State University, University of Northwestern - St. Paul, Bethany Lutheran College, Bethel University, Hennepin Technical College and Minnesota State University, Moorhead took home top college honors and students at Eastview High School (Apple Valley), Apple Valley High School, St. Cloud Tech and Speak MPLS got top high school awards.
The Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association named the Sevareid Award winners at their conference in April. Congratulations to KEYC-TV, WTIP, WCCO Radio, MPR News, WDAY, CCX Media/Northwest Community Television, Prairie Public Radio, Lakeland Public TV and Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
Finally, sad news from our friends at WTIP: It is with heavy hearts that we share with you the news that long-time volunteer host Mark Abrahamson has passed away.
| | No theme, just some things we came across and wanted to share. | | |
The MJC research team has been hunkering down as the semester comes to a close, focusing on wrapping up several projects that have dominated much of our attention this term. These include writing up results from our recent focus groups with young adults examining attitudes about news delivered via short-form video as well as dual field experiments testing the impact of various trust-building interventions on different segments of the public. Stay tuned for reports on all of these studies.
The MJC research team also published an original report last month on audience attitudes about generative AI in news based on original survey data the team collected in collaboration with The Poynter Institute and presented in April at the Poynter/AP Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism. Later this week, we’ll be in Baltimore for the Hacks/Hackers’ AI x Journalism Summit at The Real News Network, talking with newsrooms about the report. The event will include dozens of speakers from a wide range of news and support organizations focused on the practical exploration of how AI is transforming journalism. The MJC’s research will serve as the jumping-off point for a hands-on workshop, again in partnership with The Poynter Institute, aimed at establishing ethical guidelines and disclosure practices for AI in newsrooms.
Finally, Nieman Lab wrote about a recently published article Ben co-authored that examines factors associated with differing audience demands for “impartial” journalism. The peer-reviewed study, published in the International Journal of Communication, draws on survey data collected across 40 countries around the world and finds that although most people in most places express a preference for impartial news, there are several overlapping groups of people who are more likely to say they prefer news that shares their point of view. These groups include those who are more politically engaged and ideologically extreme as well as those who tend to lack power, such as younger people women, and less socioeconomically advantaged groups.
– Ben
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