The MJC Newsletter: We're thankful. | | |
Hello, all – We’ve had some magic this month, with spectacular northern lights displays visible even near some cities. (I managed to miss both nights, somehow.)
It’s reminded us that there is space for shared awe, even in divisive times. As holiday seasons approach, let’s hang on to the feeling! We’re thankful for all of you, and for the Minnesota journalism community. - Regina
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Northern lights, courtesy Nicole Neri, freelance, @nicolehneri
Here’s what we have for you.
- Register today for JAM at the Arb on Sunday!
- News of your colleagues around the state
- Job listings
- Students to once again cover the Legislature
- Update from the winning AI + Journalism Hackathon team
- Some interesting and fun reads about journalism
If your email is clipped, click the link at the bottom to read it all.
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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Since then, we’ve learned a lot about the needs, interests and potential of the group — and we’re launching several efforts we hope will help build deeper connections and support:
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Content sharing among organizations. We are launching a working group to get a formal story-sharing collaboration off the ground. Interested in being part of that conversation? Let us know.
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Training advisors. We hope folks have been taking advantage of the training we’ve offered so far — and going forward, we want to make sure we’re putting our energy toward what you need most. We’re building a small advisory committee to help us do that. Want to join? Let us know.
Do you work in nonprofit or community-supported news in Minnesota? Want to meet other folks with similar roles or at similar organizations? Join the JAM (affectionately called the Journalism Alliance of Minnesota)! There’s no commitment, no membership requirements and no time frame — just opportunities to connect at whatever pace makes the most sense for you.
Speaking of which…
| This weekend: Meet fellow JAM members in person! We’re getting the JAM band back together — and connecting with more folks from across Minnesota’s nonprofit and community-supported news organizations along the way. If that’s you, join us this Sunday, Nov. 23, for lunch (and just a little bit of conversations to launch the training and content-sharing groups) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Families are welcome, and your RSVP comes with a free ticket and parking to the Arb for the full day on Sunday. More about the event — and RSVP — on Eventbrite. Please RSVP by tomorrow morning (!!) if you plan to attend! | Safety and Resilience Training | |
As Minnesota journalists prepare for the possibility of National Guard deployments and an increase in the presence of federal agents in the state, we’re working with training partners to offer sessions and resources to support Minnesota journalists’ legal rights, physical safety, digital security, resilience and mental health.
Last week’s excellent session with trainer Jen Nelson from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — “Know your rights: Protest Safety & Police Interactions for Journalists” — was the beginning of a series of offerings we’re putting together with your needs in mind. The session wasn’t recorded, but we’ll be sending around resources this week.
We’re building sessions for editors, photographers and reporters on the ground, and digital safety and resilience training for everyone in the newsroom — as well as an immigration-focused legal session with RCFP.
And we’d like to create opportunities to connect folks in similar roles to each other — on-the-ground reporters, editors responsible for safety, etc. — before we’re in the thick of breaking news coverage. Stay tuned.
If you want to get involved in the planning, know of a great trainer or resource we should connect with, or have suggestions for topics, approaches or tools, please email Meg at martinme@umn.edu.
Don’t miss… And here’s an upcoming session from our friends at IWMF — led by trainer Jeff Belzil, who joined us in Minneapolis this summer! “Staying Safe on Assignment: Navigating Law Enforcement and Digital Risks,” hosted by ONA this Thursday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. CT.
Additional safety opportunity: In the meantime, our friends at the International Women's Media Foundation are expanding their Newsroom Safety Across America program — and they need your help. This new effort focuses on creating a sustainable safety infrastructure for local news through the development of a cohort of dedicated Safety Ambassadors — who IWMF will train, support and coach in best practices. Applications are open through Nov. 23 (Sunday!) at midnight ET.
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The MJC has been busy on and off campus this month:
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🎳 Will we see you tomorrow at NABJ-MN’s bowling fundraiser? (It’s not too late to register!! Walk-ins are also accepted.) Join us at the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park from 5:30-8 p.m. Bowling starts prompt at 6 p.m. 🎳
📅 We’re also working on a session (or two) ahead of this summer’s Special Olympics in Minneapolis, and looking ahead to our Northern Exposure visual conference. Mark your calendar – it’s on April 10-11 in 2026.
| | Other training and events | | |
KARE-TV needs a morning reporter, a news anchor and a photographer.
KSTP is looking for an executive producer for local programming, a reporter and a meteorologist.
KAAL is searching for a morning news producer, a director and an evening news anchor.
KMSP (FOX 9) needs a photojournalist.
MPR News is hiring its next managing editor, deputy managing editor of investigative journalism, deputy managing editor of culture and community reporting and newscaster.
Augsburg University is looking for adjunct faculty in journalism and communications and film and narrative arts for 2026.
Owatonna People's Press has an opening for a news reporter.
Adams Multimedia is seeking a managing editor for its southern Minnesota regional publications.
The Globe in Worthington is looking for a multimedia reporter.
The Aitkin Independent Age needs a part-time reporter.
The Star Tribune is looking for a head of audience strategy.
For students, here’s a spring and summer internship roundup.
Interesting remote jobs
The BBC is looking for a senior U.S. reporter for digital based in the South or Midwest.
The Marshall Project is hiring a managing editor.
The War Horse is seeking a data reporter.
Axios has an opening for a senior technology reporter.
Sojourners is looking for an early career reporter or opinion writer for an inclusive journalism program.
The Online News Association is seeking a Community Engagement Coordinator.
Sentient, a nonprofit news organization focused on factory farms, is looking for an audience manager.
Fellowships, grants and contests
Grist will once again offer grants to newsrooms to report stories on rural America. This time, stories must focus on climate or environmental justice. Applicants can request up to $5,000 per project. Interested newsrooms and freelancers may apply using this form by Dec. 3.
Interested in the RJI Professional Innovation Fellowship? There’s a Zoom Q&A session on
Dec. 3 to answer questions you may have.
Journalism and Women Symposium has a health reporting fellowship “designed to empower early-career journalists and those new to the health beat who are eager to strengthen their health reporting skills.” Deadline Dec. 5.
CatchLight invites visual storytellers worldwide to apply for 2026 Global Fellowship. Three visual practitioners to receive $30,000 awards and opportunities to strengthen their impact. Deadline Dec. 15.
The big three fellowships have opened their applications for next fall. Plenty of Minnesota journalists have had the opportunity to attend (talk to Meg about the Knight-Wallace Fellowship). Let’s send more Minnesota journalists to these career-changing experiences!
The Latino Media Consortium is exploring ways to expand support services and programs to the broader Latino-serving publisher community. If you’re interested in membership or in participating in non-member opportunities, add your information to their publisher database
here in English and here in Spanish.
Journalism Support Exchange for news providers: A new way to find the support you need. Press Forward’s announcement writes: “Think of the Journalism Support Exchange as a matchmaking tool for the U.S. local news industry. It’s a searchable database of more than 300 organizations that support journalism with shared resources, programs, tools, services, training, peer learning, events and/or grants.” (The Journalism Support Exchange is a new matchmaking tool for local news outlets to get the help they need — Nieman Labs)
Entries are open for the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award and the Gary Corcoran Student prize for excellence in disability reporting at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The Solutions Journalism Network has opened up round two of its Advancing Democracy Innovation Fund. It’s designed to support newsrooms in developing innovative approaches to covering politics, elections, and government — approaches that build trust, center communities, and highlight solutions. Up to $4,000 in funding is available.
Deep-dive Training Opportunities
Minnesota Young American Leaders Program is an intensive, three-and-a-half day program at the University of Minnesota convening leaders from across for-profit, government, and non-profit sectors who are committed to working across sectors to help their communities and our region prosper inclusively. Deadline Nov. 20
News Product Management Certification from the News Product Alliance is a 3.5-month, part-time, virtual program “for mid to senior-level news professionals who are looking to deepen their knowledge of areas of product practice — like crafting sustainable business strategies based on gathering and analyzing audience insights, conducting market research, driving AI experimentation and adoption, and managing stakeholders.” Cohort runs from March to June 2026. Application deadline November 26.
Poynter’s Leadership Academy for Women 2026 Designed for women and nonbinary journalists, this program is focused on developing leadership skills, ethical decision making and a formula for work-life chemistry. March 23- 27, 2026. Application deadline Dec. 15.
Rural Revenue Transformation Workshop at RJI is an opportunity for news, information and community leaders who are located in and serve rural, low-income and geographically dispersed communities, held on April 12-15, 2026. Deadline Jan. 1.
The Advancing Democracy Peer Network is a monthly virtual gathering for journalists covering politics, government, and elections. Hosted by Solutions Journalism Network, Hearken, and Trusting News, the sessions offer guest speakers, peer problem-solving, and breakout discussions.
Looking for something more? Check out our calendar of training opportunities and newsroom events.
| | Gary Feblowitz – known to those of us who knew him as Febby – was a WCCO photojournalist with a huge personality who went on to work on shows for places like Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Food Network and HGTV. He loved traipsing through jungles and recording in remote locations, enough that his son described him as “Indiana Jones with a camera.” Read his beautiful tribute (and all the comments) here. And watch the fun “look back” video here. Febby died at age 64 of early onset Alzheimer's. | | |
Steve Kohls at the Brainerd Dispatch on July 1, 2024. (Photo: Regina McCombs/MJC)
The Brainerd Lakes area lost a local icon in photographer Steve Kohls, who died on Nov. 10. Steve was a photographer at the Brainerd Dispatch for 50 years — and, as KAXE’s Morning Show wrote in a lovely tribute, “from sporting events to first days of school, annual festivals to spontaneous gatherings, moments of triumph or devastating tragedies, Kohls documented it as part of the first draft of history.” Steve taught photography at Central Lakes college for two decades, and was remembered warmly by his colleagues at the Dispatch as “the face of the newspaper” to the community, “a unifying force” in the newsroom — and for his infectious laugh everywhere he went.
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Globe publisher Joni Harms announces her retirement after 47 years in newspapers, most recently as publisher of the Worthington Globe and the Mitchell Republic.
Mankato Free Press features editor Robb Murray named the new Free Press editor.
Ivy Vainio joins PBS North as the Native Report associate producer.
Southwest Minneapolis’ Connector and Voices papers merge. (More on the merger from Racket: 2 Southwest Mpls Publications Combine to Form 1 Southwest Mpls Super-Publication)
Raphael Brion is named food critic at the Star Tribune: Meet our new restaurant critic. This is why he won’t be anonymous.
Award winners!
FAR too many Upper Midwest Emmy award-winners from Minnesota to name them all here (see the full list), but we want to highlight Silver Circle honorees Mary Lahammer of TPT, Stacey Nogy of KARE and Joe Conlon of Town Square TV. KARE won for Overall Excellence and News Excellence (with another shout-out to Stacey!). And don’t miss former WCCO reporter Pauleen Le’s moving acceptance speech. Congratulations to all who won. Well done.
TPT’s Doug Roderick was named 2025 CFO of the Year by Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. (Fun fact: Doug, formerly of MPR/APM, was also a high school classmate of Regina’s. Go, Osseo!),
APM Reports, with St. Louis Public Radio and The Marshall Project, are 2025 Sunshine Award recipients for contributions to open government from the Society of Professional Journalists for a yearslong investigation into why the St. Louis police department has struggled to solve homicides. The reporting has garnered significant awards and accolades from across the industry.
The AARP Award for Excellence in Journalism on Aging this year went to FOX 9’s Nathan O’Neal and Casey Hooker for their investigation of long-term care insurance companies in Minnesota.
Congratulations to Mikki Morrissette of the Minnesota Women’s Press for winning the inaugural Violence-Free Minnesota Journalism Award.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting awarded $1.16 million to support a new Upper Midwest Regional Journalism Collaboration, led by MPR with partners Prairie Public (North Dakota), South Dakota Public Broadcasting and Wisconsin Public Radio.
College Photographer of the Year went to former WCCO intern Jordan Tovin. At WCCO, he worked on the project, “More than Frybread,” which was part of his winning portfolio.
Have updates to share in the next MJC newsletter? Tell us! Reply to this email — or send along your notes to Regina at rmccombs@umn.edu.
And more
City nominates Spokesman-Recorder for national historic recognition, Spokesman-Recorder
Tiny Swift County bucks trend with three family owned papers, MinnPost
WCCO staff among those impacted by widespread Paramount cuts, Bring Me The News
Reviving school newspapers could strengthen MN journalism, MinnPost
Minnesota native reflects on 25 years as Washington Post food critic, Pioneer Press
Former KMSP-TV reporter Beth McDonough recalls how addiction nearly destroyed her career, Star Tribune
Are you in a media business facing transition? University of Minnesota Extension is gathering stories and case studies about transitioning small businesses to new owners and leaders. If you know a business owner or leader who may be interested in sharing their experience, please share or complete this form.
– Regina and Meg
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Applications are in for our 2026 Report for Minnesota Legislative Reporting Project, in which students will work from the Capitol to cover the legislative session for our news partners in Greater Minnesota.
Five students, including one photojournalist, will be overseen by longtime political editor Mike Mulcahy. Another student will work exclusively with Forum Communications news network’s legislative team.
This year, the Legislative Reporting Project will offer a boot camp for students, which will tap the expertise of political reporters, legislators and lobbyists to get them off to a great start for the program.
Please reach out if you want to receive stories or participate in the boot camp.
Our micro-internship program had a great fall. In the spring, we will increase the annual three-week freelancing opportunities to support 21 students.
Feedback from one student: “It was a great experience, and I would definitely do it again!” Thanks to the Park Bugle, TMC Publications, the Roseville Reporter and Minnesota Trails Magazine for participating. And a big thanks to Sheila Eldred for her role mentoring the students.
Recruitment for our Report for Minnesota summer internships will begin in late January. Stay tuned!
– G.G.
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AI + Journalism Hackathon Update: MinneDigest
Back in February, the Minnesota Journalism Center hosted our first-ever hackathon, bringing together students, journalists, technologists and civic-tech partners to prototype new tools for strengthening local news.
The winning project, MinneDigest, created by graduate students Dipan Bag, Erina Karati and Arunachalam Manikandan, introduced a platform that promised an AI-generated podcast pulled from the local news headlines.
Since their win, the team has expanded the tool’s language support, refined its text-to-speech and recommendation features, and begun shaping newsroom-friendly workflows informed by feedback from local media partners. Looking ahead, they hope to pilot the tool with local news partners.
Study: Expertise and enhanced bios
This October, the MJC research team, in collaboration with Hubbard School assistant professor Carolina Velloso, published a new study examining how The New York Times uses its ‘enhanced bios’ to signal reporter expertise. By analyzing 1,160 biographies on the newspaper’s website, the team found that the bios overwhelmingly highlight longstanding professional norms about expertise, such as journalistic background, awards and published books, rather than more personal or political identities.
The findings contribute to a growing body of work exploring how news organizations frame journalists’ expertise in the digital era.
Research: Events and audience engagement
MJC researchers Ben Toff and Meagan Doll, along with former Hubbard School MA student Cydney Grannan (who is now at the University of Michigan) are wrapping up their findings on audience engagement with public events hosted by the Texas Tribune.
Based on a survey of event attendees and in-depth interviews with a subset of survey participants, the upcoming report will highlight details about who attends the newsroom’s events, what motivates them to do so, and how participation shapes their perceptions of journalism and politics more broadly.
— George Bagrov, MJC research assistant
Note: Ben is on parental leave this fall following the arrival of his daughter earlier this month. While he is out, journalism professor Matt Carlson will be helping out on the research side. You can reach Matt at carlson1@umn.edu.
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“Biased,” “boring” and “bad”: Unpacking perceptions of news media and journalism among U.S. teens, News Literacy Project. In a followup survey to last year on teen attitudes toward media, NLP found that the majority of teens view news media negatively. The findings, the group said, “paint a shockingly bleak picture of how teens view and understand journalism and news media today.”
Iowa's rural newspapers are closing, but not without a fight, Axios
The Ann Arbor District Library Plans to Acquire the Ann Arbor Observer, Ann Arbor District Library
Take the survey: UN Women-commissioned survey on women human rights defenders, activists and journalists’ experiences with online violence.
The big divide in American news consumption is less about “left vs. right” than “active vs. passive” Nieman Journalism Lab
The State of Local News 2025, Annual Report from the Local News Initiative at Medill, including a map with local “bright spots” with multiple Minnesota news-startups.
A Timely Reminder to Choose Our Words Carefully, Second Rough Draft. Press Forward research can shape messaging, but we also need to preserve core values. In response to: Don’t dwell on “democracy,” and other new findings about how to market local news
They Took Big Pay Cuts to Run the Midcoast Villager, a Local Paper in Maine, The New York Times
Meet the teens keeping this northeast Wisconsin village from becoming a news desert, Wisconsin Watch
New newsletter: Press Freedom Partnership, The Washington Post
Community News Roles framework: The Journalism + Design Lab’s “goal with this framework is to broaden the definition of who contributes to local news ecosystems, and ask: how might local newsrooms, community colleges, and other civic institutions better enable more people to responsibly and ethically perform these journalistic functions?”
Introducing a new AI guide for local news editorial teams from the American Journalism Project. AI “has left editorial leaders at local news organizations with a simple question: Which of these tools can actually help us do our jobs better?”
Google who? How a new generation of media startups is thriving without search traffic, Business Insider, and YouTube dominance is mirroring what Google and Facebook did to publishers, Press Gazette
Covering immigration: When legal help becomes harm, RJI
McClatchy’s Quiet Cuts, Status. McClatchy has gutted its national news operation.
Need something funny – and a little uplifting – heading into the holidays? Check out John Oliver’s monologue on Bob Ross, public media and small communities on Last Week Tonight this week.
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Lean into the time with family and friends. And stay thankful! Let us know how we can help.
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