Hello, all – As the weather (finally!) feels like autumn, we’re taking some deep breaths and appreciating the gift of seasons. And enjoying a 🤞calmer news cycle. We hope you are, too. 

If you want to relish what makes fall special, spend time with this republished Atlantic essay from Henry David Thoreau: “October is the month of painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight.”

October sky, Courtesy David Peterlinz, KARE 11, @dpet_kare11news



Here’s what we have for you

• News of your colleagues around the state
• Lots of job listings 
• Students start “micro-internships”
• Upcoming research on AI use and trust in newsrooms
• Some interesting, sometimes even 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.

Before we get to jobs, the Minnesota Daily Board of Directors has an open spot. The ideal candidate has philanthropy experience. Daily alums are welcome, but it's not a requirement. If you are interested or know anyone who would be a good fit, please reach out to Charlie Weaver at charlie@mndailymedia.org.

Need help looking for work? Our August and September newsletters have resources. And if you’re looking anywhere in the country, Rebecca Aguilar is compiling journalism job listings monthly on LinkedIn. Follow her! And if you’ve got openings, let us know and we will happily spread the word. 

Join us at the Hubbard School! We have an opening for an Associate/Full Professor of Media Law and Ethics and Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and the Law. Yes, Jane Kirtley is retiring!

The Duluth News Tribune is looking for its next managing editor. Thanks for the heads up, Jimmy Lovrien.

ProPublica is looking for a Midwest reporter (must be based in IL, MI, MO, WI, OH, IN or MN). Quick! Deadline is Oct. 15.

The Minnesota Star Tribune needs an outdoors editor. And for the students in your life, check out their summer internships.  

The Worthington Globe has an opening for a multimedia reporter. 

The Caledonia Argus (Owatonna) is looking for an associate editor.

Adams MultiMedia is looking for a Managing Editor for its Southern Minnesota Regional Publications and a part-time reporter in Aitken. 

The Star News in Elk River has an opening for community editor. 

The Mesabi Tribune is looking for its next assistant editor (part time). 

Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media Group have several job openings, including a managing editor for MPR News, a regional manager for MPR’s Moorhead bureau, a Moorhead-based reporter, a VP of technology, a Marketplace associate producer and a national host/producer for Classical24. MPR News has also posted two early career positions, for a producer fellow and a politics fellow. There are also several internships posted, many of which can be based in St. Paul.

HBI Radio Brainerd is looking for part time on-air talent. 

Courthouse News is seeking a reporter to cover court filings and proceedings in and around Hennepin County. 

Tradeoffs has an opening for a reporter/editor (fully remote). They’re looking for someone with both audio and digital skills. Deadline Oct. 19.

The Center for News, Technology & Innovation is hiring a research associate (remote possible).

The University of St. Thomas is looking for an adjunct instructor in media, graphic, and web design. 

So many TV openings! 

KARE 11 (Twin Cities) is looking for a Saturday morning show producer, a sports reporter/MSJ, a morning show producer, a news anchor and a photojournalist.

KSTP 5 Eyewitness News (Twin Cities) is hiring a newscast producer and a reporter. 

KMSP Fox 9 (Twin Cities) needs a news producer. 

WCCO-TV (Twin Cities) has an opening for a reporter/MMJ.

KAAL ABC 6 News (Austin) needs an evening news anchor. 

KTTC (Rochester) has two openings: Weekend news anchor and lifestyle producer/videographer. 

KBJR/Northern News Now (Duluth) has four openings: News anchor broadcast/digital, weekend anchor, digital news influencer (intriguing title) and a part-time digital content producer. 

WDIO (Duluth) also is looking for an evening news anchor. 

WDAY (Fargo-Moorhead) needs a morning news producer, a sports production producer, and a part-time broadcast director.  

KVLY, Valley News Live (Fargo-Moorhead) has an opening for a multimedia journalist. 

Fellowships, grants and contests

Deadline today! The Karsh Journalism Fellowship, dedicated to Jewish topics, has 10 fellowships for early and mid-career journalists “to advance public understanding through uncompromising, high-impact reporting. This is a non-partisan fellowship that is not chiefly concerned with activism.” Fellows will receive a $4,000 stipend, mentorship, and travel/expenses for the three retreats. Apply here by Oct. 15. 

Also today! The National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Adelante Academy can be a game-changer for current and aspiring news leaders. Deadline: Oct. 15.

The Indigenous Journalists Association and Report for America (RFA) invite local newsrooms to apply for the 2026 host newsroom cohort. Selected partners will receive an RFA corps member to report on undercovered issues and communities and support to strengthen local news sustainability. Deadline is Oct. 20.

The National Press Club has launched a new visual journalism award, the Pamela Tobey Award for Excellence in Visual Storytelling. It will honor Tobey’s work in visual journalism and her commitment to advancing innovative storytelling. Entry deadline is Oct. 24. 

CatchLight is now accepting applications for up to 10 newsrooms to join its Local Visual Desk, with membership beginning Jan. 1, 2026. “Participating newsrooms will gain access to tailored visual strategy, workflows, editing, skill-building, and product and engagement support.” Learn more at catchlight.io/local or by emailing local@catchlight.io. Deadline is Oct. 31.

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 (JAWS) 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 is Dec. 5.

The Shaufler Prize at ASU Cronkite School honors work that advances “the understanding of issues related to underserved people in society, such as communities of color, immigrants, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and those with disabilities.” Dec. 15 deadline.



Training

Third Solutions Journalism Sponsorship Revenue Accelerator “is designed to help news organizations grow revenue through subscriptions, membership, and/or individual donations in support of solutions journalism.” Deadline Oct. 17. 

Poynter’s Beat Academy hosts “Women and prisons: Covering the impact of incarceration, Part I” on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 11 a.m. CDT. This free, two-part webinar series is designed to deepen coverage of incarcerated women and women with incarcerated family members. Get research and tips on ethical reporting. Five $10,000 reporting grants are available. 

The Open Notebook released the Science Reporting Navigator, a toolkit to help journalists use scientific evidence and context in their reporting. Join the launch webinar on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m., where they will walk through the tool and answer questions. 

The Institute for Nonprofit News and Tiny News Collective are hosting News Startup sessions on multiple dates the next few months. If you need help, check out INN’s Startup Guide—with tips and resources for planning, launching, and running a nonprofit news organization. 

The Freedom Forum just launched the First Amendment Academy, a virtual training course on First Amendment freedoms. 

And here are a few more items from our training calendar:

• Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. — Influencer Collaboration for Newsrooms: Strengthening Community Trust [virtual]
• Oct. 30 at noon — Immigration reporting: From political scorecard to democratic principles [virtual]
• Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. — Engagement Lessons for Journalists: 10 Years of Hearken [virtual]
• Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. —  Martin Sabo: The Making of the Modern Legislature, a book reading with Lori Sturdevant [Minneapolis]

Farewells

Moves

Joe Spear in his office at the Mankato Free Press in July, 2024. (Photo: Regina McCombs/MJC)

Last deadline: Free Press editor Joe Spear signing off after 35 years, Mankato Free Press.

Eden Prairie declares Steve Schewe Day as EPLN leader steps down, Eden Prairie Local News

Politics reporter (and former Iowa Public Radio host) Clay Masters is MPR’s newest All Things Considered host, MPR News

Kevin Allenspach named St. Cloud LIVE editor, St. Cloud LIVE  

The CityCast Twin Cities team – host Sean McPherson (recently of Jazz88), executive producer Anna Weggel (formerly of BrainsOn!), creative producers Tiffany Bui (formerly of Lemonada) and Adam Sage and audience development manager James Napoli (formerly of APMG), along with several contributors to be announced soon – will launch their daily podcast (on Oct. 29) and newsletter (on Oct. 21). You can follow all their work on their website and Instagram.

Henry Colbert will be the new vice president at the Center for Broadcast Journalism. 

APMG sells ‘Brains On!’ podcast to co-creators, Current

Babs Santos is moving from Fox 9 to be director of media relations at Macalester. 

Emily Hood moves from Star Tribune to the Texas Tribune, where she’ll work remotely as a data project manager from Minneapolis.

Award winners!

We love seeing local folks get great fellowships! So you should apply for one…

MinnPost mental health and addiction columnist Andy Steiner named Pulitzer Center fellow, MinnPost

Congrats to Jimmy Lovrien, environmental reporter at the Duluth News Tribune, for being selected for USC Annenberg's Center for Health Journalism 2025 Data Fellowship.

Ghost of a Chance, the first-ever narrative podcast at the Minnesota Star Tribune, is a finalist in the Signal Podcast Awards. 

Congratulations to the Hubbard Honors alumni winners! Deborah Hopp received our top award, the Award for Excellence for her long career and outstanding work at MSP Communications. Journalists Lou Raguse, KARE-11, and Jenni Pinkley, recently of the Star Tribune, received the Pathfinder Award given to established leaders who have carved a path of creative excellence, leadership and community-mindedness. Mark Vancleave, Associated Press, and C.J. Sinner, Star Tribune, were given Above the Fold recognition, an award for recent graduates who are already making an impact in their field. 

KAXE was named Ampers station of the year.

And more

How the Minnesota Star Tribune used AI to bolster its shoe-leather reporting to background a mass shooter, Poynter 

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards Grant to Public Media Infrastructure for Public Radio Interconnection, CPB 

Change coming to Twin Cities TV news might mean fewer anchors, less sports, Star Tribune and What changes at WCCO, KARE and elsewhere say about the state of local news, MPR News

MPR News host Angela Davis diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer, MPR News

In Northwest Minnesota, 2 women team up to keep a small-town newspaper alive, MPR News

Twin Cities journalists push for control of their on-air image, Star Tribune 

Pioneer PBS is back on the DISH network, Pioneer PBS

Send us your local industry news and updates — and jobs! — to share with everyone.



– Regina and Meg

Our micro-internship program has taken off with nine students placed in three-week sessions this fall at the Roseville Reporter, the Park Bugle, TMC Publications and Minnesota Trails Magazine. Another nine sessions will accommodate more applicants in the spring. Students work under the guidance of co-curricular fellow Sheila Eldred as they produce one freelance story. The program may be seeking additional news partners as a new round of applications opens in early November. Reach out to me if you’re interested. 

Our Legislative Reporting Project will begin recruiting students in early November to plan for a second year of providing coverage of the Minnesota Legislature targeted for Greater Minnesota communities. Last year’s project partnered with 23 news organizations to produce weekly stories that ultimately reached more than 95 communities in the state. 

This year’s project will include a boot camp on covering the legislature, drawing from state reporter talent as well as best practices gleaned from time I spent at the Center for Community News’ 2025 National Conference: The Impact of Student Reporting in beautiful Vermont. And the good news is: Not only will our students continue to file news for Minnesota but they will also get a chance to collaborate with students across the country on stories of national importance that emerge from state legislatures. More later. 

Finally, our fall field-based practicum students are working hard at the Twin Cities news organizations that so graciously host them. A big thank you to the Pioneer Press, MPR News, the Star Tribune, MinnPost and the Sahan Journal for their continuing commitment to our students. 

– G.G.

With the fall semester well under way, the research team has been analyzing data and writing up results from several different research projects earlier this year. We will soon be publishing detailed findings from our collaborative research with the Texas Tribune in time for the nonprofit news organizations’ annual event, Tribfest. We are also preparing journal article manuscripts to submit for peer review, including a study based on data collected this spring with the Poynter Institute focusing on the public’s attitudes about news organizations’ use of AI. 

In late September, we also held the third and final symposium in our series on the 80th anniversary of the Minnesota Poll. The event brought together local journalists, interdisciplinary scholars from across the university, and leading industry practitioners who conduct public opinion polling to consider the future of state and local opinion research. The event was the culmination of a larger project including two prior events focusing on the history of the Minnesota Poll itself and more broadly the role of journalism in covering the public’s attitudes about civic life. 

Finally, we continue to collect data about Minnesota’s local news ecosystem. We are wrapping up our survey of Minnesota newspaper publishers and plan to begin expanding this effort to include broadcasters and digital-only outlets. We  are also working with the Internet Archive to collect and analyze the content of local news in Minnesota. More on that effort next year! We continue to work closely with the Local News Impact Consortium to advance standardized methods around measuring the health of local information environments—a topic we wrote about last month in case you missed it!

— Ben

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.

Don’t dwell on “democracy,” and other new findings about how to market local news, Nieman Journalism Lab

Why more and more people are tuning the news out: ‘Now I don’t have that anxiety’, The Guardian 

Via API: Ethnic and Indigenous newsrooms are especially effective in stopping the spread of false information, according to a new study by the International Center for Journalists. 

The Pope calls for journalists to protect the truth, Poynter 

Fascinating, if a bit terrifying (plus great graphics): How TikTok keeps its users scrolling for hours a day, Washington Post 

People are using ChatGPT twice as much as they were last year. They’re still just as skeptical of AI in news, Nieman Journalism Lab 

Judge Reinstates Over 500 Voice of America Journalists and Staff, The New York Times 

NPPA Raises First Amendment Concerns Over Largest Drone Flight Ban Ever Issued in U.S. NPPA 

Dozens of Bob Ross paintings will be auctioned to help public TV after funding cuts, NPR 

How Colorado Sun let employees become their own bosses, RJI 

Are these local newsletters local news? (And does it matter?) Nieman Journalism Lab

If someone shared this newsletter with you, you can sign up for your own copy here. 



Enjoy October’s “sunset sky.” And watch for our upcoming fall events. We’re here to help.