The Daily Digest: March 03, 2025
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| The nonprofit Newswell, based out of Arizona State University, already owns three local news sites in California: Stocktonia, Times of San Diego, and the Santa Barbara News-Press. By Sophie Culpepper. |
Why news podcast listeners break up with their favorite shows What we’re reading
The Atlantic / Martin BaronMarty Baron: Jeff Bezos’s courage has failed him when he needed it most →“I led the newsroom at the time Bezos bought the Post. For a long while, he fulfilled his promise to the paper and its readers, exceeding my expectations. Then he faltered badly. Now we know that Bezos is no Katharine Graham. It has been sad and unnerving to watch Bezos fall so terribly short of her standard as he confronts the return of Donald Trump to the White House. It’s been infuriating to observe the damage he has inflicted in recent months on the reputation of a newspaper whose investigative reporting has served as a bulwark against Trump’s most transgressive impulses.”
The New York Times / David EnrichTrump wants journalists to parrot his views and face consequences if they don’t →The Morning newsletter looks at how the president is already acting on his threats — and what additional peril the press faces in the Trump era.
The Wall Street Journal / Jared Diamond and Isabella SimonettiMLB plots a new TV model after striking out with ESPN →“Individual franchises forge their own deals with local regional sports networks and keep the money for themselves. Baseball teams derive an average of about 25% of their revenues from local media, by far the most of any major American sport. But regional sports networks, which air most games, have fallen apart in some places—depriving small-market teams of revenue at a time when big-market behemoths like the Los Angeles Dodgers are raking in huge sums from their local TV deals.”
The New York Times / Marc Tracy“No Other Land,” whose politics deterred distributors, wins Best Documentary →“The selection of ‘No Other Land’ for best documentary feature represented a landmark and a rebuke. Despite a string of honors and rave reviews, no distributor would pick up this film in the United States, making it nearly impossible for American filmgoers to see it in theaters or to stream it.”
Medill Local News Initiative / Mark CaroNational journalists go local as Midcoast Villager combines legacy papers to boost region’s news →“Brower said early returns on the Midcoast Villager are promising. ‘The experiment is six months in, and right now we have combined advertising revenues greater than all four papers combined, and we have greater paid circulation than all four papers combined, and we just started,’ he said.”
The Boston Globe / Aidan RyanThe use of AI in local news faces a substantial obstacle: trust →“Far from taking reporters’ jobs, these efforts seek to add something — anything — to the civic conversation in communities that have seen their local newspapers and broadcast stations collapse. But the organizers of some of the projects say they face a huge obstacle: trust from the audiences they hope to help.”
The New York Times Company / Kathleen KingsburyDavid Leonhardt will leave The Morning to “carve out a new vision” for the New York Times editorial board →“At a time of growing influencer-driven commentary and distrust of institutions, a newspaper editorial board can seem old-fashioned. But The Times isn’t just any institution, and our audience is looking to us for insight, discernment and leadership in some of the most chaotic and uncertain moments in the modern era. The mission, strengths and principles of Times Opinion mean that our editorials can serve as a signature voice. They can provide clarity amid the din. They can help readers think through the most vexing, divisive issues in an accessible, reasoned way.”
The Gene Pool / Gene WeingartenGene Weingarten pitches an op-ed for The Washington Post’s new free-markets-only opinion section →“We should not be subject to the whims of the politicized, left-leaning justice system. Shouldn’t we all have the freedom, without fear of prosecution, to continue the recent practice of depositing warm dog poop bags on Teslas parked in the street?”
NPR / David FolkenflikBezos’ changes at The Washington Post have led to mass subscription cancellations (again) →“More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,
announced on Wednesday that he would radically overhaul the paper’s opinion pages to reflect libertarian priorities and to exclude opposing points of view.”
National Newspaper Association The proposed tariffs on Canada could drive more U.S. newspapers out of business →The newspaper industry relies on newsprint imported from Canada. “A 25% increase in the cost of newsprint will be devastating to America’s small newspaper publishers that are already strained by the recent pattern of punitive twice-a-year postage increases and higher printing costs due to a trade action against importers of aluminum printing plates. This action will drive many small publishers serving rural communities out of business.”
State Of CreateSurvey: More than half of creators say it’s harder to reach their followers today than five years ago →“57% of fans’ time on TikTok is spent watching work from creators they don’t follow”
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