E&P Reports with Mike Blinder

Every week seems to bring another announcement of a newspaper closing, a newsroom shrinking or another community joining the growing list of America's news deserts. Against that backdrop, launching a new local news organization might seem like a risky proposition. Expanding into print less than a year later might sound almost unimaginable. Yet that's exactly what Alabama Newswire has done. During this episode of E&P Reports, founder Scott Centers and publisher Jackson Kimbrell shared why they believe local journalism still represents an opportunity for entrepreneurs willing to meet communities where they are. Access more at this episode's landing page, at: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/building-local-news-instead-of-mourning-it-inside-alabama-newswires-growth-strategy,263728 

For the third consecutive year, Northwestern University's Medill School has tracked how Americans' local news habits are changing. The latest survey confirms that audience demand for local journalism remains remarkably resilient, but it also reveals widening cracks in the industry's business model, growing skepticism about AI and an accelerating shift away from traditional broadcast platforms. During this episode of E&P Reports, researchers Tim Franklin and Dr. Stephanie Edgerly explained what every news leader should take away from the findings. Access more at this episode's landing page, at: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/good-news-half-of-americans-consume-local-news-daily-bad-news-only-14-pay-for-it,263613 

Twenty-five years after the attacks of September 11, leading journalists, First Amendment advocates and scholars gathered at Columbia University for The Forever War and the First Amendment, a symposium examining how two decades of conflict reshaped journalism. Fresh from the event, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Azmat Khan joined E&P Reports to discuss what the press learned—and failed to learn—from covering the War on Terror. She argued that many of the challenges exposed after 9/11, from overreliance on government sources to growing secrecy and declining public trust, continue to shape journalism today. For local news leaders, Khan said, those lessons remain as relevant in their communities as they are on the world's biggest stories. Access more at this episode's landing page, at: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/journalism-after-911-azmat-khan-on-the-lessons-reporters-still-cant-afford-to-ignore,263498  

News industry leaders weigh whether pressure to repeal Canada's Online News Act could threaten newsroom funding and weaken publishers' push for platform compensation worldwide. Could a deal to ease the U.S.-Canada trade war let Big Tech off the hook for funding news? Canada's Online News Act has secured millions for journalism, but publishers fear that support could become a bargaining chip in negotiations with Washington. For newsrooms receiving the money, the stakes are immediate; for publishers elsewhere, the outcome could shape their own fight for compensation. Four industry and policy leaders joined E&P Reports: Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada, Neil Quinter, senior vice president of the News/Media Alliance, Hugh Stephens, a distinguished fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and executive fellow at the University of Calgary and Stig Ørskov, CEO of WAN-IFRA to examine the threat, challenge the trade arguments and explain why this Canadian battle matters far beyond its borders. Access more at this episode's landing page, at: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/news-funding-as-a-bargaining-chip-could-the-us-canada-trade-war-let-big-tech-off-the-hook,263408 

Local news remains under enormous financial pressure, but the market for community publications is far from dead. A varied group of independent publishers, entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations is stepping forward to invest in titles that still matter to their communities. Sara April, president of Dirks, Van Essen & April, says many of these buyers are motivated by more than profit. Their commitment to preserving local journalism gives her renewed optimism about its future. Access more at this episode's landing page, at: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/when-wildfires-hit-home-inside-the-spokesman-reviews-race-to-inform-spokane,263187