Shifting Practices For A Stronger Tomorrow: Local Journalism in The Pacific Northwest (2019)
Shifting Practices For A Stronger Tomorrow: Local Journalism in The Pacific Northwest (2019)
Shifting Practices For A Stronger Tomorrow: Local Journalism in The Pacific Northwest (2019)
Shifting
Practices for
a Stronger
Tomorrow
LOCAL JOURNALISM IN THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST (2019)
Foreward
In late 2017 the Agora Journalism Center published a study1 exploring the state of local
journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Authored by Damian Radcliffe, the lead researcher
of this new paper, it explored the journalistic mission and changing practices at 10
newsrooms in the region.
The report found that – despite a challenging financial backdrop – newsrooms were
actively embracing concepts of engaged journalism, new revenue models, as well
as the storytelling opportunities afforded by digital platforms. The tone was one of
cautious optimism.
Given the pace of change across the media landscape, coupled with increasing levels
of interest in the health of local journalism across the United States, we felt that it was
important to revisit this arena and update this story.
We also recognized that there was considerable value in bringing together a community
of practice, and indeed that this is an important function for public institutions - like
the University of Oregon – to fulfill.
With that in mind, in March 2019, the Agora Center hosted a one day workshop for 28
news organizations from across Oregon and Washington (including one covering the
wider Western United States). Split into three groups, attendees dived into the topics
first explore in 2017: business and revenue models, changing journalistic practice and
the practice of engagement.
The fruits of these updated discussions will be represented in a series of White Papers
authored by Damian and some of the graduate and undergraduate students who were
involved in the day. They will be published over the course of the next few months.
For the Agora Center, driven by our mission to drive transformational advancements in
journalism and communication to enhance public knowledge, and to enrich civic life for
all community members, understanding this landscape matters, because understanding
– and facilitating - healthy democratic communities is at the heart of our work.
In this report you will be able to read how newsrooms are adapting to address the
realities of the journalism industry in 2019. Their experiences, and the solutions
they are deploying, are not unique to the Pacific Northwest. We hope that news
organizations in the United States and beyond will benefit from these insights.
Regina Lawrence
Associate Dean, School of Journalism and Communication Portland
Director of the Agora Journalism Center
Andrew DeVigal
Chair in Journalism Innovation and Civic Engagement
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Contents
Foreward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Doing more with less: seven practical tips for local newsrooms everywhere. . . . . . . . . . 4
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Emerging Themes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1. Managing Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.1 Prioritizing Available Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 Collaboration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3 Partnerships and Gateways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Footnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Suggested Citation: Radcliffe D., Alvarez, D., Powers, A., Schenone, J. (November 2019).
Shifting Practices for a Stronger Tomorrow: Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest
(2019). Agora Journalism Center. http://bit.ly/PNWLOCAL
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
Executive Summary
Doing more with less: seven practical
tips for local newsrooms everywhere
By Jaycie Schenone and Damian Radcliffe
The story of declining advertising revenues2, relationships with third party platforms3
and the reality of smaller newsrooms4 is well told. Addressing this new reality may
feel daunting, not least because it will involve5 changing journalistic approaches and
traditional work practices, but it cannot be avoided.
In a bid to explore these challenges, on 1st March 2019, senior editors and journalists
from 28 local news organizations in the Pacific Northwest convened for a one-day
conference hosted by the Agora Journalism Center in Portland, Oregon, to discuss the
challenges - and opportunities- for their industry.
Here are seven practical takeaways for local newsrooms based on a roundtable
conversation focused on changing journalistic practice:
Serious efforts need to be made to hire reporters - be they staffers and/or freelancers
- that truly represent these communities in the newsroom and to tell their stories.
However, our group felt, too often newsrooms wait for the perfect hire, or the right
resources, to address this issue. Sometimes this means waiting a long time, perhaps too
long, to make a move.
John Schrag6, the Executive Editor of Pamplin Media Group, suggested that doing
something was often better than doing nothing. One option his group is exploring is -
in the absence of a Spanish speaker, or budget for translation services - using Google
Translate7 for some of their stories. “We have really good content,” he said, “and we
can’t share it with those people that can’t understand [English].”
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
The software isn’t perfect, Schrag acknowledged, but the Latino communities
that Schrag has approached with this content recognized - and appreciated - the
sentiment behind these efforts
The initiative - supported in part by grants from Meyer Memorial Trust and the Center
for Cooperative Media - partnered with the Solutions Journalism Network and others
to tell the story about the impact of concussion on Oregon teens. The series conducted
the first-ever analysis of high school sports concussions in Oregon, a condition which
across the U.S. affects one in five American teens.
3. Proximity Matters
Local journalists can quite easily bump into the people they
are reporting on. Sources and subjects of stories may be
a journalist’s neighbors, their children’s teachers, or the
people standing in line behind them at the grocery store.
“Local journalists
Because of this, local journalists enjoy a unique vantage
enjoy a unique
point for understanding the communities that they report
on, and leveraging this to help engender trust11 in the
vantage point for
wider profession.
understanding the
This is an asset that local newsrooms need to emphasize
more, employing the tools of engaged journalism12 to communities that
unlock benefits which can help both the business model
and content creation. they report on.”
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
“We want a reporter from that community,” Carl Segerstrom13, an Assistant Editor at
High Country News14, said when discussing how they want to approach stories. This
means “putting the affected voices at the center of the story rather than reporting
from outside the community.” It’s an approach others, such as the Seattle Globalist15,
have also sought to deploy, working - wherever possible - with people directly from the
communities they are reporting on.
There are a variety of ways to reach audiences for content input, including events,
comments pages (still very popular and a source of discussion at our conference),
Facebook Live and Reddit style AMA’s.
In Seattle, KUOW Public Radio asked their audience17 to propose potential questions
that reporters would answer and then ran a poll on social media to determine the
winner. The results took them to the bottom of Lake Washington18 and went viral.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
It was a story, Deborah Wang19, a reporter and host at KUOW Public Radio, said, the
newsroom would never have typically considered covering. Yet, their audience loved it.
“When you start having fun with your reporting, your reporting sounds better on the
air,” she said. Engaging with your audience in this way is just one way to inject new life -
and different ideas - into your newsroom.
Activities which can help address this goal include, but are not limited to, sharing
the story behind the story21, finding opportunities for audiences to get to know who
reporters are (like the Seattle Times’ “Behind the Byline22” series), as well as using
spaces like events, social media23 and podcasts24, to share insights into editorial
processes and decisions25.
But, some news organizations and audiences are recognizing that this isn’t always
the right approach. The emergence26 of the Slow News27 movement, coupled with the
growth of solutions journalism, as well as key tenets of engaged journalism28 such
as listening, inclusivity and relationship building, are just some29 of the reporting
approaches which newsrooms are using to do things differently.
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Lynn Jacobson30, the Deputy Managing Editor at the Seattle Times referred to “taming
the beast” by recalibrating their story mix to more effectively blend breaking news
stories with longer, richer, pieces of reporting.
This type of in-depth content is a key plank in the Times’ move towards a subscription
based business model. Jacobson cited Education Lab31, an ongoing project looking at
local education issues and solutions, as just one example of where the Seattle Times is
putting this principle into action.
7. Embrace partnerships
When local newsrooms are looking for partners, they often think of funders and other
newsrooms. Higher education providers may be an underutilized resource. Some
have access to assets (including equipment, as well as a body of young, motivated
journalists) that smaller organizations may not have access to.
In Oregon, the Snowden Internship Program32 partners with news organizations across
the state, partially funding the salary of young journalists for the summer.
Elsewhere, news outlets in the region have found success working with ProPublica,
Report for America, Hearken, the Solutions Journalism Network and other
organizations. Through these partnerships they have been able to access funding,
journalists, and insights into new ways of doing things.
Newsrooms have a choice, Malheur Enterprise’s Les Zaitz33 said. “Create change or have
change be put against you.”
The lessons from their journey are potentially valuable to journalists across
the country and beyond. It’s going to be fascinating to see where this evolution
takes them next.
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Introduction
It is a truth, universally acknowledged that the journalism industry is plagued by
declining public trust34, political instability35 and loss of revenues36. This truth is so well
fixed in the minds of media watchers, that there is a widespread recognition that for
newsrooms to survive, they need to adapt and evolve37.
As many newsrooms across America continue to shrink, and the power of digital
platforms (especially as vehicles for advertising revenue38) continues to grow,
journalists and media organizations need to make the most of these new digital
realities. As Dr. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism and Professor of Political Communication at the University of Oxford, has
acknowledged39: “I think that we accept the fact that whatever local journalism is in the
future, it won’t be what it was.”
This not only means embracing new platforms and storytelling tools like Facebook
Live, Instagram Stories and podcasting. It also means understanding the increasingly
interconnected nature of changing journalistic practice and the business models which
underpin this industry40.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
It is, partially, against this backdrop that we have seen the rise of engaged journalism42.
Newsrooms and media organizations recognize the importance of driving loyalty to
their products and reducing churn, as well as the storytelling potential which can be
unlocked by interacting – and listening - to audiences both online and in real life43.
In March 2019, 28 reporters and editors from a wide range of Pacific Northwest media
organizations gathered in Portland, Oregon, to discuss the state of local journalism in
the Pacific Northwest.
Splitting into three groups, each cohort focused on a particular element of this
landscape: business and revenue models, engaged journalism and changing journalistic
practice. They were joined by faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from the
School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) at the University of Oregon, bringing
the total participants for the day to 50.
This is the first in a series of reports stemming from that day. It summarizes the key
ideas and case studies shared by the group which focused on changing journalistic
practice. Where appropriate, it also adds further context to those conversations, often
based on the work produced by these outlets.
The paper will be followed later this year by additional reports looking at engaged
journalism and efforts by news outlets in the region to “make media pay.”
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Morgan Holm - Senior Vice President, Chief Content Officer, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Facilitators
Graduate Rapporteurs
Undergraduate Reporters
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Emerging Themes
This paper focuses on how the work produced by journalists in the Pacific Northwest,
and the newsrooms they inhabit, is developing to meet the realities of the journalism
industry in 2019. Five key themes emerged during our roundtable discussion:
In this report we explore these ideas in more detail, showing how news
organizations in the Pacific Northwest are addressing these considerations.
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1. Managing Resources
With newsrooms often under pressure to do more with less, the allocation and balance
of newsroom resources is critical. For newsrooms in the Pacific Northwest, large and
small alike, this means exploring partnerships, prioritizing in-depth coverage, exploring
opportunities for engagement and re-evaluating where journalists spend their time.
As, Les Zaitz, editor and publisher at the Malheur Enterprise46 (Vale, Oregon),
explained: “All of us have resources, but it’s a matter of how we use those resources.”
back” on high school sports coverage, for example, to make these tough
reallocate journalists to public service stories. “What are
you not doing because you’re sending three reporters and calls about the
three photographers to [high school] football games every
Friday night?” asked the paper’s deputy managing editor
Lynn Jacobson49.
beats you cover
Traditional reporting practices can be hard to break, but at a
is essential.”
time of diminished resources (with most newsrooms smaller
than they were at the start of the decade) being able to make
these tough calls about the beats you cover is essential.
1.2 Collaboration
Amanda Waldroupe50, a freelance journalist and President of SPJ Oregon51, was
just one participant who highlighted the importance of collaboration52 in these
resource-strapped times.
“Getting multi[ple] news outlets to work on one big project together... That’s a good
way to respond to shrinking newsrooms and layoffs. Divide the labor and draw on
people’s strengths,” Waldroupe advised.
“There is competition for attention,” said Morgan Holm, the SVP Chief Content Officer
for OPB53 (Portland, Oregon), “but collaboration doesn’t destroy that.” Highlighting
the potential of content shot using drones, Holm offered to share resources. “OPB is
willing to put a drone in the air if another [news organization] puts a reporter on the
ground,” he said.
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Small local publications are also making moves to collaborate more. Holly Dillemuth54,
a reporter for the Herald and News55 (Klamath Falls, Oregon), shared how the paper had
begun a partnership with a local radio station. “We’re looking for ways to freshen things
up,” Dillemuth said.
The Malheur Enterprise, a weekly newspaper in Eastern Oregon, is just one publication
in the Pacific Northwest actively seeking these opportunities to help expand newsroom
capacity57. This summer the paper hosted two interns58 as well as a Report for
America-funded, Spanish-language reporting position. Editor and publisher, Les Zaitz
outlined how the Report for America supported position59 could help the paper better
access the region’s Latino community, a cohort that is typically underrepresented
in their coverage.
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News organizations in the region can also benefit from the work being undertaken by
news outlets who operate outside of the traditional daily newscycle.
High Country News60 (Paonia, Colorado), is one such example; a nonprofit news
organization covering stories for, and about, the American West. They syndicate
content for free through a publisher partnership program61. Carl Segerstrom, assistant
editor for the publication, shared how they had become a gateway to relevant regional
coverage for other papers.
“Once our story is out there anyone else can run it,” he said. “It brings value to our
news organization and allows other organizations to benefit as well.”
“We want to look at these issues that are region wide, from a local scope,” Segerstrom
said. Examples of stories covered by High Country News in the past few months
include: how Indigenous nation treaties factor into climate change62 (which ran in the
Seattle-based Crosscut63), as well as an exploration of the importance of biodiversity64
and immigration (several65 stories66 in the latter category were shared67 by The
Marshall Project).
High Country News also participates in the Solutions Journalism Network68 and
partners with smaller newspapers, as well as larger outlets, so that even the smallest
newsrooms can harness their work.
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In the Pacific Northwest, participants in our roundtable said their papers often struggle
to access, reach and engage with Latino audiences in Oregon; an issue they are all
keen to remedy.
John Schrag, the executive editor of Pamplin Media Group70 (Portland, Oregon), argued
traditional ways of reporting on these communities need to change. “Publications often
miss the mark when they try and create separate coverage in Latino communities,”
Schrag said. “They’re people, they live in the same community, and they want to know
about the same things.”
• Who are they reporting for? Are news outlets trying to reach the community at
large, these specific under-reported communities, or a combination of both?
• And allied to all of this: who are the people producing these stories?
In tackling these questions, newsrooms are not just thinking about personnel, but also
their whole approach to newsgathering and community engagement.
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To do this, journalists need to ask: What isn’t being covered? And how can we, as
journalists, better cover the lives and support their information needs?
“[We need to be] reflective and honest about those communities and give them the
same things we are giving the privileged,” said Malheur Enterprise’s Les Zaitz.
Alongside this, newsrooms also need to consider the balance of their coverage,
avoiding traditional narratives and offering a more balanced view (e.g. through the
deployment of solutions journalism71 and by using some of the techniques encouraged
by engagement journalism72) about the realities of life in these communities.
However, editors (and journalists) need to recognize73 that doing this means avoiding
“parachute journalism74.” Cultivating genuine, and meaningful, relationships takes time.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
Auditing, and systematically reflecting who you are talking to, is also a good habit to
get into. During summer 2019, ABC News in Australia launched76 the 50:50 Project
to achieve equal representation of women and men in their content by the end of
next year. Similarly, The Financial Times is actively rebranding their opinion section
to include and appeal to more female voices77. Many other organizations78 are doing
something similar.
Local organizations can replicate these efforts. At KUOW Public Radio (Seattle,
Washington), reporter and host Deborah Wang said her organization uses a form/
checklist to gauge source demographics, in order to create an accurate representation
of the community in their work.
Les Zaitz, editor and publisher for the Malheur Enterprise stated that engaging with
underserved communities is increasingly important. “As journalists we need to remove
as many barriers as we can,” Zaitz said. “It’s a fundamental responsibility of us all.”
Kevin Max79, the founder and chief content officer for Statehood Media80 (Bend,
Oregon), highlighted the importance of figuring out how to engage. “We hire local
photographers and writers in those communities,” Max said. “We were never going to
come in and say ‘this is how we’re doing [i.e. covering] your community.’”
OPB’s Morgan Holm argued that there’s also a business imperative to addressing this
issue. “By shifting our perspective, it gives us a competitive advantage,” he said.
Underserved audiences can be a source for new, fresh, stories, as well as a means to
ensure journalistic narratives better reflect the complexities of the world around us.
Engaging with these groups, in turn, should ensure that coverage is distinctive as well
as fair, accurate and multi-faceted.
As Venice Buhain81, editorial director for The Seattle Globalist82, (Seattle, Washington),
reminded us, there are many people who do not see their reality in the media. Given
this, it’s not surprising that some audiences have low levels of trust in journalism, or
that large numbers83 simply choose to ignore the news media altogether.
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Editorial director for The Seattle Globalist, Venice Buhain (left), shares ideas
Image via the Agora Journalism Center and Erika Berardi
Venice Buhain, editorial director for The Seattle Globalist, (Seattle, Washington),
said she believes in an inclusive work environment that creates opportunities for
journalists from diverse backgrounds, and that there is a hunger for information about
underserved communities.
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However, while that can give them the inside track on specific issues, this brings
challenges with it too. “We’ve had people come through our program and say it’s really
hard to cover this sort of thing,” Buhain said. “And it is hard because for them it [is] like
talking to their family. There’s a big emotional component.”
As a result of covering stories that you are often close to, Buhain said that it’s
important for newsrooms to teach journalists resilience, an idea echoed by many others
around the table.
Newsrooms should not just support journalists of color by recruiting them98. They also
need to find ways to let them know the newsroom is theirs and a place where they
belong99. Moreover, it’s also incumbent on editors to ensure that these journalists do
not get pigeon-holed. For the sake of their mental health, and to help them become
better journalists, they must cover a wide variety of stories, and not just about minority
issues and communities100.
In an era of budget cuts and reduced resources, the role of freelancers can be a tricky
one for many newsrooms to negotiate. On the one hand, freelance budgets may be
among the first to be cut. On the other, some outlets rely more on freelancers, seeing
this as a potential workaround to hiring (or being unable to hire) more staffers.
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The founder and chief content officer for Statehood Media, Kevin Max, said his
organization has been successful in utilizing freelancers101. According to Max, “50 to 65
percent of our work is from freelancers… They provide necessary perspectives and fill
coverage needs.”
Amanda Waldroupe, a freelance reporter with bylines in The New York Times102, The
Guardian103 and The Oregonian104, said one of the drawbacks of working in a newsroom
is the overwhelming pressure to share content on social media which drives traffic to
stories. Waldroupe said that as a freelancer, “I spend the majority of my day writing and
reporting, and that’s not something that I feel happens in newsrooms today.”
Freelance journalists, as well as staffers, need to have (and develop) these skills.
Given the pace of change across the communications landscape, newsrooms should
encourage, and provide training, for both in-house journalists and freelancers in order
to ensure that they continue to expand their knowledge and reporting capabilities.
As Kevin Max reminded us, specializations matter. “We’ve always needed people that
are specialists in different areas,” he said. And that’s not likely to change any time soon.
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Nonetheless, in a polarized political climate110 with trust in the media near all-time
lows, being upfront and transparent about reporting methods becomes increasingly
important. Without it, we may not be able to arrest the negative attitudes towards
journalism - and journalistic techniques - prevalent with some constituencies.
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In undertaking this project, they shared with their audience ambitions for the initiative,
as well as work in progress114, a move which Schrag hoped would engender trust and
potentially tease out further sources and case studies. “We no longer have to keep
secret what our plans are,” he said. “When we did our concussion series, we announced
it six months before we published our first story.”
Focused on what school sports coaches have done to comply with strict return-to-play
protocols imposed by Oregon lawmakers in 2009, the series allowed organizations to
combine resources to tell an important story on a scale which otherwise would not
have been possible.
Features such as: “Missing the trainer115,” “On top of the world. Until one too many
concussions116” and “Solving the funding puzzle117” are just a few examples of the stories
produced through this partnership.
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Les Zaitz, editor and publisher of the Malheur Enterprise, and the founder and editor
for the Salem Reporter118, regularly writes “Behind the Story” pieces, such a profile of on
an Oregon legislative executive119.
During the roundtable discussion, Zaitz contended that it’s important to tell readers
what is going on, how organizations are reporting certain issues, and to avoid relying
on the audience blindly trusting that journalists are doing everything right.
The Seattle Times is another outlet actively seeking to humanize elements of its work
through their Behind the Byline series120. These articles aim to help readers to get to
know the journalist behind the news, by profiling Times personnel such as video editor
Corinne Chin121 and Traffic Lab122 reporter Mike Lindblom123.
Holly Dillemuth, a reporter for the Herald and News in Klamath Falls, said “I am really
interested in finding ways to make sure people trust us,” highlighting how journalists
at her paper are harnessing Twitter, sharing what they’re covering the next day124,
where they’ll be125 as well as incorporating video126 and other multimedia elements
into their work.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
“Being a rural reporter, you run into these people in the store,” Herald and News’ Holly
Dillemuth said. “You’ll most likely see five of them before you get home.”
Small-town reporters appreciate that they may have public interactions with the people
they report on. That proximity to the audience, arguably, builds in some accountability
whereby community journalists can’t hide behind a screen or avoid the subjects
of their work.
Proximity alone, however, is not enough to engender trust. Morgan Holm, SVP
and Chief Content Officer for Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) suggested that
newsrooms also need to tell stories differently if they wish to remain relevant and to
have an impact.
Rebuilding trust in journalism starts with the public understanding what journalism is,
and what it can do, he argued. “People will lie, fake, cheat. What do we have? Facts,”
Holm said. “We have the ability to marshal facts and make a difference in communities.”
According to Holm, one of the key ways OPB has sought to marshal facts and deliver
value to their audience is through longitudinal reporting127. “It’s creative thinking,”
Holm said. “It’s taking a different perspective.”
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The Herald and News, in Klamath Falls, for example, has introduced “a “sneak preview
of stories to be found in the next day’s newspaper edition” via their short “Tomorrow’s
Headlines Today131” podcast.
Deborah Wang, a reporter and host at KUOW Public Radio argued that journalists need
to start questioning some traditional journalistic conventions. “Do we need we need
a newscast at the top of the hour,” she asked. “We’ve been doing [certain] things for
so long,” she said, “do we continue to use these formats because we have been doing
things for so long or because they work?”
The group offered some suggestions to this philosophical question, which included
exploring the opportunities afforded by metrics, working more closely with audiences
and piloting new (sometimes imperfect beta) approaches to their work; all with the
goal of breaking existing newsroom paradigms.
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Herald and News’ Holly Dillemuth advocated that smaller newsrooms discuss the
business side with their journalists, including sharing metrics133 and other relevant
performance data. Co-locating editorial and business teams, so that they sit side by
side and not in different parts of the building, was one suggestion that she offered to
help bridge this gap.
Recent work from The Seattle Times exemplifying this approach includes Project
Homeless136, an “initiative that explores and explains the region’s complex, troubling
problem of homelessness,” Her Story is Our Story137, a video series “about women
and female-identifying members of our community… that redefine the hero’s journey
through the experiences, lives and lenses of women,” and detailed reporting into “How
Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system138.”
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Founder and chief content officer for Statehood Media, Kevin Max, also emphasized the
detail, and value, that metrics can deliver to newsrooms.
“The tools for building and delivering things to audiences through social media140 is so
great,” he said, noting the ability to target specific audiences on these platforms, as
well as the ability to know more about them.. “Being able to know an audience ... about
who these people are is very valuable if you can use the tools that feed the information
back to you.”
According to Max, metrics can help publications identify opportunities for both content
and revenue generation. Afterall, advertisers want to be associated with successful
content, material which either reaches a certain number of eyeballs, or which is closely
aligned with their brand.
Metrics therefore can be used not just to shape strategies for future content (as at The
Seattle Times) but also to help publishers harness their archive and more evergreen
material141. Evergreen content requires minimal updating, isn’t beholden to the whim of
news cycles (remaining relevant for longer), and has a strong SEO value142.
This story “consistently gets all of this traffic,” Max said. “Then we think who are the
advertisers that would be interested in aligning their brand with something like this.”
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Putting elements of this into practice, Seattle based public radio station KUOW
asked listeners to pose - and vote - on questions that they would like the
newsroom to cover.
Contributing reporter, editor and host, Deborah Wang, said the stories which stemmed
from this audience engagement, such as “What’s on the bottom of Lake Washington?”,
not only allowed reporters to cover interesting topics (and ones that they might not
have explored otherwise), which also resonated with audiences.
“The stories we did got people really excited and these were the best reporting stories
on our website,” Wang said. “They blew up. We never have stories go viral and these
went viral.”
Carl Segerstrom, an assistant editor for High Country News, shared the value of
working for a publication which works outside of the daily news cycle, giving journalists
more time to listen150 to their audience, helping to ensure that they are covering what’s
important in a community.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
Last summer, for example, High Country News’ Indigenous Affairs desk reached out
to indigenous communities asking them to pitch151 stories, demonstrating a different
approach to the typical model for finding enterprise stories.
Examples of recent indigenous affairs stories covered by High Country News include a
collaboration with BuzzFeed News152 on Navajo voters fighting to be heard153, how tribal
enterprises are filling gaps in financial deserts154 and how Indigenous educators are
fighting for accurate historical representations in California155.
“The younger generation needs to be willing to fail,” said Executive editor for Pamplin
Media Group John Schrag, recognizing at the same time that efforts to experiment and
innovate must be supported by management.
One successful example of this has been the development of “an Amazon beat,” which
included exploring what happens when Amazon moves into a town. The idea morphed
into a podcast, Prime(d)156, with local roots (KUOW is based in Seattle, Amazon’s home
town) and national recognition.
“We are a local operation,” Wang said, but - acknowledging the wider reach of the
podcast - “it looks great when your reporters have a national profile. That adds to your
value locally.”
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
6. Conclusion
Local news outlets across the country, and around the world, have faced multiple
challenges in recent years.
The pace of change shows no signs of letting up; and therefore it’s important for
organizations - as well as journalism schools - to discuss and make sense of these
developments. As we have seen in this paper, there’s an increasing willingness
to do this.
This includes an honest conversation about the challenges facing the sector, as well as
some potential solutions and remedies which news organizations can put into place to
help ensure their resilience and (dare we say it) prosperity.
Local news media continues to play an important role in supporting the information
needs of communities, as well as the wider news industry. As a result, understanding
newsroom realities matters to policy makers, funders, citizens and journalists alike.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
Schenone interned at the PBS affiliate KCTS 9 and Crosscut News in Seattle
Washington with the arts and culture department, and the ABC affiliate KEZI 9 in
Eugene, Oregon with the sports department.
Kondo formerly worked as the art director for the Daily Emerald, an independent
student-run media organization. During her time at the Emerald, her work was featured
as a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press Design of the Year award.
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
DOWNLOAD REPORT
DOWNLOAD REPORT
“Public-Powered Journalism”
The
and How Journalists Can Earn It Percent
Project How Citizens Define
Trust and How
Journalists Can Earn It
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IN THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST
Damian Radcliffe
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Damian Radcliffe
1 Image for holding purposes only: https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/sci-
ence/endofsocial-body.jpg September 2017
1
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
Footnotes
1 https://journalism.uoregon.edu/files/agora_report_2017_damian_radcliffe_0.pdf
Accessed September 20, 2019
2 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/03/21/
newspapers/ Accessed September 20, 2019
3 https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/platforms-publishers-api-survey.php
Accessed September 20, 2019
4 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/09/u-s-newsroom-employment-
has-dropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008/ Accessed September 20, 2019
5 https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/8-strategies-saving-local-newsrooms.php Accessed
September 20, 2019
9 https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/podcast-why-the-future-of-journalism-
is-collaborative-in-conversation-with-heather-bryant-becd90e0bea
Accessed September 20, 2019
11 https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/how-local-journalism-can-
upend-the-fake-news-narrative-e67a2b81c636 Accessed September 20, 2019
12 https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/how-local-journalism-can-
upend-the-fake-news-narrative-e67a2b81c636 Accessed September 20, 2019
16 https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/the-rise-of-engagement-online-and-in-real-
life-11a0c261a500 Accessed September 20, 2019
18 https://www.kuow.org/stories/whats-bottom-lake-washington-planes-trains-and
Accessed September 20, 2019
20 https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/12/the-editorial-meeting-of-the-future/
Accessed September 20, 2019
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21 https://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/category/story-behind-the-story/
Accessed September 20, 2019
22 https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/behind-the-byline/
Accessed September 20, 2019
23 https://www.dailyitem.com/news/facebook-live-editorial-board-meeting-with-
marc-friedenberg/html_e2acf1fe-6138-11e9-839b-5bd6de2dc217.html
Accessed September 20, 2019
24 https://www.cgsentinel.com/article/grove-report-february-19-2019
Accessed September 20, 2019
25 https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/12/the-editorial-meeting-of-the-future/
Accessed September 20, 2019
26 http://mediashift.org/2017/04/slow-news-taking-time-listen-focus-can-help-
journalism/ Accessed September 20, 2019
27 https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/03/slow-down-read-up-why-slow-journalism-
and-finishable-news-is-quickly-growing-a-following/ Accessed September 20, 2019
29 https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/creating-a-trust-toolkit-for-journalism/
Accessed September 20, 2019
32 https://sojcstudent.uoregon.edu/undergraduate/internships/snowden-interships/
34 https://journalism.uoregon.edu/files/imported/2018-Agora-Report-Update.pdf
Accessed September 20, 2019
35 https://knightfoundation.org/topics/trust-media-and-democracy
Accessed September 20, 2019
36 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/01/circulation-and-revenue-fall-
for-newspaper-industry/ Accessed September 20, 2019
37 https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/8-strategies-saving-local-newsrooms.php
Accessed September 20, 2019
38 https://www.statista.com/chart/12179/google-and-facebook-share-of-ad-revenue/
Accessed September 20, 2019
39 http://mediashift.org/2017/05/international-perspectives-state-local-news/
Accessed September 20, 2019
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40 https://voices.media/lucy-kueng-silicon-valley-changed-journalism/
Accessed September 20, 2019
41 https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2017/the-current-move-to-subscription-
models-is-a-revolutionary-shift-for-journalism/ Accessed September 20, 2019
43 https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/the-rise-of-engagement-online-and-in-real-
life-11a0c261a500 Accessed September 20, 2019
44 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/11/02/newsroom-employees-are-less-
diverse-than-u-s-workers-overall/ Accessed September 20, 2019
45 https://medium.com/@HBCompass/so-this-one-time-at-a-journalism-conference-
5d0662bb18b5 Accessed September 20, 2019
47 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/end-scale-manifesto-building-media-business-
2016-rafat-ali/ Accessed September 20, 2019
52 https://medium.com/centerforcooperativemedia/a-look-at-nine-of-the-best-
collaborative-journalism-projects-of-2018-cfd49b3c4865
Accessed September 20, 2019
57 https://www.npr.org/2018/11/26/670058419/digging-deep-into-local-news-a-small-
newspaper-in-rural-oregon-is-thriving Accessed September 20, 2019
58 https://www.malheurenterprise.com/posts/5584/enterprise-adds-3-to-news-team-
as-it-joins-national-program Accessed September 20, 2019
59 https://www.reportforamerica.org/2019/01/17/the-malheur-enterprise/
Accessed September 20, 2019
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
62 https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-how-do-tribal-nations-treaties-figure-
into-climate-change Accessed September 20, 2019
63 https://crosscut.com/2019/05/can-tribes-sue-government-over-climate-change
Accessed September 20, 2019
64 https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-desk-were-destroying-the-biodiversity-we-
depend-on Accessed September 20, 2019
65 https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.6/immigration-an-arizona-border-sheriff-confronts-
the- Accessed September 20, 2019
66 https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.21/us-mexican-border-as-trumps-border-wall-
grows-smuggling-tunnels-proliferate
67 https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/4024-border-wall
Accessed September 20, 2019
71 https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/engaging_communities_through_
solutions_journalism.php Accessed September 20, 2019
74 https://www.poynter.org/archive/2002/parachute-journalism/
Accessed September 20, 2019
76 https://www.abc.net.au/news/about/backstory/news-coverage/2019-08-22/abc-
50-50-gender-diversity-project/11431804 Accessed September 20, 2019
77 https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/09/heres-what-the-financial-times-is-doing-
to-get-bossy-man-voice-out-of-okay-less-prominent-in-its-opinion-section/
Accessed September 20, 2019
78 https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/policies/5050
Accessed September 20, 2019
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83 https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/06/why-do-some-people-avoid-news-because-
they-dont-trust-us-or-because-they-dont-think-we-add-value-to-their-lives/
Accessed September 20, 2019
86 https://www.hcn.org/articles/indian-country-news-the-crisis-of-murdered-and-
missing-indigenous-women Accessed September 20, 2019
87 https://www.hcn.org/articles/indian-country-news-the-crisis-of-murdered-and-
missing-indigenous-women Accessed September 20, 2019
88 https://www.hcn.org/articles/indian-country-news-the-problems-and-potential-in-
westworlds-ghost-nation Accessed September 20, 2019
89 https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-indigenous-immigrants-face-unique-
challenges-at-the-border Accessed September 20, 2019
90 https://www.hcn.org/articles/editors-note-why-were-building-coverage-by-from-
and-for-indigenous-audiences Accessed September 20, 2019
92 https://knightfoundation.org/articles/toward-advancing-diversity-in-journalism
Accessed September 20, 2019
96 https://www.seattleglobalist.com/2018/07/17/dispatch-photos-from-seattles-anti-
ice-vigil/75738 Accessed September 20, 2019
97 https://www.seattleglobalist.com/2017/12/11/portraits-of-resilience-university-
district/70767 Accessed September 20, 2019
98 https://niemanreports.org/articles/how-journalists-of-color-are-redefining-
newsroom-culture/ Accessed September 20, 2019
99 https://www.poynter.org/newsletters/2018/a-survival-kit-for-journalists-of-color/
Accessed September 20, 2019
100 https://uwm.edu/journalism-advertising-media-studies/wp-content/uploads/
sites/213/2016/04/Racial-Profiling-in-the-Newsroom.pdf
Accessed September 20, 2019
101 https://archives.cjr.org/the_kicker/the_latest_debate_on_paying_fo.php
Accessed September 20, 2019
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102 https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/us/oregon-fluoride-measure-in-portland-is-
defeated.html Accessed September 20, 2019
103 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/15/eugene-oregon-dog-ban-
homeless Accessed September 20, 2019
104 https://www.oregonlive.com/health/2019/02/heart-attack-signs-and-symptoms-
are-different-for-women-heart-health-2019.html Accessed September 20, 2019
105 https://www.cjr.org/special_report/the-fall-rise-and-fall-of-media-trust.php
Accessed September 20, 2019
106 https://knightfoundation.org/reports/indicators-of-news-media-trust
Accessed September 20, 2019
107 https://knightfoundation.org/reports/disinformation-fake-news-and-influence-
campaigns-on-twitter Accessed September 20, 2019
108 https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/12/transparency-finally-takes-off/
Accessed September 20, 2019
109 https://www.cjr.org/special_report/how-does-journalism-happen-poll.php
Accessed September 20, 2019
110 https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/political-polarization/
Accessed September 20, 2019
111 https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2016/how-icij-got-hundreds-of-
journalists-to-collaborate-on-the-panama-papers/ Accessed September 20, 2019
114 https://www.invw.org/2018/04/19/first-ever-analysis-of-high-school-sports-
concussions-in-oregon/ Accessed September 20, 2019
115 https://www.invw.org/2019/02/08/missing-the-trainer-small-and-rural-schools-in-
oregon-are-least-likely-to-have-athletic-trainers/ Accessed September 20, 2019
116 https://www.invw.org/2019/02/13/on-top-the-world-until-one-too-many-
concussions/ Accessed September 20, 2019
117 https://www.invw.org/2019/02/08/solving-the-funding-puzzle-many-in-oregon-
look-to-the-state-to-pay-for-athletic-trainers/ Accessed September 20, 2019
119 https://www.salemreporter.com/posts/628/heres-the-story-behind-the-story-on-
an-oregon-legislative-executive Accessed September 20, 2019
120 https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/behind-the-byline/
Accessed September 20, 2019
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124 https://www.heraldandnews.com/breaking/tomorrow-s-herald-and-news-
headlines/article_0a9ed858-474d-5714-ab91-3a715095175b.html
Accessed September 20, 2019
125 https://twitter.com/fnbenitez/status/1130517647999660032
Accessed September 20, 2019
127 https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-statewide-longitudinal-data-system-
complete/ Accessed September 20, 2019
128 https://www.opb.org/news/article/bundyville-occupation-podcast/
Accessed September 20, 2019
130 https://images4.opb.org/c_limit%2Cg_center%2Ch_730%2Cq_90%2Cw_940/
bundyville-show-artwork-3000x1750_1561556640598.jpg
Accessed September 20, 2019
131 https://www.heraldandnews.com/multimedia/podcasts/
Accessed September 20, 2019
132 https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/should-journalists-
know-how-many-people-read-their-stories/395033/ Accessed September 20, 2019
133 https://www.cjr.org/innovations/you-may-hate-metrics-guardian-audience-twitter-
images.php Accessed September 20, 2019
134 https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/2018/08/digital-subscribers-for-local-
newspapers-after-adding-36000-the-seattle-times-lays-out-its-strategy/
Accessed September 20, 2019
135 https://digiday.com/media/seattle-times-empowering-reporters-drive-subscriber-
growth/ Accessed September 20, 2019
136 https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/
Accessed September 20, 2019
137 https://projects.seattletimes.com/2019/her-story-our-story/
Accessed September 20, 2019
138 https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/failed-certification-
faa-missed-safety-issues-in-the-737-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/
Accessed September 20, 2019
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Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest (2019)
139 https://mondaynote.com/winners-and-losers-of-the-subscription-frenzy-1-2-
872427b2eccb Accessed September 20, 2019
140 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-
reshaping-news/ Accessed September 20, 2019
141 https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-us/blog/2017-10-04-the-beginners-guide-
to-evergreen-content Accessed September 20, 2019
142 https://www.searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2440770/the-power-of-
evergreen-content-for-seo Accessed September 20, 2019
144 https://1859oregonmagazine.com/live/home-garden/outdoor-sauna/
Accessed September 20, 2019
146 https://medium.com/lets-gather/engaged-journalism-has-measurable-benefits-
aa30046c6593 Accessed September 20, 2019
147 https://dl.orangedox.com/putting-engagement-to-work
Accessed September 20, 2019
149 https://www.kuow.org/stories/whats-bottom-lake-washington-planes-trains-and
Accessed September 20, 2019
151 https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-high-country-news-tribal-affairs-desk-
seeks-pitches Accessed September 20, 2019
152 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/utah-navajo-midterm-
elections-voter-suppression Accessed September 20, 2019
153 https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-in-southern-utah-navajo-voters-rise-to-
be-heard-award Accessed September 20, 2019
154 https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-native-owned-financial-institutions-
battle-credit-deserts Accessed September 20, 2019
155 https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.7/tribal-affairs-indigenous-educators-fight-for-an-
accurate-history-of-california-missions Accessed September 20, 2019
44