The Baltimore Banner’s parent nonprofit acquires the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The acquisition, which will take effect May 4, is the latest example of a metro daily transforming into a nonprofit to survive.

The Baltimore Banner’s parent nonprofit acquires the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/the-...

So glad this story is gaining traction & wanted to highlight that @andrewdeck.bsky.social at @niemanlab.org broke the news that NYT/Guardian/USA Today were blocking IA earlier this year. Encourage all to read: www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/news...

V Spehar built a news business from under a desk. Now they’re a creator journalism pioneer. Under the Desk News started as TikTok explainers during the pandemic. Six years later, V Spehar has become one of the internet's most trusted journalists.

"Traditional media doesn’t need to be more TikTok-y. Digital influencers don’t need to be more traditional. There’s room enough for all of us and together we get the job of telling the truth and holding power accountable done together." www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/v-sp...

ProPublica journalists walk off the job in first U.S. newsroom strike over AI On the picket line in New York, union leaders said they expect "more concentrated conflicts" over AI in the news industry.

Yesterday, the ProPublica Guild walked off the job in the first strike by a major U.S. newsroom over, at least in part, AI protections.

I spoke with striking journalists and union leaders on the picket line in New York for @niemanlab.org. www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/prop...

More than 1,300 newsrooms participate in the first “Local News Day” Nonprofit newsroom Montana Free Press is the managing partner behind the April 9 national day of action.

“If you’re producing local journalism, we want to bring audiences to your doorstep, and that’s really what Local News Day is all about.”

www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/more...

An AI company set out to fix news deserts. Instead, it copied local journalists’ work - Poynter Nota shut down its news sites after Axios and Poynter found dozens of plagiarized quotes, phrases and photos

Leaders said Nota News was an experiment not meant to be seen by readers. But some of the company’s actions conflict with that.

A Sept. 16 Nota press release touts the initiative, which included Microsoft, TollBit and BizBudding’s Springwire as partners. The release listed URLs of all 11 sites.

VTDigger is losing its top editor and CEO. What’s driving the departures at a nonprofit news pioneer? - The Boston Globe Executive departures, financial challenges, and a tense contract negotiation with its editorial union has left VTDigger on unstable footing.

My latest: Nonprofit news pioneer VTDigger is facing several challenges, years after it established itself as Vermont's news outlet of record: the departure of its editor and CEO, financial losses, and a tense contract negotiation with its editorial union. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/02/b...

The Provincetown Independent’s reporters couldn’t find housing. So the Local Journalism Project bought a condo for them to rent. “We determined the need, we raised the funds, we found the properties, and we are teaching young journalists what a circuit breaker is.”

The Local Journalism Project purchased the three-bed, three-bath property in October for just under $1.5 million.

Three reporters moved in within weeks; they pay 30% of their salaries as rent, well below market rate. www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/the-...

I'm honored to be in this company, and deeply appreciative that @newhousesu.bsky.social chose to recognize a story that calls out the uncomfortable truth in our industry.

Mirror Award Finalists The Newhouse School has recognized the best in media industry reporting since 2007.

so excited that 2 @niemanlab.org stories are Mirror Award finalists:
@hanaatameez.bsky.social's "From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline, and @neeldhanesha.com's "How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting"

Excited to say I'm in great company here, along with @hanaatameez.bsky.social!

News Diaries: How a Minnesota mom and minister “blew past” her screen time limits when ICE came to her city How Instagram, public radio, Signal, WhatsApp, the local paper of record, and local TV do — and don't — fit into one Minneapolis resident's daily news habits.

"I found out about the death of Renée Good and Alex Pretti from Signal chats before it was posted on any other published source."

Our first installment in News Diaries, a new series on people's habits for finding and consuming news.
www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/news...

Reluctantly learning from my boyfriend’s favorite news creator At “an evening of magic, rap battles, and a SECRET documentary screening,” would I discover the future of news?

"That leaves me thinking about the worthy in newsworthy. If the mainstream news does not deem people like him worthy, if it does not, in that sense, care about those people: Why would they care about the mainstream news?" www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/relu... Fascinating piece by @speppered.bsky.social

Reluctantly learning from my boyfriend’s favorite news creator At “an evening of magic, rap battles, and a SECRET documentary screening,” would I discover the future of news?

Callaghan has visibly matured as a reporter since the early days. But he continues to show millions of viewers the unvarnished weirdness of this country and the world, balking at nothing, earning their trust and even making them feel seen along the way. www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/relu...

With Washington Post Local diminished, other news sites step up their D.C. coverage The 51st, City Cast, and The Baltimore Banner are among the outlets to announce expansions of Washington, D.C. metro area coverage since the Post layoffs.

“The Post was always the thousand-pound gorilla in local reporting." www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/with...

New York Times runs in-house ad asking listeners to “support any news organization dedicated to original reporting” The New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger has voiced a new ad encouraging listeners to support any news organization dedicated to original reporting — even if it's not the Times. It's Sulzberger's...

"Not asking you to click on any link, just subscribe to a real news organization with real journalists doing firsthand, fact-based reporting."

A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, urging people to support "original reporting" wherever they find it.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/new-...

‘It’s so hard just to survive’: How Gen Zers in Greater Boston are making it - The Boston Globe There’s no question that Gen Zers in the Boston area are facing major financial headwinds. The Globe spoke with several twentysomethings to better understand how they are managing high costs.

A tough job market for new college grads, and, for those lucky enough to get hired, salaries that barely allow them to scrape by. Here's how Gen Zers are making it work in Boston.

The Tampa Bay Times starts a monthly “book club” for news stories The idea is not just to discuss a story's substance, but to give readers a behind-the-scenes look at the reporting process and decision-making that shape the published article.

"If we want to continue to exist, and to do the important work that we do every day, we have to justify our existence to the people in our communities." www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/the-...

In unprecedented decision, The Boston Globe will not print a paper for Feb. 24 delivery - The Boston Globe A massive nor’easter that blanketed New England with snow and turbulent winds made it nearly impossible for the paper’s printing staff to get to work in Taunton.

The @bostonglobe.com presses are quiet tonight, as its executives have made the unprecedented decision to not print and deliver a paper Tuesday due to Monday's monster of a blizzard. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/23/b...

This Is How a Child Dies of Measles When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak

I was stunned by Elizabeth Bruenig's @theatlantic.com essay, "This Is How a Child Dies of Measles." Then I was struck by the disclaimer at the bottom: "This story is based on extensive reporting and interviews with physicians, including those who have cared directly for patients with measles."

SOURCE REQUEST: I'm looking to talk to independent journalists on Substack who are based outside of the United States! This is for a @niemanlab.org story.

Send me your favorites and recs, and RT for reach! 🙏🏼

“Terribly frustrating”: After USPS changes, more newspapers aren’t reaching subscribers on time Newspaper delays are just one consequence of cost cuts and changes to a fraying 250-year-old system.

"It is a service that the Villager spends over $49,000 on annually, and we decidedly are not getting what we pay for." www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/terr...

For the past year, Illinois has been giving local news outlets tax credits to support journalism jobs. A new report looks at how it’s going During a devastating week of news about news, you could easily have missed a new policy paper from the nonprofit Rebuild Local News. The report, released last Thursday, is a substantive, measured…

Local news organizations across the U.S. are in dire need of this kind of structural support to supplement the ad-hoc fumes of one-off grants.
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/for-...

The Murder of The Washington Post Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.

I arrived at The Post during a personal and professional nadir. But they welcomed me into their merry band of misfits, and believed in me — so I started believing in myself, too.

My ode to what makes The Post so special. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Journalism coops seem utopian. What’s it like working in one? "If I was less self-directed, I'd probably be freaking out."

Journalism coops give me — and most of the journalists I know — a lot of hope for the industry. But I've been curious: What's it like to actually work at one? I spent the last few months talking to a bunch of brilliant worker-owners to find out.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/jour...

What a safety expert thinks journalists should know about “less than lethal” rounds and chemical irritants used by ICE "The consideration that we make with all of our recommendations is, 'What is the safest thing you can use while still getting your assignment done?’"

this Q&A by @neeldhanesha.com about what federal agents are using in MN, is alarming, but also really interesting.

The pepper spray in use today is hotter & clingier than it used to be.

"Less than lethal" rounds are larger & faster, and standard eye protection doesn't protect against them.

I grew up with Alex Pretti The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

A scrappy story-sharing tool with local newsroom DNA gains traction Plucky Wire was incubated in an unlikely place for a journalism technology: the tiny Granite State News Collaborative. Now, it's being used by hundreds of outlets countrywide.

everyone in local news says collaboration is key. they also say it can be a pain.

enter Plucky Wire, a scrappy startup incubated @granitestatenc.bsky.social.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/a-sc...

At vigil in Minneapolis, a longtime friend remembers Alex Pretti Heather Zielinski had already planned to pay respects to a man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on Saturday in Minneapolis, after seeing the video on social media. She later learned with shock tha...

“He was a good human being and was just trying to help someone,” said Heather Zielinski, a longtime friend of Alex Pretti. “He was really involved in his work and in nature. He was a great dog dad. An honest, funny and kind person. The things that he did, he did it with his whole heart.”

The full extent of what the FBI will be able to gather from Natanson’s devices will rest on her, and the Post’s, digital security hygiene. “It really depends on, were the devices up to date?” Sandvik told me. “What type of authentication was used? Was encryption enabled on the drive? Was lockdown mode enabled on the phone? Were disappearing messages used on Signal?” If Natanson uses Macs, for instance, even if they are fully encrypted, “that encryption only kicks in when the device is fully powered off,” she said. “When you power the device on and you log in that first time, that is when you unlock or decrypt the drive.” The same would apply to a phone. “So if she knew this and she saw the FBI outside her door,” Sandvik noted, “the smartest thing to do would have been to go and power off all her devices.”

If you see federal agents pulling into your driveway, reporters, power down your electronic devices ASAP.

That's the advice from @runasand.bsky.social, via @columjournreview.bsky.social

www.cjr.org/news/hannah-...