How V Spehar built a news business from under a desk 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.

"TikTok has raised more people out of a dead-end job than any other platform on Earth has."

www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/how-...

The AP is offering buyouts in a pivot away from newspapers For 180 years, ever since it was founded by five New York newspapers in 1846 to help share the costs of reporting on the Mexican-American war, newspapers have been a part of the Associated Press'…

While they once accounted for the majority of the AP’s revenue, big newspapers now only make up 10% of the organization’s income.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/the-...

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...

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.

On the uncharacteristically cold April morning in Manhattan, strikers bundled up in winter gear as they chanted and carried signs reading “ProPublic Workers: Deserve Fair Pay” and “Thoughts Not Bots.”

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...

Do links hurt publishers on Twitter? Our new analysis says yes. (+ some data coming for Bluesky!)

not to be earnest on here but I've been loving interviewing news creators for @niemanlab.org's Creators of Record series.

It’s a good reminder on this beat that journalism’s future isn’t just about preserving what was, but that it's being invented every day. 🧵:

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...

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.”

"how do you educate and train young reporters if they can’t find a place to live?" www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/the-... Great solution to a big ol problem. by @speppered.bsky.social

NYT and Delta Air Lines strike distribution deal The full portfolio of the Times' journalism and content will be accessible to Delta SkyMiles members via seatback screens.

Once a flyer signs in while on board, they can access the Times' journalism for up to 24 hours.

www.axios.com/2026/04/02/n...

Amid internal uncertainty, the VTDigger’s new union contract guarantees journalists’ input on AI use After a year of negotiating, the VTDigger Guild ratified its second-ever union contract on April 1 with VTDigger, the nonprofit news outlet covering Vermont. The new four-year agreement guarantees a…

According to the Boston Globe, negotiations became tense when the @vtdiggerguild.bsky.social started publicly campaigning for AI protections www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/__tr...

WSJ editor Emma Tucker on how title grew digital subs by a third to 4.3m The Wall Street Journal's subscriptions growth is not down to an accident or luck, WSJ editor Emma Tucker has made clear.

“It’s just like having another massive newsroom of reporters who are all just sitting there waiting to be told what to do. You can get them to do the grunt work that is tedious.”

pressgazette.co.uk/news-leaders...

Wired pulls plug on UK print edition as it focuses on global subscriber growth Wired will not put out a print magazine in the UK in 2026 as it focuses on global subscriber growth, Katie Drummond reveals.

“As nostalgic as we are for them and as lovely an experience as it can be, we really want to be where audiences are," global editorial director @katie-drummond.bsky.social said.

pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/m...

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

Poynter found more than 70 stories dating back to October that included reporting, writing and photography from local journalists without attribution. www.poynter.org/ethics-trust...

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-...

Nonprofit news outlets had a strong traffic month in January Big gainers included Oaklandside, Sahan Journal, and The Colorado Sun. Here’s our regular ranking of the top 25 nonprofit news sites in the United States.

Thanks to support from our readers, The Sun continues to grow and move up on this list of nonprofit news outlets around the country. .... www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/nonp...

Three newsletters for the price of 1.5: Independent journalists experiment with a bundle The bundle, from three independent journalists, makes subscribing easier and cheaper.

OMG, yes! "But the true holy grail of newsletters, the thing that would give readers the closest thing to a bespoke magazine without making them pay full price for a bunch of individual subscriptions, is the bundle," writes @neeldhanesha.com: www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/thre...

Three newsletters for the price of 1.5: Independent journalists experiment with a bundle The bundle, from three independent journalists, makes subscribing easier and cheaper.

HELL YEAH

"The discussion was revived in February, when Burns told her she’d been talking to Jarjour about launching the first paid subscription bundle. Burns, Kabas told me, was 'foundational to making this happen.'"

www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/thre...

we made THE NEWS www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/thre...

Newhouse School Announces Finalists in 2026 Mirror Awards Competition Winners will be announced May 19 at an awards ceremony in New York City.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on May 19 in New York City. Find the full list of nominees here: newhouse.syracuse.edu/news/newhous...

How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting “These stations are not just media outlets, they are cultural infrastructure.”

“How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting” by
@neeldhanesha.com has been nominated in the Best Single Article/Story category.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/how-...

From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.

“From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline” by @hanaatameez.bsky.social has been nominated for the John M. Higgins Award for Best In-Depth/Enterprise Reporting.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...

Graphic that reads: Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications 2026 Mirror Awards

We're thrilled to share that two Nieman Lab stories are finalists for this year’s @newhousesu.bsky.social Mirror Awards honoring excellence in media industry reporting!

Interesting model, nice to see this being done by journalists on platforms other than Substack. Great detail: "I had some money on the side because I got fired from a fancy tech job by a lunatic who hates journalism [Jarjour left Twitter in February 2023, five months after Elon Musk took over]."

And, he said, “I had some money on the side because I got fired from a fancy tech job by a lunatic who hates journalism [Jarjour left Twitter in February 2023, five months after Elon Musk took over]. So I wanted to build something I believe will make journalism stronger against even its worst enemies.”

So, @niemanlab.org just covered our little startup and I won't stop talking about it because I'm obviously a huge nieman lab fan.

I tried to come across as a sane and highly strategic person.

I think I nailed it.

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"

Three newsletters for the price of 1.5: Independent journalists experiment with a bundle The bundle, from three independent journalists, makes subscribing easier and cheaper.

Three newsletters for the price of 1.5: Independent journalists experiment with a bundle www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/thre...

The nonprofit Salt Lake Tribune is ready to tear down its paywall After two years of planning, there's finally a date. Well, okay, a month: May. That's when the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah's largest newspaper, will drop its paywall. "Starting in May, all newly…

The nonprofit Salt Lake Tribune is ready to tear down its paywall www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/the-...

The Guardian experiments with republishing its food newsletter on Substack The Guardian has started cross-posting its weekly food newsletter, "Feast," to Substack, where it hopes to reach new audiences. This is an experiment, according to Press Gazette's reporting; if Feast…

The Guardian experiments with republishing its food newsletter on Substack www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/the-...

Nonprofit news outlets had a strong traffic month in January Big gainers included Oaklandside, Sahan Journal, and The Colorado Sun. Here’s our regular ranking of the top 25 nonprofit news sites in the United States.

The War Horse saw one story find an audience in private messaging groups like WhatsApp and Telegram; San Diego's inewsource, meanwhile, is investing in Nextdoor.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/nonp...