In a crisis, people seek trusted news brands

Latest Reuters report highlights importance of trust, user payments, shift to digital Several insights from the latest Reuters Digital News Report caught my attention. I want to share them from the executive summary, followed by my comments. Digital News Report 2021: “This [coronavirus] crisis has also shown the value of accurate and reliable information at […]

Read More »

Confession: Why I avoid reading (some of) the news

For journalists to be effective, we have to read the news the way a long-term investor does. We need to look for value. Wise investors take note of those who predict that the the stock market is headed for record highs or a sudden collapse. They give an ear to the self-appointed gurus who say […]

Read More »

5 keys to making quality journalism sustainable

Author’s note: this post is a summary of remarks I made in a Zoom presentation for the Free University of Brussels and the technology research center IMEC. This research started when our colleague told us he was worried about the future of quality media. He saw traditional media failing as businesses because they were not […]

Read More »

News publishers develop playbook to defend against government attacks

In Brazil, Hungary, Poland, and Mexico, populist presidents have weaponized social media to undermine the press Editors of leading publications in those countries described their own strategies to defend press freedom. Key elements: don’t back down, collaborate internationally, protect your team, uncover the facts. Some of the tactics used by populist presidents include taking over […]

Read More »

Why you might hate the news media, and some journalists

Note to readers: I wrote this blog post in November 2018, but it seems relevant today. Lots of people distrust the news media and lots of people distrust the government. And I am not just talking about the U.S. but Spain, the U.K., Italy, etc., etc., etc. This blog post started out as an explanation […]

Read More »

The winning business strategy builds on relationships

This blog entry was written for IJNet.org, Tips for Journalists in 2020  from other Knight International Journalism fellows. The losing strategy that seeks mass audiences and mass advertising as measured by unique users and page views has led many media to chase clicks with ever-more sensationalistic content about celebrities, sports figures, imprudent politicians and sex […]

Read More »

Letters to a publisher II: Treat your readers with respect

How should a media executive manage the business during a time of disruptive technological change? Alfonso Nieto attempted to answer that question in his book “Letters to a newspaper publisher,” written in 1987 when newsrooms in Spain were moving from typewriters to computers. His comments have acute relevance today. In this letter to a fictitious […]

Read More »