Media Nation
A new lawsuit takes aim at Google’s ad monopoly just as the AI train is leaving the station
Catching up with ‘Beat the Press’: CBS News, media trust and Brian McGrory’s return to The Boston Globe
A New York Times video analysis suggests that Jeffrey Pretti was executed while unarmed
The Minnesota Star Tribune unveils a free live blog, gift links and family subscriptions
My Northeastern students are back, this time with stories that should get more coverage
Even amid high-profile setbacks, public funding for local news is expanding at the state level
‘Beat the Press’ takes on ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor Tony Dokoupil’s embarrassing debut
My Northeastern ethics students offer some ideas on practicing journalism in the AI era
A New York Times video analysis shows that ICE agent Ross was neither run over nor struck
By raiding a reporter’s home, Trump and his thugs have escalated their attack on a free press
Social, vertical and engaging: Mike Beaudet and Lisa Thalhamer map the future of local TV news
New York Times editor says his paper did not hold back on reporting that the U.S. would attack Venezuela
There’s no mystery about what happened in the killing of Renee Good
Hubris and humiliation: How the myth of meritocracy fueled the rise of Trump and right-wing populism
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it will close. Race and politics have been tearing it apart for years.
There’s a lot less to the Globe’s two missing panels from ‘Doonesbury’ than meets the eye
Why the Times’ and Post’s decision not to publish calls to mind the Bay of Pigs myth of 1961
Businessman who shut down his N.H. newspaper last summer is indicted on federal fraud charges
Voices on the ground: Local news outlets report on cheers, jeers for the U.S. raid on Venezuela
Frozen pond under a frozen sky
How Claude AI helped improve the look and legibility of Media Nation
Happy New Year!
Fewer posts, less politics, more news about local news: What’s ahead for Media Nation in 2026
With South Station unveiling fare gates, it’s time to rethink an annoying and unnecessary practice
Disney’s role in fueling middle-class resentment was Media Nation’s top post of 2025
Presenting this fall’s final projects by my Northeastern opinion journalism students
Linda Henry aims to deepen the Globe’s neighborhood coverage and expand in New England
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Founding editor Marc Levy has left Cambridge Day, the news outlet he launched in 2009
Watch it while you can: Yashar Ali has posted a broadcast-quality version of that ‘60 Minutes’ report
Jennifer Peter tells us about The Marshall Project, a nonprofit that covers criminal justice
Two weeks after a hopeful sign from ‘60 Minutes,’ Bari Weiss cancels a story and trashes the brand
David Brooks tells the ‘PBS NewsHour’ that he didn’t know Jeffrey Epstein was in the room
Sign of the times: A witness in the Brown mass-shooting case went to Reddit first, then the police
Looking back at how once-and-future editor Brian McGrory recruited John Henry to buy The Boston Globe
In ‘The Wired City,’ I wrote about a murder and the ethics of naming a ‘person of interest’
BBJ: Newly named Globe editor Brian McGrory tells students he’ll return to BU no later than 2027
Linda Henry says McGrory will not be the ‘interim’ editor but will take an extended leave from BU
Meet the new editor, same as the old editor: Brian McGrory will return to The Boston Globe
Local and national media mobilize to cover the Brown shootings. There was one serious misstep.
25 years ago, I wrote that media passivity helped enable George W. Bush’s corrupt victory
Boston Globe Media CEO Linda Henry hails departing editor Nancy Barnes
Nancy Barnes, The Boston Globe’s first female editor, will step down at the end of next week
‘Beat the Press’ hits Substack. Plus, Somerville news blues, and DigBoston co-founder Jeff Lawrence dies.
Saudis and Kushner and Trump, oh my: Why it matters that CNN stay out of Paramount’s clutches
The Globe’s paid digital circulation has stopped growing, according to newly revealed numbers
Chris Fitzsimon tells us how States Newsroom has built a nationwide statehouse news network
A right-wing influencer smears CNN; plus, murder on the high seas, and an immigration outrage
My new supporters newsletter is now up. Please join today!
In a lawsuit against Meta, the state’s highest court will rule on the limits of Section 230
Don’t fall for shifting media narratives about Hegseth’s responsibility and the Nuzzi-Lizza mess
Why polling averages may not capture the depths of Trump’s growing unpopularity
Hegseth posts demented tweet following charges that he ordered the killings of two injured men
A New York Times gift-link bacchanalia, from the hazards of AI to an aging Trump to chatty cats
Happy Thanksgiving!
Caffè Nero apologizes and vows to bolster training after a racially charged case of mistaken identity
Todd Landfried tells us about The Local, his vision for streaming video newscasts in all 50 states
Northeastern researchers offer a lifeline for TV newsrooms seeking younger audiences
A retired journalist says he was refused service and told he was confused with another Black man
Marisa Kabas is the alternative to wallowing in Olivia Nuzzi’s tale of dysfunction and deceit
Layoffs in Dallas by Hearst provoke a bitter ‘we told you so’ from Alden Global Capital
A Muzzle for the Lexington schools, caught trying to run up the tab for a public records request
‘Things happen’ — and for one brief moment, The Washington Post rediscovers its soul
How Margaret Sullivan’s erroneous slip of the tongue became (briefly) an AI-generated ‘fact’
Catching the vibes in the Berkshires
One good reason the shutdown should have continued; plus, a settlement in Kansas, and Kara Miller’s new podcast
Kade Krichko tells us about the global localism of Ori magazine; plus, Jon Keller is at large
A second Muzzle Award to the Mystic Valley charter school — this time over a public records dispute
It turns out that you can share Boston Globe stories with non-subscribers for free
A ruling in favor of the Des Moines Register bodes well for a bogus lawsuit brought by Trump
The Plymouth Independent names a Pulitzer winner as its next editor
Remembering the Iraq war: How Knight Ridder dug up the truth about Dick Cheney’s falsehoods
Three shining examples of enterprise reporting from The Boston Globe that you should know about
With midnight approaching, here are my last three New York Times gift links for October
A post-merger purge of 2,000 at Paramount claims WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller
An anti-Trump meme poster is free, but Tennessee authorities have sent a chilling message
The Washington Post runs three editorials failing to disclose Jeff Bezos’ conflicts of interest
Rick Goldsmith tells us about ‘Stripped for Parts,’ his jeremiad against hedge-fund journalism
The New York Times discovers Maine’s Midcoast Villager. Here’s the rest of the story.
Trump’s targeted killings of civilians at sea is the worst thing he has done as president
Mark Arsenault is leaving the Globe to report on education for The New York Times
Boston.com, the Globe’s free site since its launch 30 years ago, is adding a metered paywall
Digital startups are a bright spot in the latest ‘State of Local News’ report, but rural areas are lagging
Students journalists stand up for freedom of the press; plus, censorship at Indiana University
A reminder that George Santos was exposed by a local news outlet whose reporting was ignored
Public journalism redux: Post-academia, Jay Rosen returns to where he started
I’ll be talking about news and democracy in Stoughton, Mass., this coming Monday
Surveillance cameras in Brookline, Mass., raise serious questions about civil liberties
Mass. legislator proposes crackdown on street takeovers that would include spectators
John and Kristen Muldoon are retiring from their nonprofit newspaper in Ipswich, Mass.
Ellen Clegg surveys how the Memphis media are covering Trump’s troop deployment
The Globe’s print circulation drops again, but it says paid digital ‘is thriving’
Nonprofit local news is growing, but the revenue mix remains unbalanced, according to a new INN report
Recognition for ‘What Works in Community News’ from the Mass Book Awards
The Colorado Sun embraces a democratic nonprofit model that looks a lot like a co-op
Ellen Clegg digs into a claim of censorship at the Daily Memphian — and finds a more complex story
Trump may have worked himself into a lather over Portland by watching 5-year-old footage on Fox News
The Bay State Banner marks 60 years of serving the Black community in Greater Boston and beyond
Google appears to be throttling AI searches about Trump’s obviously addled mental state
Tracy Baim tells us about the LGBTQ+ Mapping Project and her work with Press Forward Chicago
GBH announces $225 million fundraising initiative to offset government cuts
Looking back at Jill Lepore’s ‘These Truths’ and what she said about race, class and identity politics
On the day of another Red Sox-Yankees series, remembering baseball’s greatest game
Quincy’s controversial mayor steps in it again with anti-LGBTQ remarks about the Catholic sexual-abuse crisis
Three gift links: helping a troubled teen, homeless in Santa Monica, and important frog-related news
NJ PBS chair weighs in, Emily Rooney on not quitting and Karen Attiah fights back. Plus: Please come to Waltham.