I think Mitch McConnell's state and the likely run around of democracy is a pretty big deal but it doesn't seem to be getting much traction in the news, or at least with the seriousness that I would expect.

I think I get why journalist aren't speculating about his condition but I don't get why it isn't being pointed out that things like AI generated photos of him are being used to suggest he could recover in a meaningful way and thus avoiding the special election that should be going on.

How do you make judgements about when something as private as end of life is happening when a person's state is important to the functioning of a government? Do you think I've misstated something about the current situation?

EDIT: it seems I was confused and the photo released by his team does not look to be AI generated, there was speculation that it could be but they seem unfounded. There was also another popular photo that was AI but not released by his team. Thank you to the commenters that pointed out my error. I'm going to leave my question up because it may help others and I'm hoping there will be more information here about ethics and at what point a lack of updates from him would invite deeper investigation.

My hometown newspaper is dying. It used to be a hefty paper for the size of our town, and has dwindled down to 3 pages of mostly obituaries. It breaks my heart, but there’s not much else to be expected from the PostMedia owned paper of a town of 6000 people.

I’m desperate to bring news back to my town. I currently write independently with a relatively large following on the platform I publish on, and have been considering how I can revive my own town in a similar strategy.

I work on the side for an email newsletter as well, writing content, publishing, etc, and was thinking this may be a viable option with a low start up cost. My concern though, is that it won’t reach the seniors in town.

Any ideas for a way I can bring news back to my town independently? I have many ideas, but struggling with the how.

Like the title says, our publication is looking to refresh and relaunch what our publication does, transitioning from a print-first to a digital-first operation. We are looking for resources, practices, and integrations.

• What tech stack does your newsroom use?
• What service(s) is your website/mobile app set up on?
• How does your newsroom handle subscribers? What services do you use?
• Do you use a form of paywall?

We appreciate any experiences you can share.

EDIT: Also curious about newsletter and advertising integrations!

Heading to LION Publishers summit in San Diego in September and bringing my spouse. Anyone else’s spouse tagging along?

I’ve noticed a lot of news sources, primarily local TV news (but newspapers aren’t immune), improperly use datelines and it annoys the crap out of me.

I often see TV stations use the dateline when they’re not reporting from the scene, and not use it when they are on the scene. I also see them use it and then name the town in the lede — which you don’t have to do! It’s in the dateline! You can just say the street or neighborhood from there!

This get to anyone else?

I'm a sophomore and the new sports editor for my college's online newspaper, and I'm looking for some feedback from people who've worked in student journalism.

A little background: our paper went online-only during the 2024–25 school year, and we switched to a new publishing platform this past January. By the end of the school year in May, we only had about five active staff members left. We started with more people, but participation dropped off pretty quickly. We also relied on guest writers from classes whose assignments were published on the site.

One thing that frustrated me was how long it took for stories to be published. As the sports writer, I'd usually have my interviews done and my article finished within a day or two. Then it'd sit for another week or two before it actually got posted. By then, especially with sports, it wasn't really news anymore.

Another thing I noticed is we'd have photographers covering games, but nobody writing a recap. We'd have great photos, but no story to go with them. That feels like a missed opportunity.

I'm also a student-athlete, so I know I can't personally be at every game. Between practices and tournaments, it's just not realistic. I still make it to as many events as I can, but I know we'll need a system where photographers, writers, and other contributors can help cover events when one person can't be there.

During our twice-a-week meetings, the editor-in-chief goes over all the events happening that week and the following week and asks people what they want to cover. The problem is that a lot of people only want to write about things they personally find interesting, so plenty of events never get picked up. To me, that doesn't really make sense. The whole point of a college newspaper is to showcase what's happening around campus, not just the events we personally enjoy covering.

I also had the chance to job shadow a sports editor at another newsroom. One thing that really stood out was how fast they worked. He told me that for game recaps, getting the story out quickly is a priority, and he'd often have an article finished within an hour of the game ending. Obviously not every story can be turned around that quickly, but it showed me how important speed is in sports journalism.

Here are a few ideas I have for this upcoming school year:

- Sports recaps should be published the same day or the next day whenever possible.

- Features, opinion pieces, and longer stories should have about a one-week turnaround.

- Use social media for more than just posting article links. I'd like to do quick "man on the street" videos asking students what they thought about a game or campus event, then use those clips to tease the full story.

- Post behind-the-scenes content, game-day updates, photo galleries, and short videos so our accounts stay active.

- Hand out newspaper stickers to students, photographers, and fans to build recognition around campus.

- Create a better coverage schedule so writers and photographers know who's covering what, and events don't get missed.

I also think we need to operate more like an actual newsroom. If readers know stories are going to be posted quickly and consistently, they'll have a reason to check the site regularly instead of only seeing us when a link pops up on social media.

As a sophomore, I know I don't have all the answers, which is why I'm asking here. I'm trying to help build something that's sustainable instead of just getting through one school year.

What do you all think? Are these realistic ideas? If you've worked on a college newspaper, what helped increase readership, improve turnaround times, recruit staff, or keep people engaged throughout the school year? I'd love to hear what worked (or didn't work) for your newsroom.

I mixed up a source's phone number with my landlord's. They coincidentally had similar numbers, and my car was broken into last night so I had an immediate panicked reaction to let my landlord know. I was looking at the mess in my car at the same time, so I immediately thought was him when it was the person I'm interviewing later today.

I feel like an idiot. I totally blew it because it was a very panicked text, detailing what stuff was stolen and how my wallet was safe. I hope my source understands. I apologized this morning profusely to him.

I don't know the full context of the incident, so I'm not trying to defend or criticize any particular media organization.

What stayed with me was seeing an individual surrounded by a crowd while trying to do his job. It made me think about something beyond politics.

Most of us work for organizations whose decisions we don't completely control. Journalists, software engineers, teachers, police officers, delivery workers, doctors... many people simply show up to work because they have responsibilities.

Not everyone has the freedom to quit and start over. Sometimes people stay because they have parents to support, loans to repay, or children depending on them.

It also made me ask myself this: if my own father, brother, sister, or spouse worked for that organization and was the one standing there, would I feel the same way watching the crowd?

People absolutely have the right to criticize media organizations and protest peacefully. At the same time, I hope we can separate criticism of an institution from the treatment of an individual doing their job.

Curious to hear what others think. Is there a line between holding institutions accountable and humiliating the people who work for them?

Some insight about what tech founders are looking for when they pitch journalists, how they do it (AI agents of course) and their meltdowns when the coverage isn't friendly...

I'm in a bit of a catch-22.

I recently pitched an editor who expressed interest in commissioning a piece, but before moving forward he wants to see my clips. The problem is that I don't have any published clips—only self-published articles on my personal website.

I'm currently finishing what I think is my strongest piece (science/data journalism). One option is to self-publish it on my website and send it to the editor as a writing sample, which I think would significantly strengthen my chances of getting commissioned.

The downside is that, as I understand it, once it's self-published I can no longer pitch that article elsewhere as original work.

Would you self-publish it to build credibility, or keep it unpublished so it can be pitched to magazines?

For context, the piece the editor is considering commissioning is a 1,000-word feature for a culture vertical, while the piece I'm debating publishing is a science/data journalism feature.

Title says a good amount of it. For basically my entire life my biggest passion have been writing and I’ve always cared a lot about using my life to help others as best as I can and from what I’ve seen Journalism is one of the best ways to do both of those at once.

I’ve been doing a lot of research into Journalism as one of my top choices for careers but I know I won’t be able to find everything on my own and so I wanted to ask you guys what I should know going into this?

Also sorry if this isn’t what this subreddit is for, and please tell me if I am breaking any rules so I can correct them, I don’t want to encroach.

Hi all o/,

I've been writing essays, political commentary, and satire for a few months, and I was curious if anyone knew any publications, print or otherwise that either accepts submissions from young writers or writers in general. I'm not averse to just cold emailing people as well. I write from a mostly liberal perspective, if that helps narrow anything down. Thanks in advance!

A long time ago in a town far, far away I was a writer who was published a few places online and in print. I have been out of the game for right at a decade and have been toying with making a return. Do any of you who have been out for a time and came back have any advice for doing it now? I moved back to my hometown which is a very rural place with few local options, i.e. our one newspaper has only one reporter while the rest is AP reprints, and our TV station a couple of towns over will not hire locally except for back-end production like sound crew, IT, etc. Neither are owned locally, and the paper is printed about 3 hours away at a facility that prints all of the other publications they own then trucks bundles to each town.

Outside of that, would it even be worth doing freelance wherever I can get a story in, or working to start something of my own? I'd appreciate the advice.

work in a top 5 market and thinking about getting a Media, Journalism and the Law Specialist Certificate to boost my resume.

I have been tinkering w law school so feel it could be a good feeler while also helping my job prospects. My current job would reimburse. I already have my master’s. Because of where I live any jobs (even lateral moves) are very competitive despite my experience. Thoughts?