There's a reader revenue revolution happening. Will legacy news miss it again? 9/10/19

There are seven changes news organizations need to adopt to succeed during the reader revolution. Jim Brady, CEO of Spirited Media, lays them out in a recent post for the Reynolds Journalism Institute. They include: serving your audience first (not your newsroom) and having a point of view.

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AP, GNI to build tool to help local newsrooms collaborate 7/8/19

The Associated Press is launching a pilot project aimed at increasing local news coverage and improving the way member news organizations collaborate with one another.

With support from the Google News Initiative, AP will build an online tool that enables members to share their coverage plans to more efficiently cover local news.

It will also allow participating news organizations to share their journalism, increasing the amount of local news stories in their communities.

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GateHouse Media launches national investigative reporting team 6/25/19

GateHouse Media has announced a powerful investment in journalism: a national investigative and data-driven reporting team of more than 30 award-winning editors and reporters. The team will be embedded in local newsrooms, adding to local coverage efforts.

The team will be headed by Managing Editor Emily Le Coz, an award-winning journalist and GateHouse Media's first national digital projects editor. The team will report on high-impact national projects, elevate local news and experiment with innovative ways to shape the future of the industry.

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A commitment to better print 6/18/19

By Jane Nicholes, SNPA Correspondent

In the digital age, the Sun Newspapers in southwest Florida are betting on the future of print.

Under the new ownership of Adams Publishing Group and after nine months of planning, the Port Charlotte Sun and its new sister paper, the Punta Gorda Sun, roll out Wednesday with a new look, new sections and new approaches to news coverage intended to expand what readers are getting for their subscriptions.

"Overall, we wanted to create a much better newspaper for our readers, and we wanted to grow our circulation, to modernize and give it a new exciting look and feel," said Publisher Glen Nickerson. But it isn't just one newspaper, it's several.

The biggest change is that the Charlotte Sun will be split into two editions. "It will become the Punta Gorda Sun and the Port Charlotte Sun," Nickerson said.

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Houston Chronicle, RJI partner to keep chemical company data site available for journalists 6/18/19

A resource that helped The Houston Chronicle shed light on chemical disasters and facilities posing the greatest potential harm to the public, in the event of an emergency, got a new lease on life.

After facing an uncertain future after its original owner - the Center for Effective Government - was shut down, the Right to Know Network relaunched June 12 with a more user-friendly, accessible site design.

The redesign happened because of a collaboration between The Houston Chronicle, the Reynolds Journalism Institute and Missouri School of Journalism.

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Before history disappears 6/11/19

By Jane Nicholes, SNPA Correspondent

"This morning about 0500 the convoy realized its destination and the first wave was formed and started for the beach. Our job was to sweep for floating mines and air protection. When we were about 1800 yards from the beach we threw our mine sweeping gear over and that is where the fun started. They begin to fire at us from the shore as we went in LCF 31 on our port side was hit and went down. And on our starboard side I saw P.C. 1261 going down. After we saw this we were all so damn scared. We wish we had never seen that many but we had to keep going.

"After the first troops and rockets hit the beach things begin to quiet down. All day and night troops were sent to the beach."

P.C. 1621 was the first ship sunk on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

William Lunsford was a Navy Gunfire Support Craft specialist on USS LCF-27 (or Landing Craft Flak), part of the invasion force at Utah Beach in Normandy. Lunsford is the father of Margie Bennett, a sales support employee at the Aiken Standard in South Carolina. He kept a diary, and excerpts from it made up part of a package of stories commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day last week.

"They're all in their 90s now," said Managing Editor Michael Harris. "Time is killing them more than the Germans did, as I pointed out in the editorial. We're losing them. So I wanted to go into it with something different."

The Standard asked readers for their memories, stories, photos and other contributions, knowing that the dwindling number of World War II veterans meant that direct interviews would be limited. The plan was flexible based on what was submitted.

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Things designers don't want to hear 6/11/19

By Ed Henninger

Over the next few months, I'm offering some of my best columns from the past few years.

This one focuses on things designers hear that drive them nuts.

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A checklist can minimize risks for journalists covering natural disasters 5/28/19

By Elli Fitzgerald, Kaixin Liu and Blythe Nebeker

Newsrooms need plans for covering natural disasters, and coming up with them before the next fire or storm will make a stressful situation simpler.

As part of their capstone project, three convergence journalism students studied disaster plans at The Associated Press and other newsrooms across the country.

Read about some of the recommendations they found.

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Simple ways to build trust? Apparently NOT 5/21/19

Studies from the Media Insight Project, Trusting News and others show that audiences put their trust in the news depending on certain factors that are present within the organization. In order to uncover where news outlets are on target or lacking in these factors, Discovery Fellow Taylor Gion from the University of Missouri did some research with new sites across the country.

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Is your 'designer' a designer? 5/14/19

By Ed Henninger

COME JUNE 1, I will have spent 30 years as a newspaper consultant. That's a long time. I'll be retiring at the end of this year ... perhaps sooner.

It's time for me to turn my attention more toward Julia and my family ... and the pursuits that bring me joy.

Over for the next few months, I'm offering some of my best columns from the past few years.

Here's one that focuses on designers.

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