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Media Nation – By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passionsMedia Nation – By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions Skip to content Media Nation By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions Menu Home About Contact Commenting Books What Works in Community News (2024) The Return of the Moguls (2018) About the Book Events Reviews, Features and Interviews The Wired City (2013) Little People (2003) Other Published Work Mass. Indy News In Mississippi, a censorious order is lifted, but questions remain; plus, press solidarity, and good news from GBH Photo (cc) 2018 by formulanone The Mississippi judge who ordered a newspaper to remove an editorial from its website has reversed herself. But this is hardly a victory for freedom of the press. Judge Crystal Wise Martin rescinded her temporary restraining order after the owner of The Clarksdale Press Register and the board of commissioners in that city agreed to settle a dispute that had resulted in a libel suit being filed. The commissioners agreed to drop the suit while Wyatt Emmerich, president of Emmerich Newspapers, said the paper will publish a less incendiary version of the editorial, according to Michael Levenson of The New York Times (gift link). Please become a supporter of Media Nation. For just $5 a month, you’ll receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive commentary, a roundup of the week’s posts and other goodies. That does not change the reality that Judge Martin leaped in to help city officials by censoring the newspaper, even though the First Amendment protects libelous materials from being subjected to prior restraint. Libel can, of course, be punished after the fact through a civil suit, although government agencies cannot sue for libel. The editorial, headlined “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust,” took city officials to task “for not sending the newspaper notice about a meeting the City Council held regarding a proposed tax on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco.” Continue reading “In Mississippi, a censorious order is lifted, but questions remain; plus, press solidarity, and good news from GBH” Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 28, 2025February 28, 2025Categories First Amendment, MediaTags "Beat the Press", "Greater Boston", Associated Press, Basic Black, Chuck Espy, Clarksdale Press Register, Crystal Wise Martin, GBH News, Richard J. Tofel, Talking Politics, Wyatt EmmerichLeave a comment on In Mississippi, a censorious order is lifted, but questions remain; plus, press solidarity, and good news from GBH Jeff Bezos blows up The Washington Post’s opinion section, embracing all MAGA, all the time Jeff Bezos. Illustration (cc) 2017 by thierry ehrmann. I was hoping that Jeff Bezos had gotten it out of his system. After his disastrous decision to cancel The Washington Post’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, which cost the paper some 250,000 subscriptions, and his subsequent sucking up to Donald Trump, the billionaire had been quiet recently. The news section’s coverage of the calamitous Trump White House has been excellent, and the Post’s deputy managing editor, Mike Semel, has said that subscriber conversions “are strong and growing at a near-record pace,” according to media reporter Oliver Darcy. Become a supporter of Media Nation. For just $5 a month you’ll receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive commentary, a roundup of the week’s posts, photography and music. But it was too good to be true. New York Times media reporter Benjamin Mullin reports (gift link) that opinion editor David Shipley is quitting after Bezos issued an edict calling for the section to go full MAGA. No longer will the Post offer a heterodox opinion section of liberals, moderates and conservatives. Rather, it will be more like The Wall Street Journal’s ultraconservative opinion section, only (I’ll predict) not as smart. Mullin writes: “I am of America and for America, and proud to be so,” Mr. Bezos said, in an email to The Post’s employees on Wednesday. “Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical; it drives creativity, invention and prosperity.” In his note, Mr. Bezos said that he asked Mr. Shipley whether he wanted to stay at The Post, and Mr. Shipley declined. “I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no,’” Mr. Bezos wrote. You can read the full text of Bezos’ message on Mullin’s Bluesky feed. Shipley had to endure the embarrassment of the Harris non-endorsement and then took one for the team when he killed an Ann Telnaes cartoon mocking Bezos and other corporate titans as they groveled at Trump’s feet. Shipley’s reasoning at the time — that there had already been enough of such opinionating — was disingenuous, and Telnaes, a Pulitzer Prize winner, quit. But Shipley is standing tall today. I have to assume this will set off a mass exodus from the Post’s opinion section. Good thing that Jonathan Capehart survived the purge at MSNBC that claimed Joy Reid. A few random observations: • Bezos says, “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” Hmmm … personal liberties and free markets? If Bezos is serious, then that would mean the new Post opinion section will be deeply anti-Trump: opposed to tariffs and in favor of reproductive and LGBTQ rights. But of course that’s not what he means. He’s adopting the up-is-down rhetoric of the MAGA movement. • Bezos explicitly rejects the idea of a heterodox opinion section, arguing that it’s not necessary because “the internet does that job.” For years, the Post’s opinion section has been center-right, with a few liberals and a few Trumpers. Now The New York Times stands alone of the three major national papers in offering something close to the full spectrum. It’s kind of the mirror image of what the Post had been up until now — that is, the Times has been center-left, with a few conservatives but no Trump supporters. • Does Bezos want the Post’s news pages to continue as tough, fair, independent truth-seekers with no interference from the owner? That’s how it works at the Journal, whose news pages continue to kick butt despite the right-wing opinion section and despite Murdoch ownership. Bezos was a very good steward of the Post from the time he bought it in 2013 until about a year ago, when he hired Fleet Street veteran and former Murdoch executive Will Lewis as publisher and kept him on even as questions about Lewis’ ethics mounted. I’m hoping for the best from the Post’s news section, but I’m bracing for the worst. Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 26, 2025February 26, 2025Categories MediaTags Ann Telnaes, David Shipley, Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Kamala Harris, Washington Post, Will Lewis10 Comments on Jeff Bezos blows up The Washington Post’s opinion section, embracing all MAGA, all the time Mike Rosenberg, The Bedford Citizen’s first staff reporter and a community legend, dies while on the job Mike Rosenberg with a cartoon by local sports artist Dave Olsen. 2018 photo by Julie McCay Turner is used with permission. One of the best parts of writing about local-news startups is the opportunity to go out on stories with reporters to observe how they do their jobs. And so it was that on a midsummer day in 2021, I accompanied Mike Rosenberg of The Bedford Citizen as he toured the town’s new cultural district. Mike, then 72, was the first paid staff reporter since the Citizen’s founding as a volunteer project nine years earlier. He died on Monday while he was covering a basketball game at Bedford High School, according to an account by the site’s managing editor, Wayne Braverman. I’d like to share with you what I wrote about Mike in “What Works in Community News,” by Ellen Clegg and me. He was a colorful character, deeply devoted to his town and to the Jewish community, with a strong sense of ethics and fair play. My condolences to Mike’s family, the folks at the Citizen and all of those he touched over the years. *** Mike Rosenberg was walking along the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail, a dirt path that takes its name from the type of train that used to chug through the area. On this hot July morning in 2021, Rosenberg was reporting on the new cultural district in Bedford, Massachusetts, an affluent suburb about 20 miles northwest of Boston. Leading the way were Alyssa Sandoval, the town’s housing and economic development director, and Barbara Purchia, chair of the Bedford Cultural Council. The town’s planning director, Tony Fields, joined the group about halfway through the tour. A couple of cyclists rode by. “Hi, Mike,” said one of them. Rosenberg returned the greeting and then said to no one in particular: “I have no idea who that is.” Continue reading “Mike Rosenberg, The Bedford Citizen’s first staff reporter and a community legend, dies while on the job” Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 25, 2025February 25, 2025Categories Local NewsTags Bedford Citizen, Bedford Minuteman, Ellen Clegg, Howard Ziff, Julie McCay Turner, Mike Rosenberg, Wayne Braverman, What Works in Community News4 Comments on Mike Rosenberg, The Bedford Citizen’s first staff reporter and a community legend, dies while on the job Please join What Works on April 3 for a free webinar on ‘The Ethics of Nonprofit News’ From left, Josh Stearns, Kara Meyberg Guzman and Joe Kriesberg If you are a local nonprofit news publisher, editor, reporter, board member or donor, please mark this on your calendar: On Thursday, April 3, our What Works project will sponsor a free webinar titled “The Ethics of Nonprofit News: What Board Members and Donors Need to Know.” Issues will include conflicts of interest and understanding the boundaries between the news and fundraising sides of a community journalism organization. The webinar will be held from 7 p.m. until about 8:15 and is a project of What Works: The Future of Local News, part of the School of Journalism at Northeastern University. The event will feature an all-star panel: • Josh Stearns, managing director of programs at the Democracy Fund, a longtime activist on issues related to media reform and equitable journalism. Stearns was most recently senior director of the Public Square Program at the Democracy Fund, where he led its journalism and technology grantmaking. He was previously director of journalism sustainability at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and, before that, press freedom director at Free Press. He currently serves on the board of Honolulu Civil Beat and the Democratizing Philanthropy Project and was a co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and First Draft News. • Kara Meyberg Guzman, CEO and founder of Santa Cruz Local, a nonprofit news organization in California focused on communities not otherwise served by local media. Her passion is producing fair, accurate, reliable news that’s free and accessible to all residents, including those who will never be able to pay for it. She is also a board member of the Tiny News Collective, whose mission is to make journalism entrepreneurship more accessible, equitable and inclusive. • Joe Kriesberg, CEO of the Massachusetts Institution for a New Commonwealth, or MassINC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to making Massachusetts a place of inclusive economic opportunity and civic vitality. In that capacity Kriesberg serves as publisher of CommonWealth Beacon, MassINC’s digital publication covering state politics and public policy. Kriesberg has decades of experience in nonprofit management and in working with news organizations. I’ll be moderating the panel. I’m a professor in Northeastern’s School of Journalism and the co-author, with Ellen Clegg, of the book “What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate” (Beacon Press, 2024). Ellen and I also host a podcast and website on the future of local news, part of the School of Journalism, at whatworks.news. Please register for the event today. Details on how to access the webinar will be sent out closer to April 3. Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 24, 2025February 24, 2025Categories Local NewsTags CommonWealth Beacon, Democracy Fund, Ellen Clegg, ethics, Joe Kriesberg, Josh Stearns, Kara Meyberg Guzman, MassINC, nonprofit, Santa Cruz Local, Tiny News Collective, What WorksLeave a comment on Please join What Works on April 3 for a free webinar on ‘The Ethics of Nonprofit News’ The AP goes local; plus, the National Trust runs into trouble in Colorado, and a call for de-Foxification Photo cc (2023) by SWinxy The Associated Press has been in the news a lot lately, both because of its feud with the White House over Donald Trump’s insistence that it refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and for some cuts it’s had to implement (see Gintautus Dumcius’ story in CommonWealth Beacon and Aidan Ryan’s in The Boston Globe). Please become a supporter of Media Nation. For just $5 a month, you’ll receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive commentary, a round-up of the week’s posts and other goodies. But here’s some good news: The AP announced on Thursday that it’s creating a Local Investigative Reporting Program to support efforts at the community level. According to an annoucement by executive editor Julie Pace, the initiative will be headed by veteran AP editor Ron Nixon, who “will work with state and local outlets to cultivate stories and support their investigative reporting needs.” The program will encompass training, resources and access to AP services, and will build on the agency’s Local News Success Team “to localize national stories for member audiences and provide services and support to newsrooms across the U.S.” Continue reading “The AP goes local; plus, the National Trust runs into trouble in Colorado, and a call for de-Foxification” Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 22, 2025February 22, 2025Categories First Amendment, Local News, MediaTags Associated Press, Colorado Community Media, Colorado Sun, Donald Trump, Editor and Publisher, Elisabeth Murdoch, Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, Fox Corp., Fox News, Gulf of America, Gulf of Mexico, James Murdoch, Julie Pace, Lachlan Murdoch, Larry Ryckman, Linda Shapley, Lisa DeSisto, Maine Trust for Local News, Mike Blinder, National Trust for Local News, New York Post, Portland Press Herald, Prudence Murdoch, Ron Nixon, Wall Street Journal, What Works in Community News1 Comment on The AP goes local; plus, the National Trust runs into trouble in Colorado, and a call for de-Foxification In Mississippi, a shocking case of censorship. Plus, the AP ponders a lawsuit, and good news in Texas Judge Crystal Wise Martin is sworn in by her mother, retired Judge Patricia Wise, in 2019. Photo via the Mississippi Office of the Courts. In 1971, after a federal court stopped The New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers, the government’s secret history of the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court was so alarmed at that naked act of censorship that it took up the case in a matter of weeks. On a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that the Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and others could resume publishing, though they might face prosecution for revealing classified information. (They didn’t.) In 1979, after a small magazine in Wisconsin called The Progressive said it intended to publish an article revealing some details about how to manufacture an atomic bomb, a federal judge stepped in and said no — but so agonized over his censorious act that he all but begged the magazine and the government to reach a compromise. Become a supporter of Media Nation. For $5 a month you’ll receive a monthly newsletter with exclusive content, a roundup of the week’s posts, photography and music. Then there’s Judge Crystal Wise Martin of Mississippi. On Wednesday, Martin issued a temporary restraining order requiring The Clarksdale Press Register to take down an editorial from its website. According to Andrew DeMillo of The Associated Press, the editorial, headlined “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust,” took city officials to task “for not sending the newspaper notice about a meeting the City Council held regarding a proposed tax on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco.” The city had sued the Press Register, claiming that the editorial was libelous and that it “chilled and hindered” the council’s work. Mayor Chuck Espy was quoted in the AP story as saying the editorial had unfairly implied that officials had violated the law. He cited a section of the editorial that asked, “Have commissioners or the mayor gotten kick-back [see update below] from the community?” Continue reading “In Mississippi, a shocking case of censorship. Plus, the AP ponders a lawsuit, and good news in Texas” Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 20, 2025February 27, 2025Categories First Amendment, MediaTags Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman, Chuck Espy, Clarksdale Press Register, Crystal Wise Martin, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Gannett, Gulf of America, Gulf of Mexico, Hearst, Julie Pace, Mississippi Today, Phil Bryant, Susie Wiles, White House Correspondents' Association, Wyatt Emmerich2 Comments on In Mississippi, a shocking case of censorship. Plus, the AP ponders a lawsuit, and good news in Texas SEO in the age of paywalls: A new study examines best practices in driving subscriptions; plus, media notes The Huffington Post’s “What Time Is the Super Bowl?” headline has been called “the most legendary act of SEO trolling ever.” 2016 photo via the Voice of America. Recently a source in The Boston Globe newsroom forwarded to me a memo sent to the staff about the paper’s performance in Google search during 2024. “We get 25%-27% of our traffic from Google; it’s a significant way we reach people who don’t come to the Globe on their own,” wrote Ronke Idowu Reeves, the paper’s SEO editor. (SEO stands for search-engine optimization.) As you might imagine, the big SEO winners in 2024 were the Karen Read trial, the phrase “who won the debate” (perhaps a reference to both presidential debates), the Celtics victory parade and Steward Health Care. Please become a supporter of Media Nation. For just $5 a month, you’ll receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive content, a roundup of the week’s posts, photography and a song of the week. The memo, though, prompted another thought: What is the purpose of SEO in the age of paywalls? As you probably know, the Globe has an especially strict paywall, with no quota of gift links for the month. I emailed Reeves and asked her whether SEO was successful in getting casual visitors to sign up for a digital subscription given that they couldn’t read even the one story they’d searched for. She forwarded my email to spokeswoman Carla Kath, who told me by email: “Yes, a good number of people do read and subscribe to our stories that they encounter on search. But, because the scope of search is constantly changing, we are always adjusting how we approach it.” It’s something I’d like to dig into more deeply at some point since it’s fundamental to the economics of digital news. Twenty years ago, paywalls were rare, and the idea behind SEO was to drive massive audiences to your stories so that they’d see the ads that accompanied them. The first iteration of The Huffington Post stressed SEO heavily, and its infamous 2011 headline “What Time Is the Super Bowl?” has been called “the most legendary act of SEO trolling ever.” Continue reading “SEO in the age of paywalls: A new study examines best practices in driving subscriptions; plus, media notes” Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 19, 2025February 19, 2025Categories MediaTags advertising, Associated Press, Boston Globe, Donald Trump, Gannett, Gulf of America, Gulf of Mexico, harassment, Huffington Post, Jeff Bezos, Marta Hill, Michael Anastasi, Nieman Reports, Northeastern University, paywall, Ronke Idowu Reeves, SEO, Washington PostLeave a comment on SEO in the age of paywalls: A new study examines best practices in driving subscriptions; plus, media notes Erica Heilman tells us how she captures stories of ordinary (and extraordinary) life in Vermont Erica Heilman recording cows at Forrest Foster’s farm in Hardwick, Vt. Photo © 2023 by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur for Seven Days. Used by permission. On the latest “What Works” podcast, Ellen Clegg and I talk with Erica Heilman, who produces a podcast called “Rumble Strip.” Heilman’s shows air monthly on Vermont Public and other NPR stations as well as the BBC. “Rumble Strip” can also be found on all the usual podcast platforms. Her episodes range in length from a few minutes to, well, as long as they need to be! As Chelsea Edgar wrote in a profile for Seven Days of Burlington, Vermont, “She wants to make meandering, kaleidoscopic stories about the stuff of ordinary Vermont life.” In 2020, Heilman produced a memorable pandemic miniseries, “Our Show.” It featured listener-submitted recordings of life in lockdown, and it was The Atlantic’s No. 1 podcast of the year. In November 2021 she produced “Finn and the Bell,” the textured story of a Walden teenager who died by suicide. It won a Peabody, the highest award in broadcasting. Ellen has an update on Suki Dardarian, the retiring editor and senior vice president of The Minnesota Star Tribune. She has been named the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year by the National Press Club. I’ve got a Quick Take about tools for local news organizations dealing with various forms of harassment. The Institute for Nonprofit News, a leading organization for hyperlocal journalism, has put together some resources. You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app. Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 18, 2025Categories Local NewsTags Erica Heilman, Institute for Nonprofit News, Minnesota Star Tribune, Rumble Strip, Suki Dardarian, Vermont PublicLeave a comment on Erica Heilman tells us how she captures stories of ordinary (and extraordinary) life in Vermont The Washington Post reportedly rejected a wraparound ad that said ‘Fire Elon Musk.’ Here it is. I’m running a free ad today after learning that The Washington Post refused to take money from Common Cause and the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund to run a wraparound “Fire Elon Musk” ad that would have taken up the front and back pages. The Post turned down $115,000, according to Alexander Bolton of The Hill. “We submitted the artwork back on Tuesday of last week. I’m assuming it went through a legal department or other kind of review. They said, ‘You can have something inside the paper but you can’t do the wrap.’ We said thanks, no thanks because we had a lot of questions,” said Common Cause president Virginia Kase Solomón. The ad was supposed to appear in papers delivered to the White House, Congress and the Pentagon. Solomón observed that the Post recently accepted a wrap ad from the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers that enthused over Donald Trump’s pledge to “end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1.” “Is it because we’re critical of what’s happening with Elon Musk?” asked Solomón. “Is it only OK to run things in the Post now that won’t anger the president or won’t have him calling Jeff Bezos asking why this was allowed?” Inquiring minds want to know. Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 17, 2025February 17, 2025Categories MediaTags Common Cause, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Southern Poverty Law Center, Washington Post6 Comments on The Washington Post reportedly rejected a wraparound ad that said ‘Fire Elon Musk.’ Here it is. Taking in the sites: Local-news outlets respond to Trump, Musk and authoritarianism Social media post from Never Ending Books, via the New Haven Independent With Donald Trump and Elon Musk rampaging through our government and sparking a constitutional crisis, it seems that many anti-Trump folks are changing their news consumption habits in one of two ways: they’re either overloading on the horror show that’s being endlessly reported and dissected on national news outlets, or they’re tuning out altogether. But this is a moment when local news is more important than ever. For one thing, it builds community, and we still need to find ways to move past our political differences and work cooperatively with our neighbors on issues that are grounded in where we live. For another, local-news organizations are documenting how Trumpist authoritarianism is playing out in our states, cities and towns. What they’re offering is a crucial supplement to the top-level coverage that national outlets are providing about issues like JD Vance’s support for a neo-Nazi party in Germany, the angry resignations of career prosecutors over Trump’s corrupt deal with New York Mayor Eric Adams and Musk’s dismantling of the federal work force. But of course these stories all have downstream effects as well. With that in mind, here are nine recent stories about how Trumpism is playing out at the local level, all reported by news outlets profiled in “What Works in Community News,” the book I co-authored with Ellen Clegg. Neo-Nazis Gather, Shout, Salute, Disperse, by Brian Slattery, New Haven Independent. “A group of neo-Nazis showed up on State Street Saturday night. Their destination: Never Ending Books, the long-running free bookstore, arts and nonprofit community space. Whatever the purpose of their visit was, it was met with a larger gathering of Never Ending Books supporters, and a police intervention. The incident — which ended without violence — occurred while Never Ending Books was hosting a show of improvised music from the New Haven-based FIM collective.” As Deportation Fears Spread, Memphis Mayor Promises to Focus Elsewhere, by Brittany Brown, MLK50. “Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s communications team told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism that the city does not currently plan to partner with ICE to carry out mass deportations. ‘Our police [department] is understaffed and has pressing issues to address,’ Young said in a statement. The mayor refused to say if the city will make any proactive efforts to support Memphis’ immigrants, who make up more than 7% of the city’s population.” 17 Colorado Environmental Projects Are in Limbo after Trump Halts Spending from Biden-era Law, by Shannon Mullane, The Colorado Sun. “The proposed projects focus on improving habitats, ecological stability and resilience against drought in the Colorado River Basin, where prolonged drought and overuse have cast uncertainty over the future water supply for 40 million people. The bureau also awarded $100 million for Colorado River environmental projects in Arizona, California and Nevada.” By the way, the Sun has a special section on its homepage titled “Trump & Colorado.” The New Administration Acts and the Heritage Foundation Smiles, by Alan Gueberg, Cherokee Chronicle Times, which is affiliated with the Storm Lake Times Pilot of Iowa: “Project 2025 is the cornerstone of President Trump’s governing plans. Moreover, many of his most controversial cabinet and other federal appointees come with Heritage Foundation’s stickers on their considerable baggage. Those plans and that assembled team — including policy-heavy, farming-lite secretary of agriculture nominee Brooke Rollins — will have a deep impact on farmers, ranchers, and rural America if used as guidelines to write the 2025 Farm Bill.” Trump Administration Freezes Billions for Electric Vehicle Chargers, by Michael Sol Warren, NJ Spotlight News. “The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, NEVI, was created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2021 with the goal of building out America’s network of fast chargers for electric vehicles. Of the $5 billion allocated for the program, $104 million is dedicated to New Jersey. The Garden State is supposed to get that money over a five-year period, according to the state Department of Transportation.” Slew of Minnesota Companies beyond Target Go Mute on DEI, by Brooks Johnson, Patrick Kennedy and Carson Hartzog, Sahan Journal, Minneapolis, Minnesota. “Target has been considered for years a national corporate leader in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices — a position bolstered after its support of Black-owned businesses following the 2020 police murder of George Floyd. So when the Minneapolis-based retailer announced last month it is pulling back on its diversity goals, Target was accused of political expediency, losing the trust of some Black activists who said the betrayal hurt more than other DEI pullbacks from companies such as Amazon, Google, Deere and McDonald’s.” Wary Town Departments Identify Programs, by Mike Rosenberg, The Bedford Citizen, Bedford, Massachusetts. “Bedford Town Manager Matt Hanson met this week with municipal department heads to identify programs and activities that might be jeopardized by funding suspensions and/or terminations at the federal level. ‘At a high level, we have started to discuss ways to continue to provide the same level of services to residents should certain programs be cut or scaled back from the federal government,’ Hanson said. ‘But there are many moving parts to consider.’” Texas Migrant Shelters Are Nearly Empty after Trump’s Actions Effectively Shut the Border, by Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune. “Migrant shelters that helped nearly a thousand asylum seekers per day at the height of migrant crossings just a few years ago are now nearly empty. The shelters mostly along the Texas-Mexico border reported a plunge in the number of people in their care since the Trump administration effectively closed the border to asylum seekers in January. Some expect to close by the end of the month.” North Coast Counties React to Trump’s Funding Orders, by Mary Rose Kaczorowski, The Mendocino Voice, Mendocino County, California. “Between President Donald Trump’s plans to take over Greenland, Panama, Canada, and now Gaza, it’s not surprising that people might have lost touch with what’s happening here at home. That luxury is not granted to a wide variety of nonprofits, districts, and agencies. Trump’s recent executive orders to pause all federal funding until recipient programs could be reviewed for adherence to his policy priorities are at the moment legally suspended. That doesn’t mean the matter is dead.” Author Dan KennedyPosted on February 15, 2025February 15, 2025Categories Local NewsTags Bedford Citizen, Cherokee Chronicle Times, Colorado Sun, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, JD Vance, Mendocino Voice, MLK50, New Haven Independent, NJ Spotlight News, Sahan Journal, Storm Lake Times Pilot, Texas Tribune, What Works in Community News1 Comment on Taking in the sites: Local-news outlets respond to Trump, Musk and authoritarianism Posts pagination Page 1 Page 2 … Page 742 Next page Become a supporter Please support this free source of news and commentary by becoming a supporter of Media Nation. The cost is $5 a month, and supporters receive a weekly newsletter with a round-up of the week’s posts and other goodies. Just click here to sign up via Patreon. Follow Ellen Clegg and me at What Works, our website and podcast about the future of local news. Our book, “What Works in Community News,” was published by Beacon Press in January 2024 and has been featured in The New York Times, the Local News Initiative and The Boston Globe. Media Nation is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- Share Alike 4.0 United States License. Some rights reserved. You must attribute this work to Media Nation (with link). For more information, please contact Dan Kennedy at dan dot kennedy at northeastern dot edu. “Kennedy is a controversial figure in the media industry.” — Google Bard, 3/22/2023 “A former media critic for the Boston Phoenix, Dan Kennedy continues to write incisively about the print and digital universe at his blog, Media Nation.” — New York Observer, 5/15/2015 “Dan Kennedy … exercises the blogger’s imperative to bloviate beyond his expertise.” — Boston Globe, 11/30/2008 Subscribe to Media Nation via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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