Sept. 19 Marks 45th Anniversary of Black Monday — Dateline: Youngstown, Ohio. Sept. 19 will mark the 45th anniversary of what some call the birth of the Rust Belt. Others refer to it as the death of America’s working class. Call it what you will, but in Youngstown, it’s simply called Black Monday. It was on that fateful day…

I Drove 4,000 Miles. Here’s What I Learned About News Today — After a 4,000-mile drive across the country and back this July, here’s what I learned about the state of news: If there is a national conversation taking place in America today, no one knows it’s happening. The national news bubble — driven by news produced out of New York —…

EP2 Local News in America Project — FMC Fast Chat: Inside Alaska’s Oldest Newspaper, EP 2 Local News in America Project — YouTube Episode two of the Fair Media Council’s Local News in America podcast series takes us to Nome, where Alaska’s oldest newspaper was founded around 1900. No one knows for sure when The Nome Nugget…

Local News In America Project Kicks Off in Portsmouth, N.H. — The first installment of our Local News in America Project takes us to New Hampshire. It’s here in Portsmouth where you’ll find the ‘Nation’s Oldest Newspaper,’ the New Hampshire Gazette. This oral history (links below) offers a look at the Gazette’s beginnings and meanders its way through to the present…

Questions & Comments Welcome — I had the privilege of joining the legendary Ernie Anastos on his radio show, Positively Ernie Live, which airs on 77 WABC, based in New York City. Our topic? How news has changed. There was a lot to cover. The distinguished Alain Sanders, professor emeritus of St. …

If there ever was an industry needing a serious public relations strategy, it’s today’s news industry. Circulation numbers continue to decline, as does linear viewership. The not-really-a-business-model model of relying on the good graces of local billionaires to foot the bills is losing steam as other industries, such as space…

Is Today’s ‘News’ Even Journalism? — The decline of news is a hot topic in these times, and while it’s a valid concern, the part of the discussion that is overlooked is this: How much news is enough news for a community? There is no formula, other than to compare how many news outlets a community…

A week into the news coverage of an arrest in the Gilgo Beach serial killings and the accused, Rex Heuermann, isn’t the only one under scrutiny. So too, is our local news. Until July 13, it had been a relatively quiet summer in the Long Island local news arena. Coverage…

‘Good Enough’ isn’t Good or Enough — In simpler times, the enemy of news was entertainment. You’d have to be of a certain age to remember that because the enemy changed uniforms as time and technology marched on. The entertainment police would warn of democracy’s demise whenever celebrity puff pieces and flash-in-the-pan health fads usurped the territory…