Journalism

TV stations that used Magis Media’s election mapping software say a new version that tracks COVID vaccine data is much like the election display — easy to use and visually dynamic for better storytelling.

The conservative news network, in a statement published on its website and to be read on TV, said that while it aired accusations of voter machine manipulation against Dominion Voting Systems Security Director Eric Coomer made by Donald Trump’s lawyers and supporters, it found no evidence that they were true.

Stewart Bainum is making a third try to keep the newspaper chain away from the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which is poised to be the company’s next owner.

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp talks with Mim Davey, VP of news at Fox-owned KMSP in Minneapolis, about the station’s gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Derek Chauvin trial and how Black Lives Matter and the social justice movement have impacted newsroom priorities.

Last month, Cronkite News challenged itself to produce 30 TikToks in as many days — an effort to get the newsroom experimenting with the short-form mobile video platform that’s gained more than a billion users since its worldwide launch in 2017, but has yet to catch on widely with local TV stations. By the end of the month-long challenge, the newsroom had trounced its initial goal and produced 65 TikToks. Here’s what was learned.

Megan Albano and Jerry Andrews join the network’s weekend programming leadership team in New York. Greg Headen is promoted to vice president of news coverage, while Doug Rohrbeck is elevated to senior vice president of DC news.

He joins the station on May 3 from KTRK Houston, another ABC Owned Television Station.

A months-long war of words between CNN and Project Veritas has escalated into an actual libel suit. On Tuesday, James O’Keefe’s operation filed a complaint in Georgia after a CNN anchor discussed Twitter’s suspension of Project Veritas and attempted to explain that “this is part of a much broader crackdown … by social media giants on accounts that are promoting misinformation.”

Nearly two-thirds of Biden stories during his first two months in office were on his policy agenda and ideology, and 35% about his character and leadership style, the Pew Research Center found. For Donald Trump, three-quarters of the early stories were about his character and leadership, Pew said.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s call to harass people with masks exemplifies the danger inherent to the political variety show, a cross-bred new TV product that has moved from entertainment to action catalyst, our contributor argues.

During the past year, the job of seeking and reporting the truth became increasingly dangerous. Journalists were threatened, assaulted and arrested at an alarming rate while on the job. We faced unprecedented levels of verbal and physical violence at the hands of civilians, police and the leaders we are meant to hold accountable. Every year, RTDNA releases data from a survey of broadcast newsrooms from across the country. This year, for the first time in our history, the report compiled by the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University included a section on media safety. Our research team wanted to understand how repeated, targeted acts of violence have impacted newsrooms across the country. The responses were alarming.

The bipartisan series will let lawmakers interact with their local communities through candid conversations about the issues of the day including the vaccine rollout, COVID relief and stimulus, infrastructure and foreign policy. The first, from Washington, airs commercial-free on April 29.