Journalism

On the heels of Wednesday’s fierce Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Buttigieg spent Thursday at a televised town hall at USC, an event sponsored by Fox O&O KTTV. Fox-11 anchor Elex Michaelson hosted the event at Brovard Auditorium, filled with students eager to see the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who fared well in initial campaign skirmishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

It’s generated controversy over its fundraising, its paywall and its staffing. But it’s also about as close as a major American city has gotten to a digital news site that can go toe-to-toe with the local daily newspaper.

Coming before the Nevada primary vote, Wednesday’s debate drew 12 million viewers tuned in to NBC, with 7.6 million on MSNBC — the third-largest audience ever for a single telecast on the cable network. The debate had more than twice the viewership of two previous Democratic Presidential debates.

California State University Fullerton won TVNewsCheck‘s second annual contest aimed at showing broadcasters how younger viewers want to see TV news presented, and will accept the award at BEA’s annual convention during April’s NAB Show.

Preliminary figures for the ninth face-off, and the first featuring Mike Bloomberg, are ahead of NBC’s last debate broadcast in June 2019.

Victor Pickard: “Maintaining public media infrastructure should be non-negotiable for a democratic society. We have to be bold.”

It marks the newest expansion of major market local news streaming services from CBS and features local news content produced by KCNC.

The liberal cable network’s talk of “digital brown shirts” and Fidel Castro admiration has Sandersworld seeing red. The blowback is classic Sanders-campaign ref-working — and a sign of a deepening Democratic divide.

Snapchat is not just for kids anymore. Ashley Remkus is a crime reporter for AL.com, Alabama’s media group that publishes the state’s three major newspapers. On top of covering crime and safety in the Huntsville area, Remkus is also the “Snapchat guru” for the group. 

Being on the receiving end of cruel and harassing comments online is part of the job for journalists today. Comments targeted at journalists can include claims of biased reporting, calls for the reporter’s firing, attacks on intelligence and physical appearance, and the now-infamous “fake news” creed.

If elected president, Michael Bloomberg would put Bloomberg LP into a blind trust, and the trustee would then sell the company, adviser Tim O’Brien said Tuesday. Proceeds from the sale would go to Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable giving arm that funds causes from climate change to public health and grants for American cities.

Michael Bloomberg’s rise in the polls has increased the pressure on political reporters employed by his news outlet.

Britain’s public service broadcaster has been at the heart of media in the United Kingdom and many parts of the world for the best part of a century. Now it’s facing a brutal fight for survival. The British Broadcasting Corp. is confronting unprecedented political hostility, looming threats to its funding, deep cuts to some services and ever increasing competition from digital platforms ahead of its centenary in 2022.

Joe Ferullo: Reporting on presidential candidates can be a lot like high school romance: It’s all about crushes and rejections, falling hard — only to fall quickly out of love. After New Hampshire, journalists and pundits are desperately scanning the cafeteria for their next soul mate. But now that voters are actually part of the equation, the media’s search for love will need to evolve.