In newsrooms across the country, editors bear heavy responsibilities — leading the newsroom, determining what stories should be told and who is best positioned to tell them, challenging assertions, developing talent, elevating journalism — all while maintaining an unwavering commitment to the public’s interest. Their names may not always be as familiar as bylined reporters or celebrated columnists, but their insight, experience and leadership are indispensable. We hope you enjoy meeting this exemplary group of E&P’s 2023 Editors Extraordinaire.

Newspapers save lives. Many newspapers are recognized as vital local institutions in their communities, but how many can literally say they have saved a life? The Somers Record (one of six local newspapers owned by Halston Media) helped a critical local patient find a needed kidney.

The past few years have been remarkable for news media publishers, which have enjoyed some particularly public and powerful support. While champions for local news in the U.S. Congress have been hard at work, powerful forces have been running a counteroffensive — undermining the press, impeding access and making it easier for members of the public and political class to sue news organizations.

The Black-owned and operated New York Amsterdam News covers local, national and international news, including politics, Black wealth, education, religion, Black history, sports, arts and entertainment, and news about unions. It also has an investigative team and mission, “Blacklight.”

With costs rising, many publications are looking for ways to cut down on expenses in order to increase ROI. One such strategy for decreasing expenditure might be a reduction in print frequency, but publications must consider the effects of such a change on their brand and audience. Changing your print frequency is a question that should be carefully considered.

When the nation watched George Floyd call for his mother and take his last breaths from beneath a police officer’s knee in Minneapolis, it ignited a wildfire across the country, calling for a reckoning on lethal policing. For journalists, it started a national conversation on how best to cover police, how to stay safe and how to identify our role as journalists in preventing the next Floyd from making headlines in our own local newspapers.

Experts determined to save local news launched a year-long process to research and publish “The Roadmap for Local News: An Emergent Approach to Meeting Civic Information Needs” on February 2nd. The year of research involved newsroom leaders, journalists and local news innovators.

Advance Local's Alabama Media Group recently announced the end of the print editions for their three newspapers: The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and Mobile’s Press-Register. However, even though the presses have stopped, the newsrooms have grown in size. In this month's "News Media Today," E&P's Rob Tornoe takes a look at how an "all in" digital strategy seems to be working for Advance in Alabama and could be a model worth replicating.

For anyone in the business of news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of those topics that elicits emotions of equal parts exhilaration and despair. AI shows groundbreaking promise in scientific fields and medicine, and Big Tech is keenly focused on how to further develop its powers. E&P's April cover story centers on the upsides & downsides of AI's inescapable entrance into our newsrooms.

Journalists who know their audience’s interests can serve them better. In determining who reads their education reporting, journalists interviewed for this article say they place more faith in their gut instincts — talking to people in the community — over digital tools. This mirrors an earlier study of education reporters in New York.

Good things come from great partnerships, and that certainly was the case when students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University (ASU), faculty advisers and project managers from Wick Communications — the Arizona-headquartered community news media publisher — came together to take a meaningful look at local news in Arizona.

Richard E. Brown, senior director of retention for The Daily Beast, believes that everything is an opportunity, and every opportunity is a chance to build something enduring and expansive for the future. With that optimistic spirit in mind in examining AI, he sees three discernable applications that the business side of news media may benefit from immediately.  

The 2023 class of 10 News Publishers That Do It Right represents our industry with small-town publishers to large properties; monthly, weekly and daily publications; legacy print, digital publications, business and alternative publications — representing the breadth and depth of our industry. Each has faced challenges and innovated to overcome them, and each has a story to tell — revenue, content, community service, engagement, business model or platform. We’re excited to bring these publishers that do it right to you for energy and ideas.

With the increasing consumption of online video, and online video forecasted to attract even more ad spend than in prior years, 2023 is the year to ensure you have a robust video strategy and the right video partner.  Here is what Matthew Watson, CEO of STN Video, thinks is in store for 2023.

Reporting the truth is always rewarding, but it can also be dangerous, especially for journalists working in countries (theirs or on international assignments) that may severely limit press freedom and the free flow of information to the population. Whatever the situation on the ground, these journalists are subject to being attacked, arrested, detained and interrogated, and even tried, convicted and imprisoned. These imperiled journalists are not alone, however.

The Baltimore Beat was published for about five months in 2017 before the publisher decided to stop publication. But Lisa Snowden, editor, knew there was a niche and a need in Baltimore for another Black community-focused news outlet — in addition to the Baltimore-based 130-year-old The AFRO. She began studying nonprofit news models.

The Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism is taking a major step forward in promoting diversity in the media industry with the launch of the Asian Media Initiative. The program, aimed at increasing the representation of Asian Americans in media and journalism, will provide opportunities for students, journalists and aspiring media professionals to gain the skills and resources necessary to succeed in the competitive field of journalism.

How can white people, which the publisher of this very publication will tell you dominate the traditional media industry channels and gatherings, do more than unwind generations of racism and exploitative coverage — instead, actively contribute to restoring justice and equity? John Heaston says he doesn’t have the answers, but hopes the points in today's column can help.

With start-up funding from a remarkably successful Kickstarter campaign, Block Club Chicago debuted in 2018 as an independent 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Today, Block Club Chicago has reporters covering a majority of the neighborhoods across the city, but there are still some “gaps” in community coverage that they hope to fill as the newsroom grows.

For local newspapers and news outlets to sustain themselves, it’s critical to understand Gen Zers’ perspective on local news and how they engage with it. Many news outlets are already initiating new strategies to connect with this youngest generation of adults and the high-school-age Gen Zers who will be adults soon.

More than 400 advertising and media industry leaders and insiders gathered at the Marriott Biscayne Bay in Miami, March 5-7, at the Borrell Miami Local Advertising Conference 2023. The theme of “Navigating Local Media's Brave New World” played out in main-stage presentations and breakout sessions over the two-day conference, offering the latest advertising and revenue-generating strategies and opportunities.

Following the March 6th publication by Editor & Publisher (E&P) of “Winsted Citizen: Ralph Nader gets the press but leaves his ‘gifted’ newspaper in the lurch,” a reliable source told us that the Winsted Citizen is the second time Nader funded a newspaper in Winsted — and then pulled his financial backing.

The Center for Health Journalism opened in 2004 at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to support healthcare journalists in California. The Center’s mission has expanded over the years. It now serves journalists nationwide in every beat and encourages them to see the interconnections of health in communities, such as how systemic racism and poverty impact health and wellbeing.

This article is a follow-up to our original story which went out on Feb. 27. E&P has reached out to Ralph Nader for comment, but he was unavailable. This story will be updated with any comments when available.

Dave Stevens has no patience with a world and employers, especially those in the media and entertainment industries, that focus on people’s disabilities instead of their abilities. He should know; he was born without hips and legs. Despite that, he has led the life he wanted but wouldn’t have expected — playing high school, college and professional sports; a career of more than 20 years as an ESPN editor and recipient of seven Emmy awards; and now a professional in residence at the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University and leading its Ability Media program.