We have reached the let’s-hope-Canada-beams-in-news-that’s-being-censored-in-our-own-country stage of authoritarianism. Here's a broadcast-quality version of that "60 Minutes" story via Yashar Ali. www.thereset.news/p/breaking-h...

A tool to help local journalists with science reporting: www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/a-na... And here is our podcast with Matt DeRienzo, director of SciLine, which also provides resources for local journalists. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

On the latest @whatworks-nu.bsky.social podcast, Jennifer Peter, the new editor of The Marshall Project, tells @ellenclegg.bsky.social and me about how the nonprofit covers criminal justice — including how it is extending its work to local news. Plus our Quick Takes. whatworks.news/2025/12/23/j...

Local news outlets aren't just reporting on the effects of climate change in their communities. In some cases, they're being directly affected by climate change. localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2025/1...

I've now seen the "60 Minutes" story that Bari Weiss killed. I think the link has already stopped working. As for her complaint that the reporters failed to get comment:

There's a political expert who has been a quote machine for years, and we were barred from quoting him at the Boston Phoenix for a little while. Really nice guy, so I'm not going to name him. But we should always be looking to expand our sources.

I'm old enough to remember when George Allen's 2006 Senate re-election campaign couldn't survive his calling an Indian American oppo researcher "macaca." drstaceypatton1865.substack.com/p/dont-apolo...

But of course this is how Bari Weiss' The Free Press would lead her newsletter.

New at Media Nation: Two weeks after a hopeful sign from "60 Minutes," Bari Weiss cancels a story and trashes the brand. dankennedy.net/2025/12/22/t...

My daughter and I use Lyft rather than Uber because it has a reputation for being a better deal for drivers. According to this, Lyft does a better (though far from perfect) job of screening drivers, and Mass. did its own screening in 2017. Gift link. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/b...

People, stop with the multi-paragraph quotes with one quotation mark at the beginning and one at the end. You put one at the beginning of each paragraph, then close it with one at the end of the final paragraph.

Rusty wishes you a Happy #Caturday.

New at Media Nation: David Brooks tells @pbsnews.org that he didn't know Jeffrey Epstein was in the room. dankennedy.net/2025/12/20/d...

News you can use (gift link). www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/h...

Good news about local news: The editor of the Bulletin newspapers, which cover a number of Boston neighborhoods as well as Norwood, is purchasing the independent chain from its retiring owners. @universalhub.com has the story. www.universalhub.com/2025/editor-...

A biting critique of Big Philanthropy and local news. "These funders — including the American Journalism Project, which drove the creation of Houston Landing — have increasingly been picking the winners and losers in American journalism, with no consequences when their calls go badly wrong."

A sign of the times: A witness in the Brown mass-shooting case went to Reddit first, then the police. New at Media Nation. dankennedy.net/2025/12/19/a...

Surely Trump knows that he needs my permission to change the name of the Kennedy Center.

I just published my weekly newsletter for supporters of Media Nation, a free source of news and commentary online at dankennedy-dot-net. For just $6 a month, you'll receive exclusive commentary, a roundup of the week's posts, photography and a song of the week. www.patreon.com/posts/suppor...

One of the hardest challenges for a small hyperlocal news site is covering a huge breaking story that is also being covered by much larger media outlets — in this case, The Boston Globe. Here's how @brooklinenews.bsky.social is reporting on the killing of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro.

New at Media Nation: Looking back at how once-and-future editor Brian McGrory recruited John Henry to buy The Boston Globe. An excerpt from my 2018 book "The Return of the Moguls." dankennedy.net/2025/12/18/l...

No, I’m not going to pay $15 a month to post links on Facebook. Good Lord. techcrunch.com/2025/12/17/f...

He stopped, thank God. I thought he might be wound up enough to go till midnight.

I was afraid he was going to announce we‘re invading Venezuela, so I’m relieved he’s just ranting incoherently.

You can detest our do-little #mapoli legislature and still understand that cutting the state income tax by 20% is an insane idea. commonwealthbeacon.org/government/s...

Reynolds Journalism Institute and Local Media Consortium Launch News Media Help Desk for Local Newsroom Sustainability. www.localmediaconsortium.com/post/reynold...

In my 2013 book "The Wired City," I wrote about a high-profile murder and the ethics of naming a "person of interest." A dozen years later, too many in the media still haven't learned. dankennedy.net/2025/12/17/i...

I forget who said this first, but Bari Weiss’ low-rated interview with Erika Kirk is the result of being terminally online and thinking that social media represents the broader public. Normal people don’t know who either one of them are.

BBJ: Newly named Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory tells students he'll return to Boston University no later than 2027. New at Media Nation. dankennedy.net/2025/12/16/b...

"In journalism, scale is a false god, and generative AI is Big Tech’s latest siren song. The only viable path to local news sustainability runs through genuine service to community and human engagement. " And, some related thoughts: kiesow.net/a-few-things...

I'm mildly interested in denunciations of Trump's evil, vile post about the Reiners if they are from the Trumpy right. (But really? You're just figuring this out?) I have zero interest in the outrage being expressed by my fellow liberals. What matters is whether the needle is moving.

New at Media Nation: Linda Henry says McGrory will be the permanent, not the "interim," editor of The Boston Globe but will also take an extended leave from Boston University. dankennedy.net/2025/12/15/l...

🚨🚨🚨 A trusted source tells me that Brian McGrory will be named editor of The Boston Globe. McGrory left in 2022 to become chair of BU's journalism department. He will replace Nancy Barnes, who announced last week she'd step aside as Globe editor.

Waiting on huge and surprising news about the next editor of The Boston Globe. Stay right here.

It didn't take 24 hours for some elements of the media to repeat their "person of interest" ethical misjudgment, this time in connection with the killings of Rob and Michele Reiner. Doesn't matter if they turn out to be correct. There's no need to get ahead of the story.

New at Media Nation: Local and national media mobilize to cover the Brown shootings. There was one serious misstep, as some news outlets, relying on anonymous sources, identified the "person of interest" by name. That person has now been released. dankennedy.net/2025/12/15/r...

Incoming. No, I have not clicked on the links.

Rusty and Gracie wish you a happy #Caturday.

Important turtle-related news. www.npr.org/2025/12/12/n...

New at Media Nation: 25 years ago, I wrote in The Boston Phoenix that media passivity helped enable George W. Bush's corrupt presidential victory. dankennedy.net/2025/12/13/2...

🚨🚨🚨 New at Media Nation: Nancy Barnes, The Boston Globe's first female editor, will step down at the end of next week. dankennedy.net/2025/12/12/n...

New at Media Nation: "Beat the Press with Emily Rooney" hits Substack as Emily, Scott Van Voorhis and I discuss Olivia Nuzzi's epic media meltdown. Plus, Cambridge Day cuts back on Somerville news, and DigBoston co-founder Jeff Lawrence dies. dankennedy.net/2025/12/12/b...

Got the Liquid Glass update on my iPhone this week, and all I can say is … they pay people to sit around and design this stuff? It’s fine, I guess.

Yes, folks, it's true! "Beat the Press with Emily Rooney" is returning to the webwaves tonight with a segment on @scottvv.bsky.social's Contrarian Boston. Emily, Scott and I will be talking about the Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr.-Ryan Lizza shitshow. scottvanvoorhis.substack.com/p/is-the-wu-...

New at Media Nation: Saudis and Kushner and Trump, oh my: Why it matters that CNN stay out of Paramount's clutches. dankennedy.net/2025/12/11/s...

>>> @cambridgeday.com, citing financial pressures, cuts back on coverage of neighboring Somerville. www.reddit.com/r/Somerville...

I am in absolute shock. Jeff was a friend, editor, boss, and someone who brought me into Dig Boston which really ended up being a turning point in my life. There was no one like Jeff and I just can’t believe it right now.

I've written about new CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil exactly once. And I'll stand by what I said then: We need more contentious interviews, and Ta-Nehisi Coates had no problem giving as good as he got. dankennedy.net/2024/10/08/l...

Trump's numbers have crept back up to an average of minus-11, but the latest high-quality poll, from Ipsos, has him at minus-16. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Laid off, no doubt. Because who else but Gannett would lay off the editor-in-chief of their flagship newspaper? www.poynter.org/commentary/2...