Here it is. Tracey Compton, the brand new Indy Public Editor, has published her first column. She promises to put the audience first and give all newsrooms equal treatment. You can sign up to get her weekly column in your inbox at the bottom of this column. www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

The ability to easily generate fake videos coincides with a rise in government officials blatantly deceiving the public, including using AI generated images. For journalists, verifying video and images is now a front line skill that everyone needs to master. www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

Indianapolis has a public editor. Tracey Compton is stepping into this first of it's kind job. There are very few public editors left in the United States (me.) All of those public editors serve a single newsroom. Compton is looking at the entire Indy market. www.poynter.org/ethics-trust...

The entire news ecosystem of Indianapolis is getting a Public Editor. It's a pilot project I've been working on for years and I hope it's the start of something big. We are partnering with @wfyi.bsky.social, @mirrorindy.org and the @indianacapitalchronicle.com.

Which programs are stopping work as a result of the federal spending freeze? Pre-schools? School lunch? Medical trials that are underway? Local construction projects? Small business loans? Disaster relief? Farm programs? Public health initiatives? Non-profit mentoring programs? Special Olympics?

Journalists, have you ever experienced a chilling effect, meaning you were overly cautious, or avoided reported a story, or didn't publish everything you knew, because you or your newsroom didn't have the resources to mount a legal defense? I'm exploring how this works and I want to chat. DM me.