A collage with a photo from the Arizona State University Palestine solidarity encampment with an orange filter put over top above the Northwestern University arch and a screenshot of an article from The Intercept that reads: "Leaked NYT Gaza Memo Tells Journalists To Avoid Words 'Genocide', 'Ethnic Cleansing', And 'Occupied Territory'. Amid the internal battle over the New York Times's coverage of Israel's war, top editors handed down a set of directives."

Journalism school faculty grapple with covering Palestine and genocide 

By
●
News
●
January 26, 2026

U.S. journalism professors have taken a variety of approaches to teaching about covering Palestine, including not doing so at all.

A triptych of a spread of hundred-dollar bills; the leftmost image is sepia-toned, the middle image is edited to look like a neon blur, and the third is edited with a tv-screen effect.
Journalism philanthropy shifts approach to funding diverse newsrooms
By
●
News
●
January 8, 2026

The ebb and flow of the philanthropic sector — especially around stories of marginalized people — has been an issue even before Trump’s targeting of DEI. But new shifts have disproportionately affected organizations led by people of color.

A collage with several elements: A banner that says Breaking News: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announces closure frames a photo of the Post-Gazette building. A closed sign is layered over the Gazette as is a stylized photo of a Gazette newspaper box and a screenshot of an article headline that says "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers return to office after 3-year strike."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is closing
By
●
News
●
January 7, 2026

After a historic three-year strike, staffers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette returned to work in late November. Now, the 239-year-old paper is shuttering.

A screenshot of the Knight Foundation's 'About' page as of September 17, with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion section title crossed out with an orange line and the sentence "Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to our work as a social investor" blurred.
The Knight Foundation scrubs DEI section from its ‘About’ page
By
●
News
●
December 19, 2025

One of the biggest funders of nonprofit journalism in the U.S. no longer publicly lists an explicit section about “diversity, equity, and inclusion” on its mission page.

Screenshots of three articles on an orange background. From left to right: Nieman Lab's From Reckoning to Retreat: Journalism's DEI Efforts Are In Decline. Columbia Journalism Review's Urgent Ideas for Defending Press Freedom in Gaza. The Flytrap Media's Pay Me What You Owe Me.
The Objective’s favorite media reporting and criticism of 2025
By
●
Commentary
●
December 19, 2025

A non-comprehensive list of The Objective’s co-directors and readers’ picks for media coverage and commentary this year.

An array of people of different races and age groups sit around tables checking their phones and chatting. The background is adorned in a light blue overlay with icons outlined in light orange, which include thought bubbles with lightbulbs and speech bubbles with a magazine.
The local news contract is broken. Civic media can fix it
By
●
Civic Media Series
●
December 19, 2025

Darryl Holliday on how City Bureau's Documenters' program models the new social contract needed for local news and the civic media system emerging today.

A Latino man with a mohawk in a blue uniform smiles and waves amid a crowd of multiracial audience members in San Quentin's blue uniforms and business-casual dress.
The resurrected American Penal Press Contest honors incarcerated journalists
By
●
News
●
December 18, 2025

2025 saw the revival of the historic journalism awards, once called the Pulitzers of prison newsrooms, after a 35-year hiatus.

A brunette white man in a suit, Mike Rispoli, faces toward a microphone to testify. The statehouse is also filled with several other people listening. A light blue overlay surrounds the background and icons outlined in light orange are among the people, including a speech bubble with a dollar sign coming out of Rispoli's mouth, a lightbulb, and an arrow above a rising graph.
Media policy: Local news for the people
By
●
Civic Media Series
●
December 17, 2025

Five key policy-making principles and concrete proposals to support civic information needs.

A photo of the Minnesota Public Radio building overlaid with light blue and iconography outlined in orange, including a radio tower, two radio hosts in front of a microphone, and a loudspeaker.
To save the free press, newsgathering must be reclaimed as a public trust
By
●
Civic Media Series
●
December 15, 2025

Michael Swerdlow on the necessity of publicly funding the news media.

A table piled with College Park Here & Now papers.
The decline of local journalism removes a future for the industry
By
●
Commentary
●
December 12, 2025

Hyperlocal and local journalists like me tell stories for smaller communities that may not have “national significance”, but are important to the people in these towns and areas.