Zachary Kussin

You're probably already taking in a lot of information on how to cover this year's elections. These guides are aimed at helping you talk through that information with your news organization, and strategize or decide on how you'll navigate different scenarios long before they arise and leave you thinking, "I wish we'd talked about how we'd actually handle this." Our first two guides help you consider your coverage of misinformation and polling, and we've got more in the works! Let us know if there are other topics you'd like to see addressed.

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As I approach my third month at The Baltimore Banner, I have been thinking a lot about defining success. A mentor offered the following thoughts: For reporters, it is much easier to define success. Editors often need help seeing that their goals should be quite different than their reporters'. They need to see each of their reporters as individuals with different strengths and weaknesses. So editors need to meet each reporter at a different place and help them improve, and hopefully, thrive. Sometimes that means focusing on reporting or writing skills, sometimes it is helping a reporter figure out how to cover a beat, or how to distinguish their work from the competition. Editors of course are key to guiding coverage, whether it's breaking news or a more conceptual beat, when the goal has to be finding the front edge of the topic (for an education reporter, that might be new trends in teaching and for the city hall reporter it might be who are the emerging power brokers.) When it comes to editing copy, editors have to avoid rewriting stories, which can completely demoralize reporters, but they also can't send along stories that are confusing or take too long to get to the point. It takes awhile for editors to figure out that sweet spot between improving copy but not just rewriting it the way they would have written it. The hardest part of editing is probably dealing with difficult reporters and there is no easy answer for that. The only part of running a newsroom that I could advise on is running the coverage and for me, that was always driven by focusing on the big news of the day. You have to make sure that editors have put enough staffers on the big stories and are looking across the news cycle, e.g. what will we have to publish first thing tomorrow, and make sure some people are trained on the bigger, deeper questions that take a few days to report. If you are clear on your top priorities each day and the newsroom aligns behind those, then the smaller stories will take care of themselves. You will be judged by how the Banner did on the big things, not the small things.

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New: Over the last year, publishers with extensive climate change coverage have shifted how they monetize that reporting. The evolution in strategy has been prompted by a number of factors, including ongoing economic uncertainty and shifting brand attitudes toward advocacy marketing in the wake of the fallout Bud Light and Target experienced last year. In response, many publishers have sought to focus on premium subscriptions, business-to-business audiences, targeted events and campaign results, rather than corporate responsibility messaging. Thanks to Jacquelyn L. Cameron at Axios, Alexis Schwartz at The Guardian, Nico Lauricella and Randy Siegel at Heatmap News and the team at Bloomberg Green for the insights. My latest for ADWEEK: https://lnkd.in/eTe4U6ZX #media #advertising #climatechange

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One of the most important ways you can help @tradeoffs is by filling out our annual audience survey. If you have 5 minutes, please to tell us how we've impacted your work!

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Some reporters have reached out to me over the past few weeks understandably to speak about misinformation, elections, AI etc. All of the below things have happened. It's very unprofessional. -Hounding me for an interview, and then paraphrasing my comments - Writing about my investigations but not hyperlinking the original article -Asking for other contacts and not saying even a simple ‘thank you’ -Using my interview as a story peg and then picking a completely different quote to attribute to me  -Promising to give playback of the quotes to be used in the story. Publishing the story without the playback - Censoring my remarks

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Indeed’s definition of a Journalist:   ‘A Journalist, or Reporter, is responsible for researching and writing informational news articles and stories about real events using a fair and unbiased perspective. Their duties include interviewing experts, gathering first-hand accounts of events and organizing an outline into a cohesive, interesting story.’ In 2004, ExpertSources was founded by an ex-journalist himself, Mr Bob Mills who spearheaded this ingenious online platform as a lead in its field for regional, national and international media professionals to quickly and easily find experts in any and every sector imaginable. Journalists, Reporters, Media Professionals, join here FOR FREE https://lnkd.in/gWTuBX5 in less than 20 seconds and start searching with keywords for an expert relevant to your topic at hand. Take advantage of our 20% discount, ending today, we would be thrilled to have you join us as an esteemed and sort after expert member. https://lnkd.in/dbnVv_m www.expertsources.co.uk ‘WHERE JOURNALISTS FIND PEOPLE WITH EXPERTISE.’ #Publicity #Media #MediaProfessionals #Journalist #Journalists #MediaExposure #Revenue #PR #PublicRelations #Expert #Experts #Charity #University #Business #Journalism #Editorial #Podcast #Vlog #Magazines #TV #Radio #SocialMedia #ROI #Business #StartUp #Entrepreneur #Success #BusinessSuccess #Revenue #YourDream #Reputation #Journalism Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

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Congestion pricing was supposed to start today in New York City. It didn't after Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month announced an indefinite pause. My latest article in The Wall Street Journal traces the rise and pause of congestion pricing — a tale that involves 17 years and around $700 million. The abrupt reversal, which some attribute to Hochul’s��reluctance to impose a new fee in an election year, leaves metro New York grappling with a historic missed opportunity and fiscal mess. There is no relief in sight for the city’s traffic congestion, which is the worst in the world, according to data published last week. The epic collapse in New York shows how a fear of dramatic change can give the status quo stubborn power over those trying to solve some of America’s most intractable challenges. That leaves policymakers nibbling at the edges of deeply rooted problems, even after investing huge sums of money and political capital. Blown up in a New York minute were plans for around $15 billion of planned improvements to the city’s ailing mass-transit system, the largest transportation network in North America. The reversal cast aside around $700 million in meticulous prep work, including a $555-million contract to install tolling cameras—which are already up and ready to go—and $33 million for a customer-service center with 100 employees who have already been brought on, officials said. Planners invested thousands of hours, including going to London and Stockholm to research their congestion-pricing programs, according to people familiar with the travel. What was supposed to be a transformative moment when New York led the way and boldly tackled traffic congestion, air pollution and transit funding, has instead turned into a surprising loss for a broad coalition that includes major employers, real-estate developers and subway riders. Surprised by the reversal were Hochul’s own lieutenants, including Janno Lieber, a fierce champion of congestion pricing and the chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The MTA—which carries around 5.5 million passengers each day in the New York metro area—now faces a $16.5 billion-financial hole from the loss of money from congestion pricing and federal matching funds. Just days after Hochul’s announcement, a beleaguered Lieber joined a conference call with advocates in which he said he was equally shocked and remained committed to the program, three people familiar with the exchange said. “This is devastating,” he said, according to a person on the call. Here's the latest from me and Joseph De Avila —>

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When the American Journalism Project launched five years ago, our mandate was to create the conditions for community-led nonprofit news organizations to sustainably provide the journalism our democracy requires. Today, I’m pleased to share our 2024 Impact Report, a look at the progress we’ve made since our inception. In the five years since our launch, we’ve raised $175 million from national and local philanthropy, and built a portfolio of 44 nonprofit local news organizations —  diverse in size, scope, reach and leadership. Some highlights from the report: -In the last year alone, our portfolio of 44 grantee organizations generated $86 million in revenue — a 36% increase over their 2022 revenue. -Year over year, the organizations in our portfolio are seeing a 58% median growth. -And this growth is leading to more journalism – last year, our portfolio of grantees employed 568 editorial and newsroom staff – an 18% increase over 2022. Organizations are growing, diversifying their revenue, adding journalists, and strengthening their communities. I’m proud of the progress the portfolio has made, and remain clear-eyed about the future. This report sheds light on how far we’ve come and sets the stage for what’s ahead. I hope you'll take a moment to read it. https://lnkd.in/eipwwhxN

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We lead today’s Connecting with the viewpoint of Columbia Journalism Review on the plans announced by the AP to create a new sister organization to fundraise for and support state and local journalism.   Governed by an independent board of directors, the 501(c)3 charitable organization will help AP sustain, augment and grow journalism and services for the industry, as well as help fund other entities that share a commitment to state and local news.   We also deliver more of your stories of working in your first AP bureau – continuing an ongoing theme that’s proven highly popular.   Our colleague Norm Abelson observes: “Of all the compelling, humorous, moving and enlightening pieces I have read on Connecting, the recent stories on first AP assignments rank near the top.   “Often they're as interesting as a novel, as educating as a J-school grad course, as personal as a memoir. The stories are told with honesty and openness, recalling both the successes as well as the miscues and bumps along the way.   “Both for those who opted for a career with the news service, as well as those of us who moved on to other interests, I'd argue there is no better foundation for a meaningful and fulfilling career than time spent at The AP.”   Here’s to a great day – be safe, stay healthy, live it to your fullest. https://conta.cc/4ciWKsA

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This essay is several years old, but I think it applies to a lot of industries. How do you make sure your writing is free of jargon and Insider Baseball phrases and draws even the busiest reader? I have some ideas. https://lnkd.in/ebHYZ_E8

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You might see some promotional publicity in the media for a new book purportedly about public relations from what its publisher claims is a 'top operative.' Consistent with the historic tension between hacks vs. flacks, some journos will jump at the chance to platform someone especially if it provides an opportunity to position lying and manipulation as the essence of PR. Bad boys and 'high stakes' take-the-money firms might steal a few sensational headlines, but they are actually at the fringes and on the bottom of an industry where most practitioners around the world counsel candor and transparency in the public domain for clients with worthy points of view. #publicrelations #PR #ethics #propaganda https://a.co/d/0dP8eAG8 https://lnkd.in/eucAfEDU https://lnkd.in/ek2wk3Pg

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When HAI, a history consulting firm in Rockville, Maryland, moved into a new office last November, something important got lost in the changeover: a check for more than half a million dollars. One of the company's clients, a major academic institution, mailed the payment to HAI's old address, and CEO Beth Maser says it took her team about six weeks of cutting through red tape to get the check reissued and deposited. "It is what it is. Do I love having an overhead expense for buying and mailing paper checks? No, but it is a cost of doing business," says Maser. Her team has been aggressively pushing clients to adopt electronic payments, but not always with success. The share that pay by check has dropped from about 50% five years ago, but 30% of customers still prefer to send checks. The 55-year-old CEO says, "Maybe it's my generation, my demographic, but it never crossed my mind to ever say we will never take a check." Checkbooks have become a rare sight in the checkout line. This month, Target became the latest national chain to tell shoppers that its stores will no longer accept personal checks, joining Whole Foods and Aldi. But when it comes to B2B payments, cutting paper checks is still common practice, founders say, and despite the hassle that comes with paper, they have no plans to stop any time soon. I had a lot of fun reporting out this story on the enduring power of paper checks for Inc. Magazine. https://lnkd.in/e2JDi3Ju

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While still large, the income “#racegap” between low-income #Black and #White Americans narrowed but the “#classgap” or the difference in earnings between young adults born to low- and high-income parents widened, according to U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University research. The new study focuses on how #income mobility evolved between two generations 15 years apart. #AmericaCounts

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#podcast Fadi Micaelian, CEO of SPARKDIT, is an AI strategist who brings insights into using generative AI to support political consultants and voters. These voters are weighing choices and making tradeoffs as they decide who to financially support and vote for. Using additional data points to predict voting behavior is increasingly essential as voters become more partisan and face pressure from friends and family to make decisions about candidates and issues.  We talk about training AI to think like humans, using tradeoff criteria to improve predictive models to identify likely voters & how voters make decisions. #SPARKDIT #AI #VoterSegmentation #PoliticalMessages #Voters SPARKDIT.com https://lnkd.in/g3Xa5X-j

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I wrote a piece for Politico on major trends buffeting the media including artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and fighting disinformation in an age of dwindling resources. The conclusion is that founders, CEOs, politicians and others in the public eye now face an exponentially increasing threat of reputational damage. In today’s media landscape, a single negative review can quickly go viral, a poorly phrased statement can trigger a global backlash and an ill-judged joke can wreck careers. While the media world’s pace of change is dizzying, the words written by businessman Warren Buffett almost a decade ago have never been more relevant: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Article here: https://lnkd.in/dtTNY4PU

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While AI holds promise for enhancing journalism, it is imperative that news organizations adopt responsible practices to safeguard the integrity of information. Vigilance and understanding of AI’s implications are crucial as we navigate the complex landscape of modern journalism and upcoming elections. #DailyGuardian #OurNewsYourVoice

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💥 This email will self-destruct in 48 hours. 💥 There’s nothing wrong with telling a journalist that they need to respond by a certain deadline if they’re interested in your story. We spend so much of our time trying to accommodate journalists, but you need to be respectful of your own time, too. If you don’t set a clear deadline for when a response is needed, you could sit around forever waiting for a reply that will never come. If the journalist doesn’t reply in time, move on to the next person on your list. Don’t let a lack of response from someone cause you to miss out on telling your story.

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While we all know that first-time homebuyers face the biggest challenges in a tight, expensive housing market, it's not always easy for repeat homebuyers out there either. My latest Washington Post article explores options for making the transition from one home to another. Thank you Christopher Suranna, Gregg Busch, Chris Davis and Christine Fischer for your insights. #homebuyers #homesellers #realestate

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