*UPDATE

Just before we published this week’s episode, news broke that Vice Media will cease publishing on Vice.com and lay off ‘several hundred’ staffers. We will be addressing this story directly in next week's episode of “Laid Off and Looking.”
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/vice-cease-publishing-layoff-hundreds-ceo-1235919843/?cx_testId=48&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

This week, former Washington Post media reporter turned freelance writer, Paul Farhi talks to Jenna and Dom about his recent piece for The Atlantic, Is American Journalism Headed Towards an ‘Extinction-Level Event’?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/media-layoffs-la-times/677285/ 

Paul gives us his take on why the news industry has been in decline for decades and why the latest round of layoffs is especially ominous. This piece was published January 30th, and Paul also discusses how lucky he feels to have been offered a buyout instead of getting laid off after decades with the paper. In addition he addresses the increasing distrust Americans have with legacy news media.

Headlines:
‘Breathtaking’ media layoffs continue with job cuts at NowThis and Intercept
https://amp.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/15/layoffs-vox-media-nowthis-intercept
‘The Investment Firms Leave Behind a Barren Wasteland’: A journalism professor blames Wall Street for the newspaper industry’s collapse.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/18/is-wall-street-to-blame-for-the-collapse-of-newspapers-00141920
How Tom Sandoval Became the Most Hated Man in America
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/magazine/tom-sandoval-vanderpump.html
Jenna and Dom’s Spotlight Journalism of the Week:
Prince Harry Infuriates Royals by Saying Nice Things About King Charles
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/prince-harry-gma-interview-charles.html?itm_medium=site&itm_source=order-form&_gl=1*1ywnfac*_ga*MTY3MDYxMzkwMi4xNzA2NTQ0NjAz*_ga_DNE38RK1HX*MTcwODQ1MDk2My4yLjEuMTcwODQ1MTI0Mi4yMy4wLjA.#_ga=2.254523592.157731272.1708450963-1670613902.1706544603

NY legislators consider good cause eviction law again
https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2024/02/19/ny-legislators-consider-good-cause-eviction-law-again/

Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out by Derek Thompson
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/america-decline-hanging-out/677451/

Theme Song: Summer Jam by Jay Cowit

Can The News Media Be Saved?

After learning of the fate of VICE News, along with public radio staffers at WAMU and the loss of local DCist, Domenic and Jenna relive the trauma of their own layoff experience all over again. 

So they reached out to Samantha Ragland, Vice President of Journalism Programs at the American Press Institute to discuss the increasingly layered issue of trauma in journalism. 
https://americanpressinstitute.org/

The conversation was so in depth and intimate, we split it into two parts with the second half coming next week.

HEADLINE Starts 2:12 
Vice Will Cease Publishing on Vice.com and Lay Off 'Several Hundred' Staffers, CEO Says
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/vice-cease-publishing-layoff-hundreds-ceo-1235919843/?cx_testId=48&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

Interview with Samantha Ragland 13:14

Dom and Jenna Close Show 51:59

Journalists Resources:
Journalists and mental health: An API resource guide
https://americanpressinstitute.org/mental-health-resources-for-journalists/

Mental Health Reset
https://americanpressinstitute.org/mental-health-reset/

Leadership Reset Series
https://americanpressinstitute.org/leadership-reset-series/

Navigating burnout as a journalist
https://americanpressinstitute.org/navigating-burnout-as-a-journalist/

For 'still employed journalists' this series on "things to stop doing": 
Prioritize Your Workload
https://americanpressinstitute.org/prioritize-your-workload/

TURN OUT THE LIGHTS - UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA IN JOURNALISM

In Part 2 of our conversation with Samantha Ragland, Vice President of Journalism Programs for the American Press Institute, Dom and Jenna learn the difference between being burnt-out and experiencing moral injury.

Reframing Clinician Distress: Moral Injury Not Burnout
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6752815/

Episode Timecodes
Headlines: 1:11
Pt. 2 of our interview with Sam Ragland: 15:48
Dom and Jenna Reflections: 1:10:45

Headlines Links:
“Addressing burnout in journalism means flexible shifts, more supportive culture”
https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/addressing-burnout-in-journalism-means-flexible-shifts-more-supportive-culture,248442

 Study: “The Burnout Crisis in Journalism: Solutions for Today’s Newsroom”
https://rjionline.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RJI-Journalism-Burnout-Study-SmithGeiger-White-Paper-Feb-24-v1.33.pdf

Guest link
Samantha Ragland
Vice President of Journalism Programs, American Press Institute
https://americanpressinstitute.org/

Resources:
Navigating burnout as a journalist
https://americanpressinstitute.org/navigating-burnout-as-a-journalist/

Journalists and mental health: An API resource guide
https://americanpressinstitute.org/mental-health-resources-for-journalists/

For those left behind, this series on "things to stop doing": 

Prioritize Your Workload
https://americanpressinstitute.org/prioritize-your-workload/

Is It Burnout Or Moral Injury - Understanding Trauma In Journalism

When you title your book, “Hedged: How Private Investment Funds Helped Destroy American Newspapers and Undermine Democracy”…
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p087561
 
You definitely have our attention.
 
In Episode 8 of Laid Off and Looking, Dom and Jenna interview author Margot Susca, an assistant professor at the School of Communication at American University.
 
She discusses her book “Hedged,” the untold history of an American catastrophe where the ultra-wealthy own and guide the newspaper system in the United States. Through entities like hedge funds and private equity firms, Susca explains how the investor class systematically dismantled the one institution meant to give voice to average citizens in a democracy.
 
EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
Intro: 1:15
Headlines: 3:00
Interview: 8:53
Spotlight: 1:08:55
 
Show Headlines:
Deadspins’s entire staff had been laid off after the sports site was sold to a startup
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/media/deadspin-sale-layoffs/index.html
 
J-Group Says Hudge-Fund Papers Unwelcome
https://www.journal-isms.com/2024/03/j-group-says-hedge-fund-papers-unwelcome/
 
Spotlight:
Journalism is in freefall. These writers aren’t giving up: ‘We can go out swinging’
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/mar/02/journalism-us-media-industry-layoffs-co-ops
 
Flaming Hydra
https://flaminghydra.com/
 
Outlier Media:
https://outliermedia.org/about/
 
The Pivot Fund
https://thepivotfund.org/
 
Proof News
https://www.proofnews.org/
 
The FlyOver
https://jointheflyover.com/
 
HellGate
https://hellgatenyc.com/
 
Defector
https://defector.com/
 
Discourse blog
https://www.discourseblog.com/
 
Racket
https://racketmn.com/
 
The Colorado Sun
https://coloradosun.com/

Hedged

Somebody’s got to save journalism and University of Pennsylvania Professor Victor Pickard might be the person to do it!

Victor Pickard joins Domenic and Jenna to share his ideas on a new model of sustainable local journalism, as “the old model crumbles.” He also shares why we need to see local journalism as an essential part of a healthy community if the republic is going to survive.

And it all starts with one question, “What did you mean by, ‘Journalism and Capitalism was a match made in hell?’”

Professor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism: Confronting the Misinformation Society”
https://victorpickard.com/

00:42: Headlines
14:26: Interview
51:39: Journalism Spotlight

Headlines:

Opinion | Gannett and McClatchy to drop The Associated Press. What does that mean?
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/associated-press-gannett-mcclatchy-drop-content/

UNH reportedly set to eliminate journalism major from English Department
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/03/15/unh-reportedly-set-to-eliminate-journalism-major-from-english-department/

Spotlight:

Black Punk Means Liberation
https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/black-punk-now/

WBUR’S new limited series podcast, 'Beyond All Repair,' in partnership with ZSP Media
https://www.wbur.org/inside/2024/02/15/wbur-announces-new-limited-series-podcast-beyond-all-repair-in-partnership-with-zsp-media

How To Save Journalism

We're 10 episodes in and Dom and Jenna take some time to reflect on their own layoff journey, starting a podcast and having it take shape in real time what were the big news stories that made them realize how big of an impact good and bad journalism can have.

Laid Off And Looking 10th Episode

"You've been laid off? Well that's ok, you can just freelance until the next job comes along!"

That's a phrase many laid off journalists hear immediately after a job loss. But is it that simple?

Dom and Jenna talk with writer, author and writing coach Caitlin Kelly about what it really takes to survive as a freelance journalist. What she's gained and given up to do so.

https://caitlinkelly.com/

Headlines: 1:13

Interview: 7:42

Spotlight: 52:45

Headline Article:
U.S. job growth totaled 275,000 in February but unemployment rate rose to 3.9%
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/08/jobs-report-february-2024-us-job-growth-totaled-275000.html

A record number of Americans are choosing to work part time. Here's why.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/01/25/part-time-jobs-hit-record-high/72331112007/

Spotlight Article:
With ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Black country music fans are front and center, at last
https://19thnews.org/2024/03/cowboy-carter-black-country-music-fans/

The Cost Of Freelancing

With so many layoffs taking place in a difficult job market, many laid off journalists will be faced with the question, 'Should I do something else?' 

Walking away from a competitive and passionate calling can feel daunting and disorienting, so Jenna and Dom turn to a well-respected journalist who pivoted on his own terms, Ken Lovett. 

Lovett used to be the Albany bureau chief for the NY Daily News, now he is a partner at Ichor Strategies, a consulting firm out of Brooklyn. 
And he's perfectly happy. 

https://www.ichorstrategies.com/ 

Headlines: 1:14 

Interview: 12:02 

Recap: 46:51 

Headline Articles: 
Illinois Journalism Preservation Act calls for Big Tech to compensate local news outlets https://dailynorthwestern.com/2024/04/09/lateststories/illinois-journalism-preservation-act-calls-for-big-tech-to-compensate-local-news-outlets/ 

Let’s Retire the “Leaving Journalism” Fallacy Your career as a journalist doesn’t have to be a one-way trip. https://niemanreports.org/articles/lets-retire-the-leaving-journalism-fallacy/

Leaving Journalism? It's Ok.

Local journalism is the antidote to polarization.

Several people we’ve spoken to have all pointed out that the decline in local journalism coincides with the rise in political polarization.

So how do you save local journalism?

Illinois State Senator Steve Stadelman and Zachary Richner, founding member of New York State’s Empire State Local News Coalition both say government has a role to play in supporting local news. Each has introduced legislation to their state government to help support local journalism.

In Illinois: Journalism Preservation Act
https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?GA=103&DocTypeID=SB&DocNum=3591&GAID=17&SessionID=112&LegID=153333

Strengthening Community Media Act
https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=3592&GAID=17&GA=103&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=153334&SessionID=112

In New York State:  The Local Journalism Sustainability Act
https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A02958&term=2023&Summary=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y

Headlines: 1:16

Interview: 6:51

Spotlight: 42:54

Headlines Articles:

Wall Street Journal Has Yet Another Round of Layoffs
The layoffs, which came after months of cuts, impacted the social media and video desks.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/wall-street-journal-lays-off-staff-on-video-and-social-desks

'L.A. Taco' is the Latest Local Journalism Outlet Fighting to Survive: There's also trouble brewing at the Long Beach Post and Knock LA, both adding to the instability and struggle of the local media climate
https://lamag.com/news/l-a-taco-is-the-latest-local-journalism-outlet-fighting-to-survive

Spotlight Articles:
A city’s ‘disenfranchised grief,’ four years in the making
Moving on, grappling with loss and everything in between: COVID-19’s toll on Detroiters
https://outliermedia.org/detroit-disenfranchised-grief-covid-19-fourth-anniversary/

LOCKED OUT
Homelessness in Long Beach
There has never been a time when more public money is being invested in trying to get people off the streets. Yet the number of unhoused individuals in Long Beach rose by a startling 62% in the last two years. Why has it been so hard to get people into permanent housing?
https://lbpost.com/investigations/

Can Government Fix Journalism?

Not all news is bad news. Sometimes it's good news. 

Not feel good stories, but stories that show an answer, or solution to a community's problem.

Domenic and Jenna talk with David Bornstein, co-founder of Solutions Journalism Network, an independent, non-profit organization that advocates an approach of solutions journalism, an evidence-based mode of reporting.

Bornstein tells Dom and Jenna, journalism doesn't have to be emotionally exhausting to be considered news. He says you can lead with a solution, instead of the problem and still tell a compelling story.

Headlines:
1:20

Interview:
11:48

Spotlight:
49:17

LINKS
News Headlines:
Local news coalition efforts are successful
https://riverreporter.com/stories/local-news-coalition-efforts-are-successful,144823#google_vignette

WBUR cuts up to 14% of staff, including buyouts and layoffs
https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/04/24/wbur-cuts-buyouts-layoffs-jobs-boston-media

Solutions Journalism Network
https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/

Spotlights:
‘The Daily Show’: Jon Stewart Calls Out Cable News Networks For How They Cover Donald Trump Amid Hush Money Trial
https://deadline.com/2024/04/the-daily-show-jon-stewart-calls-out-cable-news-networks-donald-trump-hush-money-trial-1235892238/amp/

Daily Show Monologue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqkf2U5jcE0&t=352s

A long, hot U.S. summer is looming, forecasters say
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/23/summer-2024-heat-weather

Solutions Journalism

Award winning journalists, Jenna Flanagan and Domenic Camia turn their layoff into purpose by taking a critical eye to American journalism. 
Why an industry once considered profitable and trustworthy has been steadily cutting journalists and loosing public support.
Why has local news all but disappeared?
Why has national media become so polarizing?
And what does this mean for the future of American democracy?

Find us here:
Jenna Flanagan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennafflanagan/
Domenic Camia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/domeniccamia/

Hedged

Laid Off and Looking with Jenna and Dom

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