News

Real Raw News is a relatively new website that regularly publishes fantastical, false stories with made-to-go-viral headlines.

A look behind Real Raw News’ sensational (and fabricated) headlines

September 27, 2021

Bill McCarthy

NBC’s ‘Dateline’ turns 30 and Josh Mankiewicz reveals the secret to its success

The addictive true crime show with famous fans like Taylor Swift and Bill Hader becomes the longest-running series in NBC prime-time history.

September 24, 2021

Tom Jones

Want to be a better public writer? Celebrate the versatility of the question mark.

From the question that sparks the advice column to the ones that clinch a cross-examination, the question is a writing tool that rules.

September 24, 2021

Roy Peter Clark

Here are the newsroom layoffs, furloughs and closures that happened during the coronavirus pandemic

We're still updating this list

September 27, 2021

It’s not a subscription. It’s not a membership. And it’s not just nonprofits anymore.

For-profit newsrooms are adding philanthropy as another way to make money

September 24, 2021

Donald Trump is suing Mary Trump, The New York Times and three Times reporters over what he claims was an 'insidious plot' to obtain his tax records.

The NYT knocked on Trump’s niece’s door. An ‘insidious plot?’ A Trump lawsuit claims so.

September 23, 2021

Tom Jones

With legacy newspapers contracting, local newsletter startup 6AM City is planning rapid expansion

The group will ramp up from eight to 24 markets by the end of 2021 and plans to grow its staff from 30 to 100.

September 21, 2021

Rick Edmonds

Why keep writing about Trump? Here’s why.

Why write about someone who isn’t the president anymore? Why give him oxygen, especially if it’s to amplify a bunch of lies or unhinged propaganda?

September 27, 2021

Tom Jones

NBC’s ‘Dateline’ turns 30 and Josh Mankiewicz reveals the secret to its success

The addictive true crime show with famous fans like Taylor Swift and Bill Hader becomes the longest-running series in NBC prime-time history.

September 24, 2021

Tom Jones

Trump, conservative media and the big lie — the damage is not done

The lie that faulty voting machines cost Trump the 2020 election lives on. And backers of the claim seek to control upcoming elections.

September 23, 2021

Tom Jones

It’s not easy to cover Indian Country. Here’s why you must.

In mainstream U.S. news, coverage of Indigenous communities is sporadic, uneven and barely visible.

September 22, 2021

Cynthia-Lou Coleman, Portland State University

Student journalists need better editing and management training, and we’re here to help

Reporting and editing are totally different skill sets, and student journalists need more preparation before they move into editor roles.

September 22, 2021

Taylor Blatchford

Here’s a look into my camera roll after a trek around the country’s college journalism spaces

From Montana to Miami, I traveled the United States working with student journalists

September 19, 2021

Barbara Allen

Journalism schools often don’t teach audience engagement skills. Here’s how students can make up for it

Prioritizing digital journalism in journalism education is the first step toward cultivating a strong relationship between journalists and audiences.

September 15, 2021

Taylor Blatchford

How we can all decolonize the journalism internship process

If we truly want to attract people with a range of life experiences, we have to be more inclusive and empathetic in our hiring process.

September 13, 2021

Kathy Lu

A look behind Real Raw News’ sensational (and fabricated) headlines

Real Raw News is a relatively new website that regularly publishes fantastical, false stories with made-to-go-viral headlines.

September 27, 2021

Bill McCarthy

Should you trust media bias charts?

These controversial charts claim to show the political lean and credibility of news organizations. Here’s what you need to know about them.

September 23, 2021

Jake Sheridan

Opinion: Opt-in to op-eds, a final attempt to distinguish news from opinion

Americans can’t tell the difference between fact and factoid and assign political labels to news outlets based on columnists rather than reporters.

September 14, 2021

Michael Bugeja

How Sept. 11 helped shape modern misinformation and conspiracy theories

The sudden terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, seemed to defy explanation and occurred just as the internet started to boom.

September 10, 2021

Bill McCarthy

There’s no evidence that the Pfizer vaccine causes deaths

The Pfizer vaccine is the only one fully approved in the U.S. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines continue to be used under an EUA.

September 24, 2021

Tom Kertscher

Why the Gabby Petito case has drawn so much attention compared to other missing people cases

Criminologists say a range of factors play into the attention, including a substantial online trail documenting Petito’s trip and her age and race.

September 23, 2021

Noah Y. Kim

Amid proposals for travel vaccine mandates, is there a right to unfettered travel in the US?

Legal experts say the Constitution generally recognizes a right to travel between the states. But it’s not an absolute right.

September 22, 2021

Louis Jacobson

Are cloth masks good enough against the delta COVID variant?

A large-scale, real-world study published in September found surgical masks to be especially effective at reducing symptomatic infections.

September 21, 2021

Amanda Michelle Gomez

He’s on the radio. She started a news site. These high schoolers are using their new journalism skills in the real world.

Eighteen teenagers learned fact-checking, health reporting and more during Poynter’s second virtual High School Journalism Program this summer.

September 14, 2021

Poynter Staff

CPB selects Poynter Institute to deliver public media Digital Transformation Program

Virtual training to help up to 80 public media leaders advance their organizations’ digital capabilities

September 13, 2021

Poynter to honor Lesley Stahl during its annual fundraising gala

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Sept. 13, 2021) – The Poynter Institute will present Lesley Stahl, award-winning…

September 13, 2021

Global Fact 8, hosted by Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network, will take place online Oct. 20-23, 2021.

Registration opens today for the world’s largest fact-checking summit

August 31, 2021

Mel Grau

IFCN and Facebook will award $800K to fact-checkers fighting climate misinformation

Eligible applicants can receive up to $100,000 for innovative solutions to refute false claims about the environment.

September 16, 2021

Poynter Staff

Lessons learned from a year covering fact-checking

Fact-checkers need more staff, more resources, and help against incredible odds fighting malignant falsehoods

August 19, 2021

Harrison Mantas

Reverso builds a culture of accountability ahead of Argentina’s midterm elections

Chequeado has streamlined the collaboration to quickly debunk falsehoods and raise the costs of spreading disinformation

August 17, 2021

Harrison Mantas

The CDC’s pregnancy guidance brings vaccine data deficits full term

Its latest advisory on pregnant persons getting vaccinated emphasizes the cost-benefit analysis while it waits for more data

August 12, 2021

Harrison Mantas

People need dependable local news for a lot of reasons. One? Call it ‘the big pumpkin theory.’

“It all comes back to the community part of community journalism.”

September 16, 2021

The Cicero Independiente is bringing politics into the open in Latino-majority Cicero, Illinois.

How a community-focused weekly is punching holes in an Illinois town’s political discourse

September 16, 2021

Ana Arana

This local journalist studied other locally owned newsrooms. Here’s what he found.

The NewStart fellow wanted to understand what's working and what's not in community journalism

September 15, 2021

Tony Baranowski

The National Trust for Local News is trying to build a $300 million fund to help save local news

Rather than grants, the trust makes investments and offers advice, with a goal of growing local support to serve small-town news deserts.

September 14, 2021

Rick Edmonds

Meet the second cohort of Poynter’s 2021 Leadership Academy for Women in Media

The second of three classes will take place digitally in September with a keynote from Millie Tran and Stacy-Marie Ishmael.

August 26, 2021

Mel Grau

PolitiFact partners with Arizona State University, expands footprint in the heart of the nation’s capital

The collaboration will support today’s fact-checking professionals and prepare the next generation of journalists.

August 16, 2021

More than 50 journalists from news organizations across the country are accelerating their careers through a yearlong program.

Introducing the 2021-22 Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellows

June 30, 2021

Students from across the nation will help their peers spot misinformation online and in social media

Poynter and MediaWise announce a new class of Campus Correspondents

June 30, 2021

Poynter Staff

The nursing shortage will worsen today, and it is already bad

Plus, charter school enrollment is way up, another wave of computer chip shortages ... and toilet paper ... and liquor, and more.

September 27, 2021

Plus, do not inhale hydrogen peroxide, the real cost of delaying ‘elective surgeries,’ 10,000 TSA employees have been infected, and more.

UPDATE: CDC director overrules advisers and approves Pfizer booster shots for millions of people in high-risk jobs

September 24, 2021

Plus, a new study on the cost of remote work, vaccinations are rising fast in rural America, people are suing for and against mandates, and more.

Seven states are using most of the dwindling monoclonal antibody supply

September 23, 2021

Walsh, often measured, hasn’t held back over the past two days, ripping into police and others after Petito’s disappearance.

John Walsh’s explosive comments about the Gabby Petito case, and why we, the media, are captivated by the story

September 22, 2021

Tom Jones

It’s Banned Books Week in America. In some places, the ‘1619 Project’ is being targeted.

'This is actually trying to control the collective memory of this country,' said Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the project.

September 27, 2021

Tom Jones

Want to be a better public writer? Celebrate the versatility of the question mark.

From the question that sparks the advice column to the ones that clinch a cross-examination, the question is a writing tool that rules.

September 24, 2021

Roy Peter Clark

How Jim Sheeler took the news ‘to a place where grief could unfold in depth’

The former Rocky Mountain News Pulitzer Prize winner died last week. He was 53.

September 23, 2021

But Ohio and Pennsylvania are posting big increases. Plus, why gunshot injuries may tell a clearer story than deaths, and more.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are falling

September 22, 2021