And if insurers aren't buying, hospitals close. Time has a good piece making clear that the socialized part of the U.S. health care system—Medicare and Medicaid—are socialist gravy on a vast B2B insurance business operating inside a captured regulatorium. Patient problems are products bought and sold.
Also that it has more than four million views. This mechanism shrinks when pulled, is interesting.
A new durable, lightweight space solar array from the US startup Atomic-6 is getting a workout from the US Space Force.
The post US Space Force To Test New Tough-As-Nails Solar Array appeared first on CleanTechnica.
For the past week I’ve been working with a team of deep and broad experts in decarbonization in the Netherlands. The transmission system operator TenneT invited me and other experts to assist them with their Target scenario for 2050 to enable them to plan for transmission upgrades and space requirements ... [continued]
The post Mea Culpa: Biomethanol Will Be A Major Shipping Fuel appeared first on CleanTechnica.
There it is again, that word “distinctive” in describing how news organizations might transcend the AI wave by doing nuanced and authentic journalism. The latest appearance came in an Aspen Digital report, which summarizes insights from a March gathering where top news executives in Europe discussed AI and the news industry.
To mitigate AI’s threats to news discovery, “publishers are focusing on the kind of distinctive journalism that AI cannot easily replicate, including investigative and enterprise reporting, and nuanced analysis,” wrote the report’s author, Felix Simon.
The media observer and former news executive Dick Tofel made a related point in a recent Substack, saying that the sites suffering most from decline in search traffic due to AI are often those driven by clickbait.
“If there is one overriding lesson of publishing in the digital age, it remains that distinctive content remains the most unassailable, the least vulnerable,” he wrote.
And earlier this year, in his 2025 Nieman Lab prediction, the news design expert and consultant Mario García also hit on this theme: “The distinct human writer becomes more essential.”
Now it is up to individual newsrooms to figure out their own special sauce to make “distinctive” more than an industry buzzword.
Simon’s report did, after all, inject a note of caution: “It also needs to be stressed here that there is no conclusive evidence to date that the majority of audiences will generally prefer ‘artisanal and hand-crafted’ news over content partially or wholly produced with AI; and be willing to depart with both their attention, time, and money to support the same.”
News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.
>> Paramount settles Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ lawsuit with $16 million payout and no apology (CNN)
CBS News parent Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over its “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris last fall. Corporate priorities, write Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly, “trumped journalistic principles,” as Paramount has been seeking government approval for its proposed merger with Skydance Media. Legal experts, they write, saw the suit as frivolous, and outside analysts said the public should “see past the official statements and recognize the alarming nature of Paramount’s payoff to Trump.”
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>> ‘We better create our own damn table’: Why Francesca Donner left traditional media behind (Journalism.co.uk)
When she worked at big-name media companies, journalist Francesca Donner tried to change how stories about women were told, but often found that the effort was “like a rubber band,” always snapping back to the “male lens.” She is now running The Persistent, a media startup that, she tells Marcela Kunova, is an attempt to get away from those old editorial practices. The Persistent, Kunova writes, is “part of a larger reckoning with whose voices get heard and whose stories get told.”
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>> New from API: Collective wisdom: Breaking down generational barriers
At API we have been working on ways that news organizations can help bridge divides in their communities, including across generations, with the idea that communities work best when people share their diverse perspectives with one another. To that end, we have asked five people outside of journalism who have experience working with people of all ages how they approach their work. You’ll find common themes in their answers — one is that it is a mistake to think that young people will not engage on civic issues or that they are uncurious about them.
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>> New from API: 4 strategies to startup success from the Nashville Banner (Better News)
Gannett closed the Nashville Banner in 1998. Now a former Banner reporter, Steve Cavendish, has revived the Banner as a nonprofit digital organization. “The thing we care about most is local news,” Cavendish shared in a Q&A session hosted by API and the News Revenue Hub. Leveraging the legacy name was one of the deliberate moves Cavendish has made in driving the Banner’s success. He shared four strategies that could inform others trying newsroom startups or working to build revenue in support of local editorial initiatives, writes API’s Liz Worthington.
>> Also from API: Revenue ideas to inspire, from alumni of the Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program (Better News)
Last month, API hosted a call for alumni of the Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program to share recent revenue successes and answer questions from local news organizations interested in trying similar approaches. Here are 10 success stories.
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📰 How public policy makes a difference for newsrooms and communities (Substack, News @ Knight)
🌉 How SFGATE is making local news pay and filling California’s news gaps (Press Gazette)
💸 He made billions on Google and PayPal. Now, he’s betting on news. (The New York Times)
👀 Trump drops federal lawsuit against Iowa pollster, refiles in state court (The Washington Post)
+ What happens after AI destroys college writing? (The New Yorker)
+ Three archetypes define American politics. Reading this article suggests which one might apply to you (CNN)
+ The hurricane forecast cone is changing, and journalists are part of the overhaul (Poynter)
+ Digital isn’t enough: Publishers face a youth disconnect (What’s New in Publishing)
The post Standing out in an AI world appeared first on American Press Institute.
Americans today tend to exist in generational silos. Even within communities, we are often socially and institutionally divided by age. People congregate in social venues with their own age groups. Our culture, especially social media, often reinforces age-based differences through labeling or exaggerating conflict among generations.
At API we have been working on ways that news organizations can help bridge divides in their communities, including across generations, with the idea that communities work best if people share their diverse perspectives, life experiences and lessons to confront and solve common problems.
This ethos is embedded in our local news summits, including one in Nashville in which we discussed ways news organizations can build on a community’s history and culture to develop new audiences and one in Denver where we discussed intergenerational connections.
To that end, we have asked five people outside of journalism with experience in engaging and working with people of all ages how they approach their work. What practices do they use to engage young people that news organizations can adapt and apply in broadening their audiences?
You’ll find common themes in their answers — one is that it is a mistake to think that young people will not engage on civic issues or that they are uncurious about them — but also unique insights that arise from their own work outside of journalism.
We hope their answers will give news organizations some transferable ideas and skills that will help them think about connecting their communities and engaging people regardless of age — and expanding audiences in the process.
By Fernande Raine
Founder, The HistoryCo:Lab
Engaging young people in conversations about local history begins with a mindset shift: don’t approach them as an audience to be merely filled with information, but as partners in exploration. Young people are naturally curious and drawn to stories that connect past to present — if we let them follow their own questions. “Why is this building abandoned?” “Why is that neighborhood so diverse?” “What does this street name mean?” Too often, adults present history as a fixed narrative or expect young people to absorb someone else’s version of what matters. The opportunity is inviting their sense of wonder.
Young people bring something essential that journalists’ traditional sources often do not: moral clarity and fresh eyes. They haven’t yet resigned themselves to the injustices or patterns that many adults have come to accept. They see the gap between the values we profess and the realities around them — and they want to do something about it.
The best way to engage young people on local issues is through agency: invite them to investigate who is trying to solve the problems they care about, and what forces shape the flow of resources and power in their community. When young people can ask their own questions and contribute to public understanding, they light up.
I’ve learned this again and again: if you trust young people with real stakes and the tools of inquiry, they will surpass your expectations. Teens are magnificent when treated as civic actors, creators and leaders.
News leaders can play a catalytic role here. Local history and culture can be powerful bridges across generations when newsrooms invite young people into the process of discovery. Showcase them as historical detectives — surfacing hidden stories, investigating erased histories and connecting past to present. The teen-led effort to map sites for Civic Thriving in Pittsburgh or the Troutbeck Symposium, where teens uncovered and shared stories of racial justice from their region, are just two examples. This work not only engages young people; it enriches community understanding and builds pathways for civic participation.
Newsrooms that embrace young people as partners in local storytelling can help weave a more inclusive and hopeful civic fabric. Our democracy needs it.
By Sarina Otaibi
Activate Rural program director, Department of Public Transformation
Activation of creative places cultivates community connection, openness and curiosity in spaces like former cafes, churches, cinemas, or school buildings. At the Department of Public Transformation, our Activate Rural program encourages rural communities to look at their existing creative community assets, such as an underutilized historic downtown building. Transforming that building into a creative cultural hub for a rural community opens up residents to the possibilities of their place, especially for young people. Creative spaces provide a platform for young artists and creative entrepreneurs to share their vision and hope for their place.
In Mahnomen, Minn., the Manoomin Arts Initiative creates space for young artists to collaborate on public art projects, share their work as a part of their Emerging Artists series and collects input on their needs and wants for studio, class, gallery and retail spaces at artist gatherings. The YES! House, a creative gathering space in Granite Falls, Minn., hosts emerging and established artists as a part of a close-to-home residency. The experience provides dedicated time to their practice, connects them with a regional network of creative people and programs, and enables them to share their work with friends, family and neighbors in an “artist salon” public showcase. With each of these opportunities, young people are connecting and engaging with their communities through their art.
A common focus with many Activate Rural building activation projects is providing intergenerational spaces for communication and connection to happen. It especially allows young people to share how they see and experience the past, present and future of their place.
By Christopher Norris
Chief strategy officer, StoryCorps
Engaging young people with local history isn’t about dusty textbooks — it’s about showing them they’re part of an ongoing story.
As a former teacher (K-3 and high school), someone who has curated intergenerational community conversations, and a student of history, I’ve learned that the secret is making history relevant, interactive and aspirational. Bring the past to life by showing how it informs the future, and how young people are part of that continuum. When young people can see themselves in the stories of local trailblazers, it becomes easier to imagine what’s possible for their own lives. Instead of presenting history as a dry subject to be memorized, it becomes a lived, cultural experience that shapes how we understand today and build tomorrow.
Young people bring something invaluable to community conversations: simplicity, curiosity and fresh perspectives — often with a raw authenticity that seasoned experts might overlook. Their lens isn’t filtered by decades of professional conditioning, which can make their insights surprising, honest and illuminating.
To engage them on local issues, start where they are — emotionally, digitally and culturally. Use storytelling, art and media formats they already connect with. Most importantly, make space for them not just to listen, but to lead. Ask their opinions, feature their voices and let them shape the conversation.
Nothing happening today is entirely new — whether it’s resistance to technology, political division or community tensions. The key is helping young people see themselves as part of that historical arc, showing them they’re not just shaped by history but actively shaping it. Connect them to past changemakers who were their age when they made a difference. That connection builds purpose, perspective and power.
By Clay Routledge
Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab, Archbridge Institute
On the surface, it may seem like young generations are uninterested in history, and perhaps especially local history, as well as the cultural wisdom and continuity that is derived from engaging with the stories of people, places and events that predate them.
After all, Gen Z and young Millennials grew up in a forward-looking and fast-moving digital age in which the internet allowed them to form communities that extend far beyond their local environment. However, my research reveals that these young Americans are actually quite interested in exploring past eras and find doing so helpful in navigating their own life challenges and planning for the future.
One psychological force behind young people’s often-overlooked engagement with historical content is nostalgia. Recognizing this presents local news leaders with a significant opportunity to connect more effectively with this demographic. While individuals of all ages tend to feel nostalgic about their own past (personal nostalgia), younger generations are surprisingly highly nostalgic for eras that predate their lifetimes (historical nostalgia).
The overwhelming majority of Gen Z adults and Millennials report feeling nostalgic for eras before their lifetimes. They also report being drawn to media, styles, hobbies and traditions originating from these historical periods and express strong beliefs that new technologies should incorporate ideas and design elements from these eras. And they find historical nostalgia useful for managing the stress of modern life and anxiety about the future. Their engagement with the historical past isn’t merely passive consumption, but instead reflects an active and creative endeavor to develop their own sense of self, cultivate cultural literacy, seek out shared stories and intergenerational bonds, and explore innovative ways to improve life in the present and build a better future.
If local news leaders want to make meaningful inroads with younger generations, they should seek to understand their nostalgia-fueled fascination with history and recognize that empirical research challenges popular characterizations of nostalgia as regressive and historical interest as primarily the domain of older adults. When used appropriately, nostalgia can inspire community engagement, intergenerational dialogue and forward-thinking approaches to local storytelling that resonate deeply with younger audiences seeking both historical understanding and future-oriented hope.
By Dillon St. Bernard
Founder, Team DSB
The not-so-secret way to engage young people in conversations about history, culture or civic life is to co-create. This means providing opportunities to not just listen to young people, but rather share the platform. Share the mic. Share the byline. Share decision-making power.
However, getting to a point of thoughtful co-creation does take:
The post Collective Wisdom: Breaking down generational barriers appeared first on American Press Institute.
Many of the democratic socialist’s policies aim to slash carbon emissions and boost environmental justice
As she canvassed for Zohran Mamdani in New York City on Tuesday last week, Batul Hassan should have been elated. The mayoral candidate – a 33-year-old state assemblymember – was surging in the polls and would within hours soundly defeat Andrew Cuomo on first preference votes in the Democratic primary election.
But Hassan’s spirits were hampered by record-breaking temperatures. In Crown Heights, where she was the Mamdani campaign’s field captain, the heat index soared into the triple digits.
Continue reading...Europe’s leasing companies have made little to no meaningful climate commitments, despite their growing influence and key role in decarbonising the automotive sector. Across Europe, leasing has become the main way of accessing new cars. The sector already accounts for over 50% of new registrations, a figure expected to rise ... [continued]
The post Leasing: New Automotive Giants Lack A Credible Climate Strategy appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Swedish truck and bus manufacturer Scania has quietly but steadily grown its presence and influence across Australia, especially through its focus on sustainable transport, advanced vehicle technology, and a commitment to road safety. In a press statement, the company announced developments that showcase a multi-faceted approach to the Australian market, ... [continued]
The post Scania Adds Electric Trucks & Buses to South Australian Fleet appeared first on CleanTechnica.
As I just reported, NIO’s June sales were up strongly year over year. The whole Chinese EV market has been going up and up and up, but NIO’s sales are up more. That said … XPENG has shot through the roof and is on the way to the moon. XPENG’s ... [continued]
The post XPENG Sales Soar 242%! appeared first on CleanTechnica.
NIO’s sales continue to rise, not astronomically, but actually quite solidly and strongly. The company’s sales — all fully electric vehicles of course — were up 17.5% in June compared to June 2024. Across the whole quarter, sales were up 25.6%. In June, the company had 24,925 vehicle deliveries. In ... [continued]
The post NIO Sales Up 26% Year Over Year appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Republicans in the Senate have done what everyone (er … almost everyone) could have predicted. They have passed a huge budget bill that will blow up the US deficit by providing massive tax cuts to billionaires and massive corporations while cutting policies that actually support the US economy and create ... [continued]
The post Big Horrible Budget Bill Still Going To Kill Countless American Jobs appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Judging from the upsurge in activity among EV charging stakeholders, loss of the EV tax credit will be an unfortunate but temporary setback for the vehicle electrification movement in the US.
The post EV Charging, Coming Soon To A Parking Lot Near You appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Tesla is facing stronger headwinds today because of the antics of Elon Musk and his feud with the failed president.
The post Tesla Is Circling The Drain, Thanks To Stupid Elon Tricks appeared first on CleanTechnica.
EL PASO—U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to build a 1.3-mile border barrier on Mount Cristo Rey, an iconic mountain rising above the Rio Grande and the neighboring cities of Juárez and El Paso.
Ford, a name synonymous with American muscle and rugged off-roaders, has made a bold entrance into the e-bike world with two purpose-built models: the Mustang and the Bronco. Manufactured and distributed by N Plus North America Corp. under license, and staying true to their automotive roots, these e-bikes combine performance, ... [continued]
The post Pedal Like A Pony: Meet Ford’s Mustang & Bronco E-Bikes appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Inside Climate News has won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists for its investigation into a little-known arbitration system that has allowed multinational corporations to win billion-dollar claims against developing nations.
BOSTON — In a strategic collaboration to accelerate the adoption of residential solar energy, EnergySage, the nation’s leading home electrification marketplace for clean energy solutions, announced its partnership with Third Act, a grassroots climate and democracy organization mobilizing older Americans as volunteers and activists, founded by environmentalist Bill McKibben. The ... [continued]
The post EnergySage & Third Act Launch Partnership to Empower Households with Rooftop Solar appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Robotaxis may be the future, and they are already here now in some places, but there are still issues to resolve. I’ve seen two quite notable problems pop up in recent days with the two most prominent self-driving brands in the US. Tesla Drives Down A Train Track First of ... [continued]
The post Tesla FSD Drives Down Train Track, Waymo Gets Stuck In Intersection appeared first on CleanTechnica.
A Cadillac Escalade IQ was driven more than 600 miles on a single charge in real-world driving (not on a test track). It was driven at 60 mph to achieve such a huge range. Driven at 70 mph, it still achieved 482 miles. Not all drivers drive at 70 mph ... [continued]
The post Cadillac Escalade IQ Gets More Than 600 Miles On A Single Charge appeared first on CleanTechnica.
The national climate assessments help state and local governments prepare for the impacts of a warming world
Legally mandated US national climate assessments seem to have disappeared from the federal websites built to display them, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their back yards from a warming world.
Scientists said the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives. Websites for the national assessments and the US Global Change Research Program were down Monday and Tuesday with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere. The White House, which was responsible for the assessments, said the information will be housed within Nasa to comply with the law, but gave no further details.
Continue reading...The small island nation of Tuvalu is being swallowed by the sea.
If you’re gearing up for summer camping, van life, or just want a smarter way to prep for short blackouts, BLUETTI may have just launched one of its most practical products to date. The new Elite 100 V2 builds on the success of the popular AC180 Solar Generator (with over ... [continued]
The post BLUETTI Shrinks Its Signature 1kWh Portable Power Station to New Elite 100 V2 appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Vietnamese automotive manufacturer VinFast commenced operations at its new electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in the Vũng Áng Economic Zone, Hà Tĩnh Province. The facility is the second EV plant, located about 430 kilometers (~267 miles) from its main factory in Hai Phong. Constructed in under seven months, it is ... [continued]
The post VinFast Inaugurates 2nd EV Plant In Vietnam appeared first on CleanTechnica.
With net zero targets under attack from the populist right, dangerously high temperatures should refocus minds
At times like now, with dangerously high temperatures in several European countries, the urgent need for adaptation to an increasingly unstable climate is clearer than ever. From the French government’s decision to close schools to the bans in most of Italy on outdoor work at the hottest time of day, the immediate priority is to protect people from extreme heat – and to recognise that a heatwave can take a higher toll than a violent storm.
People who are already vulnerable, due to age or illness or poor housing, face the greatest risks from heatwaves. As well as changes to rules and routines, public health warnings are vital, especially where records are being broken and people are unfamiliar with the conditions. In the scorching European summer of 2022, an estimated 68,000 people died due to heat. Health, welfare and emergency systems must respond to those needing help.
Continue reading...
The National Climate Assessment is the most influential source of information about climate change in the United States.
(Image credit: Ethan Swope)
Augwind Energy, based in Israel, will build the “world’s first commercial-scale AirBattery system” in Germany. The battery will use compressed air stored in salt caverns to generate electricity. The AirBattery system can store enough compressed air to generate gigawatt-hours of electricity. The air is compressed using excess renewable electricity and ... [continued]
The post AugWind Energy To Install First Commercial-Scale AirBattery In Germany appeared first on CleanTechnica.
This month’s open thread. Try to stick to climate topics.
The post Unforced variations: July 2025 first appeared on RealClimate.
Trump pulled the DOGE Card on Elon Musk in an early morning social media blast, after the Tesla CEO threatened to tank Trump's "Big, Beautiful" tax bill and start his own political party.
The post Best Cage Match Ever: Tesla CEO Elon Musk Vs. US President Donald Trump appeared first on CleanTechnica.
A guide for streamlining news tips with Airtable, Slack
Genevieve Smith is a 2025 RJI Student Innovation Fellow partnered with The Keene Sentinel. The RJI Student Fellows will be sharing their innovative work throughout the summer in Innovation in Focus.
For many community newspapers, news tips are one of the key ways they interact with their communities, so maintaining that relationship is crucial.
However, with story ideas coming at editors from every direction – email, phone call to a newsroom line, a personal visit to the newsroom, a Facebook message or simply word of mouth – it can be hard to keep up.
The Keene Sentinel, the independent, locally-owned newspaper covering New Hampshire’s Monadnock Region, wanted to create a workflow that allows staff to efficiently keep up with news tips. We aimed to build a workflow that ensured nothing fell through the cracks, while making it easy to continually engage with the community throughout the process.
The first step was to identify pain points in the current system for tracking news tips, which includes reporters and editors either emailing tips or sending them as a Slack message to the co-executive editor. The editor then adds them to a running Google Doc to keep track of them, and assigns them to reporters.
After meeting with the news editors, we made a list of what was not working, what was working well and what they thought could be improved. We also asked what their top priorities and goals were for this new system. The big takeaway was that we had to find a system that balanced being most efficient for our newsroom while still being intentional about engaging with our community and responding to people who submit news tips.
For efficiency, having a system that was centralized was key. Editors didn’t want to have to track down emails or Slack messages trying to remember a story idea, and they didn’t want to create another long Google Document that was going to get crowded with too many press releases. Editors also wanted to sort by priority of the tip and the beat that story fell under.
To intentionally engage with members of our community who submit news tips, we created a two-step process to follow up with people before and after a story is published – what we called “closing the loop.”
First, when a news tip is received and assigned to a reporter, the reporter follows up with the source to let them know that they received it and are working on the story. Then, after the story is published, the reporter reaches out to the source again to send them the link to the story and let them know we followed the tip.
If a tip is received and the editors decide not to pursue it, or if a reporter started working on it but for whatever reason had to drop it, the editor will reach back out to the source and let them know why it was not pursued.
Next, we needed to take these two things – newsroom efficiency and community follow-up – and turn it into a comprehensive system through Airtable.
First, we started by compiling a series of recents tips into a list on Airtable, breaking it up by different categories: the slug, news tip, event date, priority, publication status, reporter and editor. These were all the different ways editors wanted to track and sort news tips.
Building off of these categories, we created a separate view on Airtable that allowed editors to sort through the different news tips. The editors noted that the most important way they wanted to keep track of news tips was by priority. We created a view that organized stories by priority so editors can quickly see what the most pressing news tips are.
Editors also wanted news tips sorted by beats. Here at The Sentinel, each reporter covers their own beat, so it made sense to assign tips to a reporter for them to follow and track. This also indicates which reporter is responsible for reaching out to the source to confirm we received the tip and are looking into a story.
Finally, we created a view where editors can track which stories they are responsible for overseeing. This also indicates which editor is responsible for reaching out to the source if the story gets dropped or needs further communication from an editor.
For news tips that were related to a specific date, we created a calendar view so they can track submitted events or important dates. Not all news tips are events or linked to an important date, but the ones that are can be tracked on the calendar.
The second piece of this project was to combine this workflow with a way to continue to engage with community members after they have submitted a news tip. We didn’t want anyone saying, “I reached out to The Sentinel about covering this event, but you never covered it or got back to me.” We also wanted to create a workflow that had all of a source’s contact information in a centralized location so reporters and editors could easily track how to contact them and who was following up with them. The second half of the Airtable list had follow-up information.
This way, every news tip comes with some interaction from the reporter or editor, and we are able to listen to our audience and transparently tell them what we cover and why.
The source follow-ups were directly tied to the “publication status” view on Airtable, which let editors see which stories were being worked on, which were already published and which were dropped. At the end of the week, the editors can sort through these stories and remind reporters to confirm with the initial source that they received the tip if they have not done so yet. They can also see which stories are published or dropped and if the reporter has reached out to the source a second time. If the reporter has not, the editor can follow up with them and then delete the record from the Airtable, keeping track of which stories we “closed the loop” on.
While this centralized all of the news tips in Airtable, editors still wanted a way to keep updated when news tips were coming in, not just organize them. We created a news tip form on Airtable that reporters and editors can fill out when they receive a tip and it will automatically update the base. We opted for a form so it can be shared with other relevant staff members. For example, if someone walks into the office and pitches a story idea to someone in circulation, they don’t have to call the newsroom and ask an editor to come and talk to them — they can write the tip and contact information directly on the form, and it will be added to base.
When someone fills out the form, it automatically creates that submission as a new record on Airtable. Once the new record has been added to the base, an automated Slack notification sends the entire news tip to a separate Slack channel so reporters and editors can easily see what is being submitted without checking the Airtable.
To set it up, we followed this guide from Airtable. Going through Airtable, we clicked on the name of the workspace, then clicked on the three dots at the top right hand corner, then selected “Slack notifications.” Here we were able to select what it was notifying and where we wanted the notifications to go.
We created a new channel in Slack called “News Tips” which is where we wanted to send all the notifications. All of the news tips go to the “News Tips List” view on Airtable, so we set the automation up to send a notification every time there were changes to the view.
While the goal was to make this the only database that collected and tracked news tips, we knew this had to be a fluid system and there were going to be some instances where it was not used. For example, if someone calls to let us know there was a car crash downtown, you are not going to take the time to fill out an Airtable form – you are going to walk across the newsroom to tell your editor and start making calls. That is the nature of covering breaking news.
However, for longer term story ideas, this gives newsrooms an easy way to stay up-to-date with news tips while also prioritizing engagement with the people who are submitting news tips. This way, the time that it would have taken editors to sift through story ideas, they can now spend having conversations with people, sharing the stories that came from tips and “closing the loop.”
We are implementing this system in phases, starting with the editors before bringing it to the reporters and beyond. Given the newsroom has never used Airtable before this, we are planning on onboarding staff with an “Airtable training day” to get them accustomed to using it. Once the editors and reporters are comfortable with Airtable and using it to track news tips, the end goal is share the form with people outside of the newsroom so all news tips can come to the newsroom through the same place.
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Smith, Genevieve (2025, July 1). How a new workflow aims to strengthen community relationships through news tips. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/how-a-new-workflow-aims-to-strengthen-community-relationships-through-news-tips/
Forecasters say temperature logged in Frittenden is ‘very likely to be exceeded in the coming hours’
The UK’s hottest day of the year so far has been recorded with a temperature of 33.6C (92F) in Frittenden, Kent, the Met Office has said.
The temperature exceeded the previous highest temperature of the year, which was 33.2C in Charlwood, Surrey on 21 June.
Continue reading...‘Moving our money is not just symbolic; it’s a vital first step in challenging destructive financial systems,’ says ActionAid UK
Areas near the Victorian border could also be impacted today
Texas is awash in billions of gallons of produced water, the wastewater brought to the surface in oil and gas drilling and fracking.
Millions of people are in the path of the storm which is expected to dump over 100 mm rain in just hours