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Journalism

The shutdown’s many angles 

Localizing the shutdown

News planning for a potential federal government shutdown is a tricky calculation. Congress so often comes to the brink of a funding lapse, and then strikes a deal at the last minute, that it feels like you’re devoting precious resources — and asking audiences to pay attention — to something that might not happen.

This time, however, it’s real. Here are three ways to think about this coverage and some examples to consider.

The nuts and bolts of operations: This is essential service journalism, but people need to know what’s open and what’s closing, whether they will get their government checks, or whether they should travel to a national park. Local news organizations can localize national stories like this one from CBS. An example of this comes from CalMatters.

The impact on the community: The Washington Post provides a good example in a piece Tuesday about how a shutdown would affect seniors’ access to telehealth appointments. In Boston, MassLive explores the impact on food programs. In areas with large concentrations of federal employees, furloughs could impact the local economy. And this time, their jobs could be on the line longer term, as President Trump has threatened, according to USA Today.

The politics: To hold local officials accountable, it’s important to get your local delegation on the record — why they took the positions they did and how they’re helping people who have lost access to federal services, for example. Yet it’s important not to make assumptions about how the politics of a shutdown will play out over time. As The Washington Post’s Paul Kane writes, the “winners and losers” aren’t always predictable.

“The party Washington expects to be punished for shutting down the government can end up triumphant in the next election,” he writes.

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> A new policy on access at the Pentagon has journalists and the Trump administration at odds

Pentagon reporters have been told by the Trump administration that they must sign a letter acknowledging new rules limiting access to most areas of the building as a condition for keeping their press badge, writes David Bauder. Journalists and their advocates, he writes, are “alarmed” by the controls.

>> On trial for journalism in Kentucky (CJR)

Two journalists from the alt-weekly Cincinnati CityBeat are set to go on trial in Kenton County, Ky., two months after they were arrested while covering a protest over the detention of an Egyptian immigrant. Liam Scott explains why the case is so troubling to free press advocates.

       + ICE agents assault amNewYork reporter at Federal Plaza immigration court; another journalist seriously injured after shove (amNY)

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Culture & Inclusion

>> 5 major Sunday-morning news show hosts on making history (Washingtonian)

Dana Bash, Shannon Bream, Margaret Brennan, Martha Raddatz and Kristen Welker — all Sunday morning news show hosts — answer questions from Amy Moeller about their jobs and challenges, including advice to other women coming up in the field.

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> News companies can partner, learn, and thrive in the influencer age (INMA)

As with many media conferences these days, the topic of creators was unavoidable at INMA’s Media Innovation Week in Dublin. Earl J. Wilkinson, INMA’s executive director and CEO, says the voices of two creators stood out. The upshot, he writes, is that publishers must “learn, adapt, and partner — or risk sliding into irrelevance.”

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Revenue & Resilience

>> “Hello, world!” The New York Times hopes to take the success of The Morning global with a new newsletter (Nieman Lab)

The New York Times is launching The World, a new newsletter on international news, following the success of The Morning, its AM offering. Sarah Scire spoke with Jodi Rudoren, editorial director of newsletters at The Times, who said the new product is “much more responsive to the sense of overwhelm that a lot of people are feeling.”

What else you need to know

⚖️ Judge reinstates over 500 Voice of America journalists and staff (The New York Times)

🤝 THE CITY appoints Carroll Bogert as CEO of award-winning NYC news nonprofit (THE CITY)

🧭 Adam Ganucheau named executive editor and chief content officer of Deep South Today; Emily Wagster Pettus becomes editor-in-chief of Mississippi Today (Deep South Today)

🔏 Baltimore Sun Guild journalists face a gag order imposed by owner David Smith (Baltimore Brew)

The post The shutdown’s many angles  appeared first on American Press Institute.

Climate

Despite the Trump Administration’s Best Efforts to Suppress It, Climate Science Is Alive and Well Online

Hundreds of scientists worldwide are collaborating to combat misinformation by making accurate climate information widely available to the public.

By Bob Berwyn

Researchers across the United States and the world who raced to protect climate data, public reports and other information from the Trump administration’s budget cuts, firings and scrubbing of federal websites are launching their own climate information portals.

Climate

From Fleets to Apartments: Ensuring No EV Customer Is Left Behind

Four steps to streamline electric service connections for small EV customers. By Aradhana Gahlaut, Bryn Grunwald Global electric vehicle (EV) sales have grown rapidly over the past five years, increasing nearly 500 percent between 2020 and 2024. And in the United States, despite a slowdown due to changes in federal policy, EV ... [continued]

The post From Fleets to Apartments: Ensuring No EV Customer Is Left Behind appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate

Why Refrigerant Matters More Than You Think for AC (or Heat Pump) Efficiency

The overlooked role of refrigerants in HVAC performance, costs, and emissions By Lekhya Vennamaneni, Raghav Muralidharan, Ankit Kalanki Wherever you live, chances are you’re only a few feet away from a refrigerant-containing system — whether it’s a car, a building, a supermarket, or even a data center. Refrigerants are everywhere, working behind the ... [continued]

The post Why Refrigerant Matters More Than You Think for AC (or Heat Pump) Efficiency appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate

Competing Through Creativity & Resilience: How Regions Can Lead on Advanced Energy

Reflections from the International Economic Development Council Conference By Whitney Mann Creativity and efficiency are becoming the new operating models for economic and community development, defining which regions will lead in the next chapter of the energy transition.  This was made clear earlier this month at the International Economic Development Council ... [continued]

The post Competing Through Creativity & Resilience: How Regions Can Lead on Advanced Energy appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate

Illinois Lawmakers Can Fight Rising Energy Costs During Veto Session

Energy prices are at record highs and will rise again in 2026. Legislators must pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act to prevent future increases. ILLINOIS – Illinois clean energy advocates are calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA) during ... [continued]

The post Illinois Lawmakers Can Fight Rising Energy Costs During Veto Session appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate

“Improve Rail Ticket Booking!” — EU Groups of Youth, Consumer, & Environmental Push for Change

Revisions to VAT (value added tax, or sales tax) for passenger transportation are coming up in Europe, and various organizations are pushing for changes that will make travel by rail more competitive. “The new Youth on Track coalition wants EU decision makers to seize upon the unique chance to boost ... [continued]

The post “Improve Rail Ticket Booking!” — EU Groups of Youth, Consumer, & Environmental Push for Change appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate

2035 Cars Law At EU Summit: Merz To Push For Hybrids Which Can Emit As Much As SUVs

German Chancellor will ask EU leaders for loophole to sell ‘extended range’ EVs, a technology that China already dominates. German Chancellor Friederich Merz has said he will use this Wednesday’s summit of EU leaders to campaign against the bloc’s 2035 phase-out of combustion engine car sales. But the “extended range” electric ... [continued]

The post 2035 Cars Law At EU Summit: Merz To Push For Hybrids Which Can Emit As Much As SUVs appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate

News Corp embraces fantasy genre by turning climate crisis into ‘laughable’ science fiction | Graham Readfearn

The National Climate Risk Assessment is attacked in the Daily Telegraph, while wind turbines became a frightening obstacle for firefighting planes and solar panels a source of mountains of landfill waste

On the front page of the Daily Telegraph, Australia’s first comprehensive assessment of the risks from climate change became “SCIENCE FICTION”.

In other leading stories, wind turbines became a frightening obstacle for firefighting planes and solar panels were a source of mountains of landfill waste.

Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter

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Climate

‘Don’t panic’ could be Albanese’s mantra but that doesn’t mean we aren’t concerned about life, the universe and everything | Peter Lewis

Despite a deep conviction planet Earth is heading in the wrong direction, voters are trusting Labor to navigate the wormholes

Our prime minister has navigated the world stage this past week as if being shepherded by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the fictional intergalactic wiki that predated the internet, bearing the reassuring aphorism: “Don’t panic.”

From setting mildly ambitious climate targets, to joining a belated coalition recognising the Palestinian state, to enduring the US president’s best impression of Vogon poetry at the UN, Anthony Albanese has proceeded with calculated sobriety.

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Uncategorized

The Mainstream Media Is Catastrophically Failing To Meet The Moment

Earlier today we wrote about Trump’s extraordinary admission that he was basing military deployment decisions on old Fox News footage and lies from his advisors. But there’s an even more damning story here: how that revelation almost never saw the light of day because of journalistic cowardice.

The smoking gun quote came from Trump’s phone interview with NBC’s Yamiche Alcindor:

“I spoke to the governor, she was very nice,” Trump said. “But I said, ‘Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening? My people tell me different.’ They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place…it looks like terrible.”

This is an absolutely nuclear quote.

But note that we linked to the local KGW affiliate report on it and not NBC’s.

And that’s because NBC didn’t even mention the quote at all in its own coverage. As Dan Froomkin highlighted in his article about all this, NBC ran two stories by Alcindor (with Alexandra Marquez) about her interview with Trump, neither of which mentioned that bombshell of a quote.

Instead, it was only because NBC apparently sent the full transcript to affiliates that Evan Watson at KGW picked it up and ran a story about it.

But that raises a ton of questions, including how could NBC and Alcindor not see this as a story? And what is wrong with the mainstream media that it basically skipped over this?

The quote is devastating. It reveals a president who is either completely detached from reality, easily manipulated by advisors feeding him false information, or being deliberately deceived by old Fox News footage (as we now know was happening). It raises fundamental questions about who is actually running the country and whether the person with access to nuclear codes can distinguish between television clips from five years ago and reality. As we detailed yesterday, this quote reveals everything about how Trump ended up threatening military action against an American city based on five-year-old Fox News b-roll.

NBC’s failure to see the story in this is journalistic malpractice of the highest order. When the President admits he can’t tell the difference between Fox News b-roll and reality, that’s not a throwaway line—it’s the story.

But it’s also part of a much larger pattern of media cowardice that’s actively damaging public trust in journalism. The problem isn’t just burying important quotes—it’s the widespread adoption of “view from nowhere” reporting that treats even the most basic facts as matters of debate.

Take this astounding example from a recent New York Times piece about Trump’s use of military force against boats in the Caribbean.

Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians not directly taking part in hostilities, even if they are believed to be smuggling drugs.

“Some legal experts?” Are you kidding me? Summarily executing civilians is a war crime under international law. This isn’t a matter of debate among competing schools of legal thought. There isn’t another camp of legal experts arguing that, actually, murdering civilians is totally fine. The Times is creating false balance where none exists, making it sound like there’s some reasonable disagreement about whether mass murder constitutes a crime.

Or consider this gem from CNN, fact-checking Trump’s claim that he reduced prescription drug prices by 1500%:

Trump has unveiled a number of moves aimed at cutting drug prices in recent months, but he has yet to move the needle on reducing costs – much less slashing them by 1,500%, which is mathematically impossible, experts say.

Experts say? You need experts to tell you that 1500% is more than 100%? This is elementary school math. A 100% reduction means something is free. A 1500% reduction would mean pharmaceutical companies are paying you a decent sum of money to take their pills. You don’t need to consult the National Academy of Sciences to determine this is bullshit—you need to remember fourth grade.

This kind of reporting is journalistic malpractice disguised as objectivity. When reporters feel compelled to add “experts say” to basic mathematical facts or treat war crimes as matters of legitimate debate, they’re not being neutral—they’re actively misleading their audience into believing basic facts are up for debate among “experts.”

The pattern is clear: mainstream media has become so terrified of appearing biased that they’ve abandoned their basic responsibility to clearly communicate truth to the public. They’d rather hide behind the false comfort of “some say” and “experts disagree” than plainly state obvious facts.

This isn’t objectivity—it’s cowardice. And it’s precisely why trust in media continues to crater.

There’s an old joke in the journalism field (with disputes over where it originated from) but the line is “if one person says it’s raining and another says it’s not, the journalist should look outside and report the truth” rather than suggesting whether or not it’s raining is a matter of dispute.

We’re seeing the opposite from the mainstream media these days.

When the President of the United States admits he can’t distinguish between television and reality, that’s not a “both sides” story, or a cute anecdote not worth mentioning. When someone claims to have reduced costs by 1500%, that’s not a matter requiring expert consultation—it’s a mathematical impossibility. When military officials discuss summarily executing civilians, that’s not a policy debate—it’s war crimes.

The public deserves better than this mealy-mouthed nonsense. They deserve reporters who can recognize when they’re witnessing something extraordinary and have the courage to say so clearly. They deserve news organizations that understand the difference between false balance and actual journalism.

Instead, we get reporters who bury the most important quotes of their own interviews and editors who think basic arithmetic requires expert verification. Is it any wonder people are losing faith in institutions that seem incapable of simply stating reality on its own terms?

The media keeps wondering why trust in journalism is at historic lows. Here’s a thought: maybe it’s because when the President reveals he’s making military decisions based on old Fox News footage and lies from his advisors, the reporter who got that admission decides it’s not worth mentioning. Or maybe it’s because the likes of CNN and the NY Times are so worried about angry people attacking them for calling bullshit on the President that they have to cower behind “experts say” on basic objective facts.

That’s not journalism. That’s stenography. And the American people can tell the difference, even when their media apparently cannot.

Climate

Touring BYD’s HQ and Realizing the Technology Arsenal It Has (Part 2)

This is my second article on the recent visit of a large but select group of journalists to BYD’s Shenzhen factory and headquarters, and to the Zhengzhou tech center in China. I saw and experienced BYD’s groundbreaking electric vehicle innovations first-hand at the company’s technology showcases and at the Zhengzhou ... [continued]

The post Touring BYD’s HQ and Realizing the Technology Arsenal It Has (Part 2) appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Journalism

Hell Gate saw a 69% increase in subscribers in its third year of covering New York City

New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary this summer — in which Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo — captured the nation’s attention, making for another busy year in New York City politics and news. But the race has proven lucrative for Hell Gate NYC, the three-year-old, worker-owned news outlet. Of Hell Gate’s three free newsletters, its most popular is a pop-up, Mayoral Spew, that covers the race and has more than 40,000 free subscribers.

In its third annual report, published Monday, Hell Gate reported a 66% increase in monthly subscription revenue and a 69% increase in subscribers over the previous year. The outlet currently brings in close to $70,000 per month from 9,000 subscribers — up from $42,000 at the end of September 2024 — and subscriptions make up two-thirds of its revenue. Hell Gate projects it will hit $1 million in annual subscription revenue by the middle of 2026 if its growth continues at this pace.

“We’re incredibly heartened by the ongoing subscriber growth,” the report’s authors write. “Somewhere out there is the ceiling for how many people want to read Hell Gate’s particular flavor of local New York City news. We keep waiting to bump our heads on it, and maybe one day, we will. But to our ongoing joy and astonishment, we haven’t hit it yet.

Subscription growth hasn’t been linear, though. Hell Gate, which launched in 2022, attributes some stagnation in recent months to a sale it ran in July that allowed new subscribers to pay just $0.99 for their first month (and get a free Hell Gate hat). Once the deal ended, new subscribers dipped out. “A possible lesson here is that maybe a discount can be so steep that it brings in people who don’t actually value our journalism,” the report says.

Hell Gate’s remaining third of revenue mostly came from philanthropy, with a bit from newsletter ads for local businesses like “an off-Broadway play, a cheeky dating app, and a cleaning service where workers are compensated fairly.”

Operating expenses have increased to $81,000 per month, up from $59,000 in 2024. Thanks to the growth in subscription revenue, Hell Gate raised its reporters’ salaries from $60,000 last year to $75,000. Two editors on staff each make $85,000.

The report also highlights Hell Gate’s aspirations for the next year. It plans to hire a third editor, experiment with livestream events as it did on primary night, and grow its podcast. It will continue to hold the city government accountable regardless of who’s in office, but “for the first time in Hell Gate’s existence, Eric Adams won’t be the mayor.”

“Our mandate remains unchanged: We will hold the mayor’s feet to the fire, ask him hard questions, and make merciless fun of him if he lies or tries to weasel out of commitments or does New Yorkers dirty. And if the city’s oligarchic potentates try to strangle the (very likely) Mamdani administration in its cradle, it will be our job to cover that too.”

Read the full report here.

Photo of men playing cricket under the Hell Gate Bridge in New York by Rob Zand used under a Creative Commons license.

Climate

US energy department cracks down on workers’ use of climate crisis language

Efficiency employees reportedly told to avoid ‘climate change’ and similar terms in their work in latest clampdown

The US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to avoid using the words “climate change” in what seems to be the latest incident in a crackdown on discussing the climate crisis in the US government.

“Please ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid – and continue to be conscientious about avoiding any terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration’s perspectives and priorities,” says an email from an agency acting director seen by the Guardian.

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