Illumination Blog

Innovation, traction and other good news in the news space

The Week of May 6, 2025

Access Now. UPDATE: World Press Freedom Day

Highlighting some of the most persistent threats to journalism: the ongoing rise of spyware, persistent attacks on encryption, increased disinformation, and a spate of new laws to enacting to silencing of journalists. - acb

AP. Nicaragua is quitting the UNESCO agency over a press freedom award to La Prensa.

A jury of media professionals recommended Nicaragua’s La Prensa for the 2025 award. The newspaper, founded in 1926, “has made courageous efforts to report the truth to the people of Nicaragua.” - acb

The Week of March 24, 2025

E&P. Journalism funding surge: Philanthropic spigots open to fix news biz

Funding pools in the hundreds of millions of dollars are supporting both for-profit and nonprofit journalism in America. - gjw

Reddit. Zoltan Cserei launches pay-per-story news distributor Vernus

Aims to bring simple business model to journalism: journalist publishes content, Vernus sells it by the piece, writer gets 90%, Vernus takes 10%. - gjw

The Week of March 17, 2025

Newsjunkie. Andrew Checchia interviews technologist and social critic Andrew J. Keen on the Press and American Democracy.

(Research for forthcoming series on the role of the press in the checks and balances of American government.) -gjw

Radio Free Europe. RFE/RL journalist Kuznechyk released after more than three years in Belarus prison

Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarus Service, was released from a Belarusian prison after being held for more than three years. He had been charged with hooliganism and creating an extremist organization. - gjw

AP. Italian journalist Sala freed from Iran prison, returns home(from Jan 2025) Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been released by Iran after three weeks in jail and returned home. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani greeted the 29-year-old as she flew to Rome on Wednesday (Jan 8) highlighting the political importance attached to her case. She had been charged with “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic.”- gjw

The Week of March 10, 2025

NiemanLab. New subscription service benefits journalists
A subscription platform for journalists to share their own original reporting with a paying audience in a scrolling, social-media-like format. Noosphere launched last week in the United States with 15 independent journalists on the platform, including Ferguson and her co-founder Sebastian Walker. - ab

Axios. Beehiiv launches multi-million dollar journalism fund
Journalists get a health stipend and access to insurance partners, pre-publication legal and professional liability insurance. - gjw

NiemanLab. Inside a network of AI-generated newsletters targeting “small town America”
Good Day Fort Collins is just one in a network of AI-generated newsletters operating in 355 cities and towns across the U.S. Not only do these hundreds of newsletters share the same exact seven testimonials, they also share the same branding, the same copy on their about pages, and the same stated mission: “to make local news more accessible and highlight extraordinary people in our community.” - ab

WNET. Public Television calls press integrity an essential ingredient of good citizenry
The PBS website describes ways in which a trustworthy press can help citizens distinguish between reliable reporting and disinformation campaigns. News organizations, as public opinion influencers, have especially compelling obligations to guide readers and viewers to the truth when so much information is now available to them. - dg

The Week of February 24, 2025

Freedom Forum. Where America Stands: report on First Amendment
Most Americans are concerned about the First Amendment in the 2024 election, with divided views on free speech, religion, misinformation, and campus protests. - jy
Freedom Forum. A celebration of student journalism
Programs like Scholastic Journalism Week and the Free Spirit Conference inspire and train future journalists. - jy
ABC News. Journalist, American among 3 prisoners freed from Belarus
Belarus released journalist Andrei Kuznechyk, an unnamed American citizen, and others in a prisoner release, with U.S. and Lithuanian support playing a role in the negotiations. - jy

The Week of February 11, 2025

CJR. In a Volatile Mix of AI and Labor Rights, Journalists at ABC Secure a Win

ABC News journalists approve a contract with protections against AI-related job losses and management transparency requirements. - jy

Idaho Capital Sun. Idaho Legislature introduces bill to protect confidential sources for journalists

A new bill introduced in the Idaho Legislature aims to establish a media shield law to protect journalists and their confidential sources from being compelled to disclose information in legal proceedings. - jy

JOE. A brilliant new journalism thriller movie is available to watch now

September 5 is a thriller about the ABC Sports crew covering the 1972 Munich hostage crisis, showcasing the rise of 24-hour news. - jy

The Week of February 4, 2025

International Women’s Media Foundation. Home page and resources

There are a variety of opportunities, fellowships, internships, employment programs, and the like on this site. - dg

MVJ. Home page and resources

A worldwide center that promotes research on press pluralism and evaluates rules and standards and provides knowledge resources for journalists. The center is funded by the European Union. - dg

ASJA. Member success stories

Author Susan Shapiro writes: “I revised my book to make it revolve more about the piece that Salon took, changed the subtitle, hired a ghost editor to help me vamp up the proposal, pitched editors myself. Though an editor at Skyhorse Publishing rejected the book, I saw that editor left. Since I’d worked with them before I emailed the ASJA wining piece and a few other excerpts to the editor-in-chief who I knew from last time, along with some great advance blurbs. He said yes — in a two-book deal.” - dg

iPolitics. One quarter of Canadian online traffic vulnerable to NSA sweeps

Canadians, beware! A great deal of internet traffic originating in Canada passes through the nosey technology and spies of the U.S. National Security Agency. Don’t say you weren’t warned - dg

FIRE. Home page and resources

Established in 1999 as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the organization is a watchdog for suppression of news. FIRE has become the nation’s leading defender of fundamental rights on college campuses through a mix of programming, including student and faculty outreach, public education campaigns, individual case advocacy, and policy reform efforts. After successfully giving it the ol’ college try, in 2022 FIRE announced an expansion initiative into off-campus free speech advocacy and legal defense. America’s leading defender of free speech, due process, and academic freedom in higher education is expanding its free speech mission beyond campus. The $75 million expansion initiative will focus on three main areas of programming: litigation, public education, and research. - dg

The Week of January 28, 2025

Editor & Publisher. MacArthur announces more than $6 million in support of climate journalism

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced January 28 it will award grants totaling $6 million to 15 journalism organizations to support initiatives in the field of climate journalism. The MacArthur Foundation has provided grants for the past decade to support local environmental journalism and newsroom collaborations, and the new grants to 15 journalism institutions will include reporting on clean-energy initiatives and growing economic opportunities in the field. - dg

19th. The 19th turns five: Half a decade of critical journalism and a bold vision for the future

The 19th celebrates its fifth anniversary with significant growth, including a national impact in journalism and $70 million raised to support its mission of empowering women and LGBTQ+ communities. To ensure long-term sustainability, the organization has launched a $20 million funding campaign, starting with a $2 million leadership gift establishing the Ronya Kozmetsky Legacy Fund for Representative Journalism. - jy