Staffers departing the outlet today will receive a minimum of 13 weeks pay and medical coverage through May.

“The only way to combat a pink slime site pretending to cover a town is to have a humanoid reporter at every town hall meeting. Every weirdly attractive synthetic local news anchor needs to be joined by a new badly dressed local reporter. The only way to defeat a bad guy with a chatbot is with a good gal with a notebook.”

“Gaza’s journalists should not be left to cover this war alone. In a conflict where information has been weaponized, where every claim is met with a dizzying counter claim and misinformation is thriving, international journalists can add an invaluable perspective.”

“The country singers purchased Field & Stream magazine and will relaunch the outdoorsy brand as a print magazine, website, and apparel company alongside plans for a live music festival. Subscribers to the new Field & Stream 1871 Club can choose from three tiers ranging from $15 to $95 annually that each provide online access to new stories about hunting, fishing, and the outdoors, and the F&S archives.”

“The laws have banned measures at public universities such as the posting of diversity statements, the creation of DEI offices, hiring DEI staff, requirements for diversity training, and identity-based hiring preferences, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which has been tracking the bills. Legislatures in more than 20 states have considered similar bills. While the bills do not directly target public media, many stations are licensed to public universities. In states where anti-DEI laws have passed, stations licensed to public universities must comply with the legislation.”

“Fact checkers face post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by ongoing exposure to violent and graphic imagery; some are mourning colleagues and relatives who have been killed. The emotional burden presses hard on Baker Mohammad Abdulhaq, a journalist and fact checker in Nablus, a Palestinian city in the West Bank less than 50 miles from Jerusalem. Eight years ago, he founded a fact-checking initiative called Tahaqaq Observatory, which translates to ‘verification.’ Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 25, he and his team of nine fact checkers published an average of nearly two reports a day — nearly four times their September rate.”

“Though I’ve come to depend on my GPT, it’s the only one I use. It’s not fully integrated into my workflow either, because GPTs live in the ChatGPT Plus tab on my browser instead of inside a program like Google Docs. And honestly, if I wasn’t already paying for ChatGPT Plus, I’d be happy to keep Googling alternative terms. I don’t think I’ll be giving up ‘What’s Another Word For’ any time soon, but unless another hot GPT idea strikes me, I’m still not sure what they’re good for — at least in my job.”

“BuzzFeed, whose stock has lost more than 97% of its value since the company went public in 2021, is looking to sell its food sites, Tasty and First We Feast, according to people familiar with the situation. Meanwhile, Fortress Investment Group, which took over Vice in bankruptcy last year, is in talks to sell its Refinery29 women’s lifestyle-focused site, other people said.”

“It would represent the first walkout at Forbes in its 106-year history. The Forbes editorial union is protesting what it believes are management’s attempts to union-bust and slow-walk contract negotiations.”

“[Mahmoud] Ismail says he would like to pursue a career in journalism, but fears being stripped of the sound and aura that stems from his Lebanese background. He added while Asian-Australians, Muslims and other non-white Australians are appearing on mainstream social media platforms and TV, there is still a ‘white-washed’ sound. ‘Why are we trying to diversify media but not letting them be themselves?’ he says.”

“The first thing to remember in talking to your own newsroom is that it is full of professional skeptics. So, where obfuscation is rarely an effective communications technique with anyone, it’s especially unwise when talking to reporters and editors. They will smell it, and either pounce (if they think they can) or just trust you less.”

“Journalists at the digital nonprofit newsroom announced their union last week, they and have sought voluntary recognition of their union from their management, despite management’s failure to meet a Jan. 18 deadline to recognize them.” (See also: The Texas Tribune has also moved to unionize.)

“Newsroom workers at The Daily News Union, which formed in 2021, are in negotiations for their first contract. The union called a one-day work stoppage to protest staffing cuts, as well as a new policy that requires workers to get advance approval for overtime….In 2021, its parent company, Tribune Publishing, was purchased by Alden Global Capital, an investment firm that has bought up hundreds of newspapers across the country, acquiring a reputation along the way for making deep cuts to newsrooms.”