✍️ Journalism Jobs and News Update ✍️ — July 25
534 new journalism jobs; Twitter’s rebranding; ESPN’s strategic partner talks; the BBC's George Alagiah passes; OpenAI’s local journalism grant; India’s press freedom
Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom. In today’s newsletter we added a whopping 534 new journalism jobs to the job board, and have another section dedicated to the latest happenings in the world of media.
Today’s topics include Twitter’s rebranding; ESPN’s partnership talks with the NBA, NFL and MLB; the passing of the BBC’s George Alagiah; OpenAI’s local journalism grant; India’s press freedom; and how to cover the climate crisis for business journalists.
Before we get to that, be sure to check out our featured jobs at Highway 29 below, as well as some quick housekeeping…
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That’s all from me today, see you again next week!
✍️ Job Corner ✍️
🚨 Featured Postings 🚨
Highway 29 Media
Bilingual Reporter (English-Spanish)
Location: Napa Valley, CA
Salary: $60,000-$65,000
Requirements: Excellent verbal and written Spanish and English language skills; 1-2 years’ experience writing news and features stories; Ability to interview a wide range of sources and conduct research; Process information and write in a fair, accurate and compelling manner; Photography and web skills are a plus; Ability to handle daily, short-term and long-term assignments simultaneously.
Deadline: Rolling
Location: Napa Valley, CA
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an accredited institution; Experience with software including ad management systems, web publishing tools, QuickBooks and other business and production tools is a plus; 5-7 years of experience in business management and newspapers or digital
publications.
Deadline: Rolling
Preview of New Roles ✍️
The below listings are just a sample of the many roles we list at the biggest names in journalism. Other categories include Audience, Audio, Broadcast, Data/Viz, Design, Editing, Photo, Product, Reporting, Social Media, Strategy and Video.
Twitter Rebrands As X
We start with Elon Musk’s continued accelerated overhaul of Twitter by changing its name and logo to X, as part of his plans to create an “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat. Musk’s decision to scrap a brand of more than 15 years and a place in the world’s lexicon is risky, but it might turn out to be a savvy business move. According to Yanhui Zhao, a professor of marketing at the University of Nebraska Omaha, more than half of the 215 publicly listed companies he reviewed actually saw positive returns after they rebranded.
ESPN In Talks With NBA, MLB, NFL
In a fight to secure its long-term future, ESPN is in talks with the NBA, NFL and MLB about taking a stake in the network. In an interview with CNBC, Disney (who owns 80% of ESPN) CEO Bob Iger said he is looking for a league partner to offset the costs of licensing live sports as the network moves more toward streaming. Any potential partnership will face significant challenges. First, there are serious conflicts of interest, which may also irritate other broadcasters such as Amazon and Apple, who have paid billions in media rights deals. Then there is the question of whether a league such as the NBA, who already generates billions in media rights revenue, needs ESPN as a partner. That said, the NFL is currently also looking for a partner to take a stake in its own media properties.
BBC Newsreader Passes Away
Some sad news now as longtime BBC journalist and newsreader George Alagiah has died at the age 67, nine years after being diagnosed with cancer. Alagiah was one of the UK’s most respected and recognized faces for more than 30 years, and covered some of the world’s most important events including the famine and the U.S. intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s, genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath, and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1999. His 2001 book, A Passage to Africa, details his childhood moving from Sri Lanka to Ghana at the age of six, and then to the UK at 11.
OpenAI Local News
The company behind ChatGPT is committing $5 million (£3.9m) over two years to the American Journalism Project to help support local news through artificial intelligence. Microsoft-backed OpenAI will also give the AJP up to $5 million in API credits to access its innovative technologies. AJP CEO Sarabeth Berman said “With this partnership, we aim to promote ways for AI to enhance — rather than imperil — journalism.” OpenAI has already struck a two-year deal with the Associated Press to license its journalism in order to train its algorithms.
India Media Fight
We turn our attention to India next, whose independent media are under serious attack. Last November, NDTV (New Delhi Television Ltd) — one of the country’s last bastions of free press — underwent a hostile takeover by billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the richest people in the world and who has close ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since Modi became PM in 2014, press freedom has trended in the wrong direction, and the country now sits among the likes of Russia, Belarus and Venezuela, according to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.
Business Journalists Covering Climate Change
We finish with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s five key questions for business journalists navigating sustainability coverage. Financial journalists have traditionally focused on company earnings, economic reports, and central bank policies, but as the climate crisis worsens and more companies try to avoid disruption, the nature of financial journalism is changing. Among the key questions are whether to follow the money of the emissions, is the focus on now or the future, and whether to be a bystander or changemaker?