The Center for Community News at UVM annual benchmark study reveals significant growth in university-led reporting programs in 2025. Among the more than 200 news-academic programs across the country, 48 new ones have been initiated since the data was last collected in 2024.

“Colleges of every size are stepping up to help fill critical information gaps in their communities,” said CCN Director Richard Watts. “And their students are getting invaluable hands-on experience in the process.”

News-academic reporting programs have emerged as one viable solution to the crisis facing local news, and an opportunity for the next generation to engage with their communities. The Center for Community News at UVM is the only organization in the nation tracking the growth of this field and its potential to help reimagine a sustainable future for local journalism.

2025 was a big year for news-academic reporting programs. CCN found that public and Minority Serving Institutions are leading the pack. Other attributes of strong news-academic programs include the presence of experienced faculty-practitioners and statewide collaborations across colleges.

Here are a few key findings from the 2025 data:

• 172 colleges and universities in the U.S. have existing or emerging news-academic partnerships today.
• There are 227 total news-academic programs in existence or emerging (some schools now offer multiple programs).
• There are 48 emerging news-academic programs in 2025, a 27 percent increase over 2024.
• Minority Serving Institutions now run 40 news-academic reporting programs.
• 69 percent of news-academic reporting programs are at public institutions and 31 percent are at private institutions.

Learn more and read the full report

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has announced the 2025 Hall of Fame inductees and special honors recipients, recognizing influential figures who have made significant contributions to journalism. Among the honorees are two Boston-area journalism leaders: Callie Crossley and Gregory L. Moore.

Callie Crossley, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1988, is a member of the prestigious Academy of New England Journalists and a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award in 2019. She has made a lasting impact as a respected commentator, radio host, and advocate for media diversity. Her work on GBH and in broader journalism circles has elevated critical conversations about race, culture, and community.

Gregory L. Moore spent many years at The Boston Globe, rising through the ranks to become managing editor in 1994. During his tenure, he supervised coverage of major events such as the September 11 attacks and the Charles Stuart case. Moore’s leadership at the Globe set the stage for his subsequent role as editor of The Denver Post, where, during his tenure, The Denver Post won four Pulitzer Prizes.

Both will be honored during the #NABJ25 Convention & Career Fair in Cleveland, OH, Aug 6 – 10, 2025. The Hall of Fame Induction and Luncheon will be held on Friday, Aug. 8, at 12 PM EDT.

Read the full announcement from NABJ here to learn more about all of this year’s inductees and their remarkable careers.

Among this week’s Pulitzer Prize winners, the Local Reporting award, shared by the Baltimore Banner and the New York Times, showcased how data and collaboration fuel breakthrough journalism at scale. The broader collaboration behind this effort—documenting how the fentanyl crisis has disproportionately affected a generation of older Black men—included Stanford’s Big Local News and nine other news outlets across the country, from the Boston Globe to the San Francisco Standard. Each publication reported and ran stories that leveraged the same underlying data from the CDC, but with the proper context for each city.

The nature of this collaboration was one of the topics at last month’s Story Discovery at Scale convening at Stanford University, hosted by Big Local News. In its third year, the event brought together about 70 data journalists, product folks, academics and multi-hyphenates of local news. Over two days, they shared the latest best practices and worked on new ideas for tools, training and collaborative approaches to help newsrooms unlock stories, add context and increase output.

Read more

As the summer and fall months approach, it’s an ideal time for journalists to consider opportunities for professional development, networking, and industry insights. Conferences provide a valuable chance to connect with peers, exchange ideas, and sharpen your skills in an ever-evolving media landscape.

If you can’t get out to one of the live events, there are numerous free or low-cost webinars available year-round. NENPA curates a list of these at https://www.nenpa.com/calendar/. In addition, the NENPA University’s summer webinar series will be starting up soon, offering virtual training sessions designed to keep you up to date on the latest industry trends, tools, and strategies.

Whether you’re a conference veteran or a first-time attendee, this is the season to engage with colleagues, discover best practices, and gain fresh perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing journalism today. From large industry gatherings to specialized events focused on investigative reporting, digital transformation, and community journalism, there are numerous options to consider.

Poynter has curated a growing list of journalism conferences happening throughout 2025, including both in-person and virtual options. If you know of one they’ve missed, be sure to let them know. Check out the full list here to start planning your professional development for the year ahead.

Healthy communities stand on a foundation of trust. Trust springs from knowing your neighbors and their concerns, knowing that officials and institutions are honest and reliable, and knowing there are forums where your voice can be heard. Trustworthy information is vital in emergencies. Trustworthy journalism is essential when change comes so fast it’s hard to keep up.

For decades, New Hampshire Public Radio and New Hampshire PBS have earned Granite Staters’ trust by delivering independent journalism, emergency services, and educational and public affairs programming. Always for free. Always in the public interest. Filling gaps that commercial media cannot address.

Now, though, these bedrock New Hampshire institutions are at grave risk.

The White House wants to eliminate federal support for public media. Congress will vote soon on a proposal to slash millions from NHPR and NHPBS’ budgets. About six percent of NHPR’s annual budget and 18 percent of NHPBS’ is at risk. This funding sustains our statewide emergency alert system, local watchdog reporting, and shows like Morning Edition, PBS News Hour, Granite State Challenge, and Civics 101. 

These cuts would deliver a devastating blow to public media nationwide and to local news, information, and educational services that hundreds of thousands of New Hampshirites rely on. And while NHPR and NHPBS are hardly the only institutions facing steep reductions, we are the ones that keep Granite Staters informed about the scope of change and its effects on you.

Now is the time to speak up for public media. Talk to your friends and family about the value public media brings to your life and your community. Raise your voice by contacting your representatives in Washington. Go to ProtectMyPublicMedia.org to find easy links.

A free press is essential to a healthy democracy. Together we can keep New Hampshire strong.

By: Jim Schachter, New Hampshire Public Radio President & CEO, and Peter Frid, New Hampshire PBS President & CEO

The Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications is offering an array of courses this May, with topics including First Amendment and right to know freedoms, personal writing, Canva basics, misinformation and AI, and a PR bootcamp, designed to boost skills for a broad audience

Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited.

Free Wednesday Classes

This Spring, the Loeb School presents a series of free, in-person classes on Wednesday evenings at no cost.

The Power of Personal Writing
Four Wednesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28 | 5:30-7 p.m.| Free

Writing for yourself is a way to preserve memories and history, work through decisions, honor your life, hang onto sanity, and build a personal archive to use in your poetry, fiction, and memoir. In this series, new and veteran writers alike will explore ways to expand, keeping variations on the journal and creating a fulfilling practice of personal writing. Instructor Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett is a Manchester-based teacher, a longtime journalist, and the author of a book on the civil rights movement.

Canva Basics
Four Wednesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28 | 5:30-7 p.m. | Free

Unlock the potential of your Canva creativity in this immersive class, regardless of your skill level. Learn graphic design tips, tricks, and hacks, including creating a Brand Kit, utilizing Canva AI, understanding templates, grasping graphic design principles, and leveraging Canva to support your brand. Instructor Victoria Carrington Chavez is a brand strategist and graphic designer from Concord, NH, known for her innovative approaches to digital marketing and community building. 

Single Session Classes

First Amendment Law: Defamation and Privacy
Wednesday, May 14 |5:30-7 p.m. | Free

This class will explore the laws, federal and state, governing libel, slander and wrongful invasion of privacy. Students will learn about the right to enjoy a good reputation, the elements of a valid defamation claim, the four defenses to such a claim and the four types of wrongful invasion of privacy. Attorney Gregory V. Sullivan, President of the New England First Amendment Coalition, will guide students through this vital area of law, drawing on his extensive experience in media law and right-to-know cases.

The Right to Know in New Hampshire
Wednesday, May 21 | 5:30-7 p.m. | Free

In this class, students will learn about the constitutional and statutory rights of the citizenry to know what their government is up to. The class will examine New Hampshire’s Right to Know statute, RSA 91-A, including what records are required to be disclosed and the exemptions. In recent years, cases decided by the NH Supreme Court have strengthened and expanded the ability of citizens to obtain records of governmental misconduct. The significance of those decisions and the ongoing legal battles to further transparency will be explored. This class is led by Katy Sullivan, an attorney at Malloy & Sullivan, LPC who has been representing employers and employees and briefing and arguing First Amendment Cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court for more than 20 years.

PRO SERIES

For those looking to deepen their professional skills, the Loeb School offers the following PRO SERIES workshops, providing in-depth training at an affordable price.

In Person, $59

PR Bootcamp, sponsored by the Yankee Chapter of PRSA
Four Wednesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28 | 5:30-7 p.m. | $59

This seminar is intended for communications professionals at any level. It provides an overview of various aspects of public relations, best practices in internal and external communication, crisis communication, and media relationship-building, as well as strategic thinking to drive behavior change. Participants will learn from both the instructor and fellow attendees in this interactive series. The series is taught by Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA is senior counsel and partner at Jackson Jackson & Wagner, a behavioral public relations and management consulting firm based in the Seacoast.

ONLINE SERIES 

This online series allow participations from New Hampshire and across the U.S.

Misinformation, Artificial Intelligence, and the Media, sponsored by AARP NH 
Four Thursdays: May 8, 15, 22, 29 | 5:30 – 7 p.m. | FREE

This online course covers the state of misinformation, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the role both play in shaping the media landscape. Students will learn the multifaceted ways in which AI technologies are impacting the dissemination, consumption, and detection of misinformation within various media platforms. Using examples taken from today’s news and social media platforms, and through hands-on AI creation, students will learn strategies to enhance media literacy, gain a baseline understanding of generative AI, and explore potential ethical implications tied to the implementation of AI-powered solutions. Your instructor is David Humphreys, Director of AI Integration at Southern New Hampshire University.

For more information and to register for Spring classes, visit loebschool.org/register. Pre-registration is required for all classes and space is limited.

The Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and its in-person classes are located inside the NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. 

The Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, Inc. promotes and defends the First Amendment and fosters interest, integrity and excellence in journalism and other forms of communication by educating students of various backgrounds and providing them with the tools and knowledge to improve their skill. Learn more about the School at loebschool.org.

The Online News Association is offering two opportunities specifically for freelancers to learn ways to leverage AI tools to streamline the reporting process. Add them to your calendar:

• Led by Mike Reilley, the 60-minute AI for Freelancers Training on May 14 will cover AI basics and how tools can help you be more efficient with story pitches and pitch letters, manage your workflow, brainstorm story ideas, write FOIA requests, do research and more. We’ll also go over how to write prompts, discuss checking freelance contracts for AI use limits and disclosing any AI use in reporting your story to your editors. Participants get a handout with links to all the tools and some practice exercises.
• Then, join us again for the AI Mini-Lab for Freelancers on June 4 for a low-stakes, 45-minute hands-on workshop, where we’ll work with the tools from the previous training to brainstorm ideas, write pitch letter outlines, FOIA requests and more. Participants get a handout with links to all the tools and some practice exercises.

Registration is free for both sessions, thanks to generous support from AI in Journalism Initiative funders Microsoft, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation and The Joyce Foundation.