By Jim Pumarlo, Consultant

Elections are over, and you breathe a sigh of relief. The exhaustive campaign season has concluded, and newsrooms can return to some level of normalcy.

Not so fast. The most substantive aspect of election coverage may loom. Your pages have been filled with campaign promises detailed in stories, letters to the editor and ads. The next logical step: Are the winners keeping their promises?

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant
Election Day is fast approaching. Newsrooms are likely starting the countdown when they take a collective breath from the exhaustive campaign season and return to some level of normalcy. 

Campaigns are in full swing as Election Day nears. Editors should pay extra attention to letters that give a thumbs up or thumbs down to candidates and other ballot initiatives.

Letter-writing campaigns have become as sophisticated and strategic as advertising campaigns. An unfortunate result is that many newspapers now charge for election-related letters. I appreciate the arguments for enacting the policy. It’s still disappointing, and I respectfully disagree.

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant

Maintaining your status as the premier clearinghouse for community news is a constant challenge in today's fractured media landscape.

Diminished resources are a fact of life in most newsrooms. Social media has spawned a proliferation of de facto news sites. And there are the inevitable instances when regional and statewide media outlets swoop into your towns for the big headline.

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant

Hardly a year passes without legal requirements for public notices coming under assault. It’s happening this year in the Minnesota Legislature, where the Minnesota School Boards Association is seeking authority for school districts to remove public notices from newspapers.

The initiative comes on the heels of Alden Global Capital shutting down eight community newspapers. The proposal not only attacks the essence of open government, it also significantly decreases citizen access to vital information. 

Attention newsrooms: It’s time to get serious about 2024 elections coverage. I hear the collective groan. The reaction is likely shaded by the strident national contests and their seemingly never-ending campaign cycles.

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant

Editors are routinely challenged with making uncomfortable news decisions. To be certain, there is no universal right or wrong call on whether to publish a story and in how much detail. Several factors may be in play, including community norms and longstanding newspaper policy.

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant

DOJ report on response to Uvalde shooting scathing

The U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report late last week on the May 24, 2022, mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant

A reader complains that a youth sports story was too negative. Someone questions why a particular quote wasn’t included in a report of a contentious public hearing. Your newsroom brainstorms how election coverage can be more substantive and meaningful. A reporter is rightfully embarrassed for basically writing a press verbatim that charges a local official with unethical conduct without contacting the accused for a response.

By Jim Pumarlo, consultant

A divorce is finalized, but it is not recorded in the newspaper until four months later.
Someone appears in court for a domestic assault, but the sentence isn't reported until weeks after the fact.

The subjects naturally raise two questions: What constitutes these items as news? Why is there such a delay in the report?

These instances, and many more, occurred during my tenure as editor of the Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle. Other editors can likely relate.