For the Record

"The Whole Newsroom":

The entire staff of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has been laid off following its sale by Advance Publications to John and Dathel Georges, owners of the rival Advocate of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. (The Advocate received the 2019 Local Reporting Prize for its coverage of a discriminatory non-unanimous jury law, presaging its eventual repeal.) Advance Local CEO Randy Siegel told the New York Post that the sale "was a one-off [...] We’re all terribly sad about the outcome." Advocate Publisher Dan Shea has pledged to rehire staffers "but could not say how many."

"A Born Storyteller":

Novelist and poet Chuck Kinder died Friday of heart failure in Miami. He was 76. A longtime faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, Kinder was a close friend of two-time Fiction finalist Raymond Carver and inspired Grady Triff, the reluctant protagonist of 2001 Fiction winner Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys." Kinder also completed a Stegner Fellowship under the 1972 Fiction winner at Stanford University. "He gathered together people who loved words and storytelling and by his very nature, weeded out the pretentious and those of self-importance," said former student Carl Kurlander.

"Zero Tolerance":

Seattle Times reporter Mike Rosenberg deactivated his Twitter account Sunday after Brooklyn journalist Talia Jane posted a screenshot of a sexually explicit direct message that Rosenberg allegedly sent her. "The Seattle Times has been made aware of allegations of sexual harassment earlier today against a newsroom employee," said Seattle Times President/CFO Alan Fisco. "We take these kinds of allegations very seriously and have suspended the employee pending an investigation by our human resources group."

"The Tricky Part":

According to The Verge's Casey Newton, Facebook moderators who monitor the platform for extremist material are hindered by low wages, restrictive nondisclosure agreements and inurement to the content that they patrol, often leading to post-traumatic stress disorder or newfound belief in various conspiracy theories.

"Stark Divide":

Although national institutions like the Knight Foundation remain a key source of funding for local nonprofit journalism, according to The Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia-based Lenfest Institute for Journalism has succeeded in raising "more than $20 million more from other donors by positioning news as a civic need." "There is no reason why other communities can’t follow suit," said Jim Friedlich, the foundation's CEO.  

New in New Orleans:

New Orleans Advocate owners John and Dathel Georges have purchased The Times-Picayune and its nola.com website from Advance Local, which is owned by Advance Local Media. The Advocate will publish a seven-day newspaper in New Orleans using the brands and features of both publications. The new paper will debut in June. The two papers’ websites will be merged under the nola.com brand as well.

Breaking even:

Guardian News and Media has announced revenue growth of 3%, enough to break even, in part due to financial contributions from readers. Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner said: "We are now in a sustainable position, and better able to deliver on our purpose by producing outstanding journalism that understands and illuminates our times.”

Turmoil:

The funders of The Markup (including Craig Newmark and the Ford, MacArthur and Knight Foundations) issued a joint statement Wednesday pledging to "reassess their support" of the developing news organization following the ouster of then-Editor-in-Chief Julia Angwin. "I want this team and I want this mission, and I want to build this," the 2003 Explanatory Reporting contributor told CNN's Brian Stelter. "I don't quite know the mechanics of how this works, but I can tell you my vision is exactly the same."

Resurgence:

According to a new Axios Harris poll, Microsoft now has the ninth-highest public reputation among the 100 most visible U.S. companies, second among technology firms to Amazon (No. 2) and far ahead of such competitors as Apple (No. 32), Google (No. 41) and Facebook (No. 94). In recent years, the once-beleagured company has developed a "systematic course to developing AI principles for product development" and "added resources to the company's HR operation after complaints of sexual harassment went public." However, according to Ina Freid of Axios, "Microsoft is often at the forefront of the technology and the discussion in an area, but slow to capitalize on a trend," best exemplified by its inability to successfully market tablets after Butler Lampson and Chuck Thacker (who developed the Xerox Alto in 1973) designed prototypes for Microsoft Research.

"Fresh Insights":

The Religion News Foundation, Religion News Service, the Associated Press and The Conversation announced the launch of "a global religion journalism initiative" Wednesday. According to a joint press release, the initiative will include "the creation of a joint global religion news desk aimed at providing balanced, nuanced coverage of major world religions, with an emphasis on explaining religious practices and principles behind current events and cultural movements."