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Each year the James and John Knight Foundation hosts funders and grant recipients in Miami for a forum on the state of journalism. This year was the largest yet, with over 600 journalists, funders and community foundations at the event. The Knight Foundation has spent the last 25 years trying to rebuild and strengthen news. BenitoLink, which attends the event, was created in 2012 with start-up funds from the Knight Foundation and with the help of the Community Foundation for San Benito County.
The backdrop of LA Times firing 115 employees in January, and stark numbers like the loss of 2.5 newspapers a week in 2023 (Northwestern Medill) seemed to influence the tone. Attendees met the new CEO, learned about the personal price whistleblowers pay for their honesty and heard about “authentic personalities” as a way to counter AI[artificial intelligence].
The event recognized new leadership with the welcoming of Maribel Pérez Wadsworth as President and CEO. In her speech, Pérez Wadsworth explained that her family moved to the US from Cuba in 1961 and began her career in the Associated Press’s Miami bureau.
Wadsworth said, “I spent many years working as a reporter and editor in local Gannett newsrooms — starting as the agricultural beat reporter at the Register Star in Rockford, Illinois — before taking on senior business roles in innovation, strategy, and transformation. Just over a year ago, I stepped down as president of Gannett Media and publisher of USA Today.”
Wadsworth reminded both legacy and small, local newsrooms that total dependence on foundations like Knight will not keep newsrooms afloat and that it will require flexibility and innovation. When asked directly why philanthropy can’t be the primary means of survival for journalism, she said it will likely always be a player but her best recommendation was having several income sources to handle a state of rapid change.
Although Wadsworth said investigative and hard-hitting reporting is needed and must continue, she reminded the audience that communities need optimism and to be reminded of the culture, creativity and beauty around us. Reporting needs to be positive too, she said.
A very unique group was made up of three high profile whistleblowers: Mark MacGann, Anika Collier Navaroli and Wendell Potter. Introducing the segment, Jim Brady with the Knight Foundation told the audience that reporters who break big stories get awards and speaking engagements but behind those stories are real people who have risked their careers and sometimes their lives to tell the truth. The segment revealed the agony they went through wrestling with their conscience and ultimately deciding to expose important information for public benefit.
Mark MacGann was a top executive with Uber and reported what he felt were “deeply unfair and antidemocratic tactics.” He lost connection with co-workers and has had trouble finding work. He said he wished he had planned more for little or no income.
Navaroli was the most senior member of Twitter’s US Safety Policy team and warned her bosses of the potential of riots on the capitol. She was ignored and eventually spoke out about it. Navaroli spoke of losing friends and the disruption of even family relationships.
Potter, author of “Deadly Spin” was a health care spokesman for Cigna and “believing his own PR for many years.” He told the audience that he “was paid well to mislead people and obscure important information.” On a trip to his hometown, a poor part of the country, he realized he “was part of the problem.” Potter said that gradually, as several years have passed, he has found his footing and is continuing to write and help with healthcare issues. (Healthcare Uncovered)
In a segment called Disruptors in Communication, host Alejandro de Onis told the crowd, “About a third of Americans under 40 now get their news from TikTok.” The conversation was about how news organizations will retain or rebuild trust with their audience. On stage were a few examples of highly trusted individuals using social media to provide news or fact-based information.
This segment focused on influencers who use the internet to build a personal following and communicate directly with their readers or viewers. Jessica Yellin, a former White House correspondent shared her take on news via social media. Another guest was Edison Garcia, also known on the social media’s TikTok as “Senor Edison”.
He started when he was 17 years old and in high school. Garcia told the audience about how he uses the internet to tell people about Latino culture and history. He does short video segments that explain things like how Brazil got its name or historic events in Latin countries.
Knight host, de Onis talked about Ai and wondered if performers like Garcia will be needed to build trust with audiences and that newsrooms may need to learn more about using such a direct audience approach.
As the event came to a close, Journalism education was brought up and Wadsworth encouraged collaborating and exploring new ways of telling stories. She said that college programs need not be the only way for journalism skills to be developed. She stressed that despite the creative ways news and information can be passed, journalism ethics must continue to be central to the profession. Throughout the event, Wadsworth was encouraging but insistent upon a businesslike approach to rebuilding journalism. “No one is coming to save us. We are the protectors of the local news and information that will safeguard our democracy,” Wadsworth said.
Videos for all segments can be found here:
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