Minnesota Journalism Center News | Hubbard School of Journalism

News, updates and resources from the Minnesota Journalism Center

Two people in gas masks and bulletproof Press vests

News / Thu, 04/30/2026 - 2:29pm

Hubbard students report from the front lines, proving campus journalism’s real-world impact

Editor & Publisher goes deep on the incredible work being done at the Hubbard School and the MN Daily to prepare students covering difficult and dangerous events.

News / Thu, 04/30/2026 - 2:18pm

As threats to the press grow, student journalists are rewriting the rules

The Student Press Report highlights campus journalists at the MN Daily and elsewhere responding to changing media norms.

News / Mon, 03/23/2026 - 9:56am

Hubbard School announces Tom Gjelten Prize for Outstanding Journalism

The award, open to all CLA majors at the University of Minnesota, recognizes exceptional promise, purpose and professionalism in the pursuit of journalism.

News / Mon, 03/09/2026 - 1:51pm

WTIP: Minnesota Journalism Center aims to help reporters connect to resources and community in difficult times

Martin: “I’ve been really impressed with the way that people in the journalism community here ... [are] looking out for each other, thinking about how to stay well and stay connected."

Matthew Watkins interviews Texas state representatives on stage at the Texas Tribune's annual festival

News / Sun, 02/08/2026 - 2:57pm

MJC Report: Challenges and opportunities around reaching and engaging with news audiences through public events

The Minnesota Journalism Center conducted a study in partnership with The Texas Tribune and the Alliance for Trust in Media surveying and interviewing past attendees of public events hosted by the news organization. Findings suggest that public events may boost engagement with existing audiences but reaching others may require focusing on expanding partnerships and attending to specific community needs.

The MJC's Regina McCombs and colleagues pivot their teaching to train journalism students to safely meet the moment

News / Tue, 02/03/2026 - 10:22pm

McCombs: "I would much rather have them be prepared, given the climate"

The MJC's Regina McCombs and colleagues pivot their teaching to train journalism students to safely meet the moment

News / Sat, 01/31/2026 - 1:08pm

MJC research team: Tracking statements from local, state and national organizations supporting press freedom in Minnesota

Statements of support for press freedom began pouring in from colleagues across the industry after two independent journalists were arrested. The MJC research team is tracking them.

News / Fri, 01/30/2026 - 9:14pm

Local, state and national organizations respond to Minnesota journalist's arrest

A coalition of organizations from across the state — and beyond — issued a joint statement in support of independent journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon — and press freedom more broadly

News / Fri, 01/30/2026 - 3:17pm

Minnesota Journalism, Silha Centers Join a Coalition of Newsrooms, Professional Journalism and Support Organizations Condemning the Arrests of Journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon

This statement reflects the research expertise of the Minnesota Journalism and Silha Centers on the rights and professional responsibilities of journalists, and is not a position of the University of Minnesota.

A view down a street with the city of Minneapolis in the background and thousands of people gathering for a vigil for Renee Good in the foreground

News / Sun, 01/25/2026 - 12:13am

Staying safe, staying well: Save these checklists to use on your next assignment

Safety and resilience tools to use before, during and after an assignment

News / Thu, 01/15/2026 - 8:38am

Minnesota journalists: Hotlines to call for immediate support

As you cover rising tensions and uncertainty in the Twin Cities and across Minnesota, save these hotlines, hosted by our training and support partners, for immediate support.

News / Sun, 01/11/2026 - 10:13pm

Strib Voices: When lines blur between influencers, deepfakes and actual news

MJC director Benjamin Toff shares his research on trust in news with Star Tribune contributing columnist Haley Taylor Schlitz

A chemical irritant canister remains at the scene where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot a man while trying to apprehend him on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in north Minneapolis, Minn. Protests erupted after the shooting and federal agents deployed chemical irritants. Credit: Ellen Schmidt/MinnPost/CatchLight Local/Report for America

News / Thu, 01/08/2026 - 10:18pm

Safety, legal and resilience resources for journalists covering the federal surge in Minnesota

Some tools for staying safe, from our partners

Ben Toff NiemanLab journalism predictions 2026

News / Tue, 12/30/2025 - 10:02pm

Toff: “It turns out that even news lovers have limits”

In his Nieman Lab prediction for journalism in 2026, MJC director Benjamin Toff predicts that news organizations will rethink the news experience

Valérie Bélair-Gagnon's Nieman Lab 2026 prediction

News / Mon, 12/29/2025 - 10:08pm

Bélair-Gagnon: "In 2026, the most pressing question will not be 'What is true?' but 'Why is this story resonating right now and for whom?'"

In her Nieman Lab prediction for journalism in 2026, MJC faculty affiliate Valérie Bélair-Gagnon tackles journalism's attitude toward misinformation

News / Mon, 12/01/2025 - 2:42pm

Joint Silha Center, Minnesota Journalism Center and Hubbard School Director Statements on the Recent Injuries to Photojournalists in Saint Paul

The Hubbard School educates the public on the rights and responsibilities of journalists to safely report on stories that affect the community.

Screenshot from News Photographer magazine's website highlighting Regina McCombs' article on AI in photojournalism

News / Mon, 10/13/2025 - 1:10pm

McCombs: Necessary proof — photojournalism's challenge in the age of AI

The MJC's Regina McCombs explores emerging challenges with AI in visual journalism, where she writes that the need for content provenance is driving development of new standards and technology

MJC director Ben Toff kicks off the symposium

News / Wed, 10/01/2025 - 2:20pm

Final Minnesota Poll symposium focuses on the future of state and local opinion research

The event was the third in a series of symposia exploring the past, present and future of public opinion research, through the 80 years of the Minnesota Poll

Screenshot of The Guardian page with a story that quotes Ben Toff

News / Mon, 09/08/2025 - 10:50am

The Guardian | Why more and more people are tuning the news out: ‘Now I don’t have that anxiety’

The MJC's Ben Toff speaks to The Guardian about his research into news avoidance. There's a big difference, he says, between regularly withdrawing from the news and putting boundaries around one's news consumption. “We live in a world in which you can access news 24/7 and be inundated with information at all times. But that doesn’t mean you should,” he told reporter Josie Harvey. But, he added: “The more you disengage, disconnect from the news, the harder it becomes to try to make sense of what’s happening on any given story."

Screenshot of the Peace News Network homepage featuring Meagan Doll's story

News / Mon, 09/08/2025 - 10:40am

Doll: What does peace journalism mean to peace journalists in East Africa?

MJC researcher Meagan Doll explores the role of journalism in peace-building for the Peace News Network.

News / Tue, 09/02/2025 - 5:09pm

Toff: Building a shared vocabulary for local news ecosystem research with the Local News Impact Consortium

The Local News Impact Consortium is a journalism support organization that seeks to bolster the growing research community dedicated to studying the health of local information ecosystems. As Press Forward and other initiatives have sought to mobilize the philanthropic community around reinvigorating local news, we see a parallel need for coordination among this fragmented community of scholars, practitioners, and consultants conducting ecosystem research often so critical to the success of these endeavors.

A pink sign sign with the words 'stop gun violence!' is stapled to a phone pole in New Orleans

News / Wed, 08/27/2025 - 5:02pm

Take care of each other: Resources for Minnesota journalists covering the Annunciation school and church shooting

Experiences with gun violence, especially those involving children, take their toll on a community and have a particular impact on its newsrooms and journalists. No matter the role a journalist plays in coverage like this — front-line reporting, editing, production, design, layout, newsroom support, ops and beyond — they are exposed to trauma that can have a lasting impact.

News / Wed, 08/27/2025 - 4:03pm

Trauma-informed journalism: What it is, why it’s important and tips for practicing it

A guide from The Journalist's Resource

Smiling person in hat & glasses at the mic for radio station KAXE.

News / Wed, 08/20/2025 - 3:12pm

Report for Minnesota intern looks back on a summer at KAXE

University of Minnesota rising senior Dani Fraher was an intern at the northern Minnesota radio station in the summer of 2025 through Report for Minnesota and the Minnesota Journalism Center.

A series of questions set the stage for participants in the MJC's second symposium marking the Minnesota Poll's 80th anniversary

News / Mon, 08/11/2025 - 10:49pm

Minnesota Poll symposium focuses on role of journalism in covering public opinion

The Minnesota Journalism Center's second installment of the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Workshop: Eighty Years of the Minnesota Poll brought together leading public opinion and journalism scholars and working journalists to tackle questions of representation and the role of journalism in surfacing and interpreting what the public thinks.

News / Thu, 07/31/2025 - 4:30pm

New MJC research: How AI disclosures in news help — and also hurt — trust with audiences

Researchers from the Minnesota Journalism Center and Trusting News found that news consumers bring their preexisting feelings about AI to the ways they view its use in journalism.

WTIP radio station in Grand Marais is one of more than a dozen Minnesota radio and television organizations whose federal funding was lost in last week's recission package vote. The station lays claim to being the oldest community radio station on Lake Superior's North Shore. | Photo by Tony Webster via Flickr

News / Wed, 07/23/2025 - 10:00am

Congress cut funding for public media. Here's how Minnesota stations are responding

Across the state, public media plays an important role in providing access to local news and information, which has been steadily disappearing.

The Minnesota State Capitol is illuminated at night during the end of the Legislature's June special session in the early hours of Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Photo by Peter Cox for the Minnesota Journalism Center

News / Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:30pm

Take care: Resources for Minn. journalists covering political violence at home

A compilation of tipsheets and best practices from MJC partners

News / Mon, 06/09/2025 - 8:04am

Webinar replay: How to access open records – and how to fight back when you're denied

This webinar replay, which could be required watching for all journalists working in Minnesota, will walk you through ways to identify the records you might need for a story, what to do to get them, how to negotiate costs and what to do when your requests are denied.

A photo of three women on a bridge, with text superimposed "How local news orgs are reaching younger audiences and how you can, too"

News / Wed, 04/30/2025 - 2:00pm

Webinar replay: How local news orgs are reaching younger audiences — and how you can, too

In this replay, you'll hear from Kaila White, who leads MPR News' youth-focused Reverb team and the Texas Tribune's audience producer, Laura Duclos, and director of audience growth and engagement, Matt Adams.

News / Thu, 04/24/2025 - 2:00pm

Report: As newsrooms look to innovate with AI, Americans remain skeptical and distrusting

The Minnesota Journalism Center and The Poynter Institute collected new survey data and found that a majority of Americans want newsrooms to disclose their use of AI and develop ethical guidelines before they integrate these technologies into their workflows.

Diptych of a stack of newspapers to the left and UMN Professor Ben Toff to the right

News / Tue, 04/15/2025 - 2:46pm

Toff: Talking local journalism with the University of Minnesota

MJC director featured on UMN-Twin Cities site

A sign for the Poynter summit on a window to a conference room

News / Wed, 04/09/2025 - 5:00am

Americans remain skeptical of AI in their news diet, MJC/Poynter study finds

The sweeping study shows that there's not yet a high demand for AI-powered tools that some newsrooms are building. It was led by Minnesota Journalism Center director Benjamin Toff in partnership with The Poynter Institute's ethics center, and presented last week at the Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism in New York.

News / Thu, 03/27/2025 - 2:00pm

Report for Minnesota's Legislature team talks journalism, politics and the power of seeing government up close

Three Hubbard journalism students are spending the spring semester at the Minnesota State Capitol, reporting for news outlets throughout Minnesota.

Journalists from nonprofit and community-supported news organizations gathered for the inaugural meeting of the JAM cohort in February.

News / Fri, 03/14/2025 - 12:07pm

MJC launches nonprofit and member-supported news community

We plan to meet monthly — in person every other month, at sites across the state, and virtually on the opposite months — and will focus each of our meetups on training, issues, conversations and topics driven by the community.

Hackathon teams work in the Hubbard School's Murphy hall on the second day of the Minnesota Journalism Center's AI + Journalism hackathon on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. Hannah Reynolds / HSJMC

News / Fri, 02/14/2025 - 7:00am

Designing the future of local news: UMN graduate students win Minn. Journalism Center hackathon

The competition brought Minnesota data science and journalism communities together to harness cutting-edge technologies for making local civic information more accessible to more Minnesotans.

News / Thu, 02/13/2025 - 10:54am

Minn. journalists invited to mentor Hubbard students at NICAR conference

We're inviting Minnesota journalists to serve as conference mentors for Hubbard School journalism students -- a role that comes with an honorarium to help cover conference expenses.

News / Fri, 01/03/2025 - 5:00pm

Minnesota Journalism Center to host AI + Local News Hackathon weekend

Minnesota journalists, programmers and community members will work together to build new civic tools. Join us!

News / Tue, 10/22/2024 - 9:30am

Why millions of Americans avoid the news – and what it means for the US election

Ben Toff was interviewed by Reuters Institute

News / Mon, 09/30/2024 - 3:59pm

REPLAY: Minnesota's local news landscape is quietly growing, but it's not immune from industry pressures

New research from the Minnesota Journalism Center finds that for every two news organizations that have closed in Minnesota since 2018, a new news organization has launched. Many Minnesota journalists' experience on the ground reflects those numbers.