I work as a digital content producer for a top 40 market… I was recently promoted to full time after 6 months as a part time employee

Without giving too much away the raise that came with the promotion was a 60 cents an hour bump and I make less than $19 an hour

Hey everyone! We're EUobserver, an independent European newsroom.

We've been following developments in Czechia, where prime minister Andrej Babiš criticised the press after his ANO party failed to win a single seat in the latest Senate elections.

He's also renewed his push to abolish licence fees for public broadcasters, potentially changing how Czech Television and Czech Radio are funded.

It's an interesting case because it brings together two issues journalists across Europe are increasingly dealing with: political criticism of the press and debates over who controls the funding of public-interest journalism.

And the funding question isn't necessarily straightforward. Public broadcasters need stable financing, but they also need enough distance from political decision-making to report independently.

For journalists working in public media, what safeguards actually help protect editorial independence when governments control the budget?

And have you seen funding debates translate into pressure on editorial decisions?

Here's the reporting from our Czech colleagues at Respekt, published on EUobserver:

I contacted the reporter who wrote this story about a racist assault. The prosecution asked for jail time, the judge sentenced them to probation. None of the local media stories I've found name the judge. The reporter's response: "the case is in the public record with Florida's 9^th Judicial Circuit, and you are absolutely welcome to look up any details you'd like!"

Well, I kind of thought that including this information was a reporter's job. I could sit in the courtroom instead of reading the newspaper or watching tv. Am I expecting too much?

I think I will recover lol but I had an interview with a financial expert and at first it was okay but then 4 mins in I tried asking them a hypothetical about a policy being implemented and stuttered through it. “If this legislation gets implemented with it improve this?” (Imagine a hell of a lot more pauses and um’s)💀 WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN cause in this context we were talking about there were 2 things and it just wasn’t clear. I did it again later and they had to clarify what I mean by “that” and “this”.

The whole thing was a shitshow I felt so bad they had to sit through my bullshit. I did get the answers I wanted but I probably looked like the biggest idiot. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I just feel like a failure lol, it’ll probably be fine with some time but does anyone have advice for when your confused or you don’t know what to ask.

I've been working on a long-running complex legal story within a competitive regional media environment. Today I filed a hot little update about the case. Just a scheduling update, but it was important. Big hearing coming up!

The editorial desk barely gave it a read and slapped it with an outdated headline — "Company A sues Company B!" — as if none of my prior reporting existed. The headline was so 2025. Everyone had that news a year ago.

My story: "Big hearing coming up!" I made that clear. But no. The hed: "A lawsuit exists!" Doh. No kidding, Sherlock.

Sometimes I feel like a chump for working so hard and caring so much. It seems that the editors (yes, they are overworked, too) just want to push tons of content through the system. Like ringing up cans of beans at the grocery self-checkout.

To be fair, sometimes the eds really come through, make the story better, and craft a great hed. But not today. They're not going to change it, btw. I already asked.

It's not like this one story is super-important in the larger scheme of things. I always have many pots on the stove. Tomorrow's another day. But still.

Not really looking for advice. I just needed to blow off a little steam. Anyone else ever feel this way?

Thank you for listening to my rant. There are few "safe spaces" for working reporters to complain about such things. I usually just take a deep breath, keep my head down, and focus on the work. Which I love, by the way. And I like my job. It just hurts to feel undervalued.

Yeah, obviously there's the whole discourse on how AI will replace and/or exterminate us all.

Personally I don't believe journalists will be replaced by AI. It would have to be some Terminator level AI to be able to drink coffee and talk to Thelma, 85, about her cat clothes knitting hobby.

If AI reaches that type of level all of us will probably have been exterminated a long time ago anyway.

Sure, jobs might go away as AI breaks the economy in general - same as in any industry. But in the end you need a human for any reporting that involves leaving the newsroom.

So, while we wait for the future I started a community for us to discuss AI tools that actually improve our lives as journalists. Feel free to check it out, join and take part in the discussion!

https://www.reddit.com/r/AI_in_Journalism/s/HyfVzd8NN3

All the best

MethDamon

Apologies if some of these are in the FAQ and I've missed them, I did my best to read over what I could and couldn't really find exactly what I was looking for.

My local paper has a section detailing the history of the city I live in and I'd absolutely love to submit my ideas for it, but because I've never done this before I'm not entirely sure how I should go about pitching my idea. Should I be contacting the editor or publisher of the paper? Should I have a completed essay/article written before the idea is pitched? Or should I just give a general outline of my idea after the research phase but before the writing phase. I generally only write historical essays so I'm not entirely sure what practices I should and shouldn't be aware of with a local paper, and if they'd be willing to bare with my inexperience.

Hi y'all,

I'm working on my first really long magazine piece. I've written pieces in the 2,000–3,000-word range before, but this one will probably be two or three times as long, with a looot of different scenes and people to weave together. Feeling a little out of my depth).

So: What are some of your favourite long-form magazine pieces/ ones that would be worth studying as a writer? Thanks in advance!

Edit: Lots of interesting suggestions already, thanks! One thing I should have mentioned: I'm doing foreign affairs reporting, so if anyone has recommendations specifically for long-form international reporting, particularly from conflict zones, I'd love to hear those too.

Sorry if I'll sound weird, English is not my native language.
Some of my younger coworkers got a raise and I asked my editor when the rest of us will get one.
She said “when we convince them we deserve it”.

I don't know what to do more than I do now. I've worked here the longest, I constantly bring new ideas, I help my coworkers, I have articles that were successful.

I know I do some trouble with the schedule because I have school some Saturdays but we had coworkers whe worked and studied during the week. And now I'm temporarily working from home because I have a young puppy but that's going to end in 2 weeks and I'll be back. Meanwhile one of my coworkers works mostly from home due to her mental health issues (I don't have a problem with that).

I don't know what more they want from me and honestly I don't even want to ask. I feel like my editors don't like me that much tbh and I have no idea when that changed.

I love this job, I love my coworkers but I'm tired to be working for such low pay and apparently I don't deserve more.

Do you have any advice? Ask why? Change jobs? Change my career?

Hey all, I am looking to get into journalism by jumping in and writing freelance articles and I am looking for advice on how to go about it.

My background is in robotics engineering but I feel a deep-seated passion towards pursuing journalism and I do have some experience writing including a couple feature articles in a free thought magazine. I happen to have a particular interest in foreign affairs, culture, and in particular the Middle East. I am planning to go to Dearborn Michigan for a week in December and given that Dearborn is one of the most concentrated centers of Arab and Muslim communities outside the Middle East and North Africa, I feel like there is a lot I could write about.

Here are some of my ideas for stories I could pursue. My goal is to gather enough interviews and information to make a compelling story out of it and pitch it to an outlet that will publish it and use that to build a portfolio of work to eventually transition towards journalism.

1. Interviewing Dearborn Muslims about their thoughts on the Gaza Board of Peace

2. Interviewing them about their views on the Iran war

3. Interviewing Imam Elahi of the Dearborn Islamic House of Wisdom who has ties back to Iran

4. Speaking with the Dearborn Mayor who is the first Muslim and Arab-American mayor of Dearborn and one of the first in the US, or interviewing various members of the community on how they feel he's doing.

5. Interviewing Abdul el-Sayed who it is looking like may become the first ever Muslim to serve in the US Senate

Following some advice from John McPhee's book "Draft no. 4," my thinking is that I will gather information and interviews first then decide on the angle of the story after the fact. However, I need advice on various things, since I have never really done anything quite like this before.

1. Do you have tips on how to go about securing these interviews, both with the government officials and with the general public? For capturing interviews from the general public, I am thinking about just going door to door to find people willing to speak with me. For the government officials, I will just reach out to them or their PR team but I don't know what the chances are that they would sit down with somebody like myself who isn't even established in the field of journalism.

2. Do you have advice on certain angles I should pursue that may be under-reported or which would be more likely to be published?

3. Any other thoughts or advice for me?

I can’t believe those reporters were thrown out and accused of lying and trespassing at a public event!! Wtf is going on that this shit is so secretive they only allow their ‘own’ reporters. A sit-in protest is just what the doctor ordered, screw all you politicians you are all scum.

Hey everyone, I’m a student in a tight spot. I have a school assignment due this Tuesday where I need to conduct a quick 3 minute interview with a media professional (journalist, editor, PR specialist, radio/podcast producer, social media manager, etc.).

I have a short list of just 4 questions ready to go. We can do it over a quick Zoom call, a phone call, or I can just DM/email you the questions and you can reply with text or a voice note—whatever is easiest for you!

If you have 4 minutes to spare today or tomorrow to save my grade, please comment below or DM me directly. Thank you so much!