Ren LaForme

Saint Petersburg

Managing editor for @Poynter. From a little town called Gasport but one of those proud Buffalonians. Perpetually sorry that I never replied to your email.

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Articles

What do ‘Serial’ and Barbara Walters have in common? What we’ve learned so far from The Poynter 50

2 weeks ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme |TyLisa Johnson |Rick Edmonds

By Ren LaForme, managing editor Ten down, 40 to go. When we launched The Poynter 50 — our yearlong project highlighting people and moments that changed journalism over the past half century — we knew it would be ambitious. But we also knew this industry is full of big swings, quiet revolutions and stories that age in fascinating ways. So far, we’ve covered groundbreaking tech shifts (Mercury Center), seismic scoops (Matt Drudge, TMZ), and a teenage bystander who changed history with a phone.
Journalism is facing its crisis moment with AI. It might not be a bad thing.

3 weeks ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme |Rick Edmonds |Amaris Castillo |Angela Fu

Good morning, everyone. Tom Jones is off today, but the team at Poynter is keeping tabs on the latest media news and analysis. Here’s what you need to know. After decades of navigating technological upheavals, the battered and resilient news industry is realizing it’s time to raise its gloves once more — this time against an insurgent troupe of artificial intelligence companies.
What’s the recipe for a good TV debate? Jen Psaki has some thoughts

3 weeks ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme

Picture a TV news debate. Is it filled with angry, performative shouting, or do the participants seem like they’re actually getting somewhere? Chances are, it’s the former — but it doesn’t have to be. Jen Psaki shares on the latest episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast” that TV debates work best when there’s space for real disagreement without devolving into loud, scripted arguments.
Here are the winners of the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes

1 month ago | lucianne.com | Ren LaForme

Original ArticlePosted By: Dreadnought, 5/5/2025 3:57:30 PMThe 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced Monday afternoon from Columbia University in New York. Widely regarded as the top honor in U.S. journalism, the Pulitzers recognize outstanding reporting, commentary and storytelling.
Here are the winners of the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes

1 month ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme

The 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced Monday afternoon from Columbia University in New York. Widely regarded as the top honor in U.S. journalism, the Pulitzers recognize outstanding reporting, commentary and storytelling.
President Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos break up then make up

1 month ago | poynter.org | Tom Jones |Ren LaForme

Is the honeymoon over for President Donald Trump and Amazon (and Washington Post) owner Jeff Bezos? Or have they patched things up over one big misunderstanding? The relationship between Bezos and Trump has been one of convenience. Bezos cozied up to Trump well before November’s election. He even stopped his newspaper’s editorial board from endorsing Kamala Harris for president. Bezos quickly congratulated Trump for his election victory and Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Fact-checkers are out. The internet gets to vote on the truth now.

1 month ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme |Tom Jones |Angela Fu

By Ren LaForme, managing editor Once upon a time — back in the hazy days of 2016 — platforms like Facebook and Twitter looked inward and spotted a problem. Their systems were infected with a wicked, fast-spreading virus. It was time to do something about it. The problem? Mis- and disinformation. Election hoaxes. Distortions of basic science. Wild claims like the one that a pizza place in Washington, D.C., was secretly hosting a child sex trafficking ring.
What The Houston Landing’s closure says about the state of nonprofit news

1 month ago | poynter.org | Angela Fu |TyLisa Johnson |Amaris Castillo |Ren LaForme

By Angela Fu, media business reporter On Tuesday, the for-profit Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, reported it would convert to a nonprofit. Hours later, the nonprofit Houston Landing had its own announcement: It would shut down after less than two years of operation. The diverging announcements reiterated a central truth in the news business — nonprofit status is not a silver bullet.
Kids are consuming news — but not often through news apps, study finds - Poynter

1 month ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme

While many young people turn to trusted outlets like CNN or The Associated Press during major news events, they don’t regularly use news apps, a new study found. Only about one in nine 11- to 13-year-olds said they regularly get their news this way, according to the Life in Media Survey led by Dr. Justin Martin at the University of South Florida. Speaking on “The Poynter Report Podcast,” Martin said he found the number “not that bad” for the age group.
Max Frankel on how news became the oxygen of our liberty

2 months ago | poynter.org | Ren LaForme

Max Frankel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent who rose to become executive editor of The New York Times, died last week at 94. He wrote the following essay as the foreword to “September 11, 2001,” a collection of 150 front pages from newspapers around the world, published by Poynter in November 2001. His words about the power of news feel just as urgent today. By Max Frankel Here lies a souvenir of horror, a blazing obituary of American innocence.