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3 weeks ago | 
editorandpublisher.com | Susan Benkelman
In Pueblo, Colo., a hemp-mâché horse named Lucky stands proudly in the city’s Heritage Museum. He has survived flood and fire — literally. In 1921, a deadly flood from rising waters of the Arkansas River devastated Pueblo, killing hundreds of people and causing damage that would take years to repair. The deluge also took Lucky, who was serving as a model in a saddle shop.
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3 weeks ago | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
(Photo courtesy of the Pueblo County HistoricalSociety and Heritage Museum) In Pueblo, Colo., a hemp-mâché horse named Lucky stands proudly in the city’s Heritage Museum. He has survived flood and fire — literally. In 1921, a deadly flood from rising waters of the Arkansas River devastated Pueblo, killing hundreds of people and causing damage that would take years to repair. The deluge also took Lucky, who was serving as a model in a saddle shop.
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Sep 23, 2024 | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
What is a Critical Conversation? | Printable discussion guideNews organizations spend so much time planning for and covering elections that the work to be done afterward can almost come as a rude awakening: What — we have to keep going? Some newsrooms face the added pressure of having to think about ways to “capture the bump” — the rise in engagement that sometimes occurs in campaign season.
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Aug 11, 2024 | 
editorandpublisher.com | Susan Benkelman
Posted Monday, August 12, 2024 12:30 pm News organizations often use blueprints from previous years to plot out their election coverage plans. But while past coverage can help guide your planning, it is important not to make it the default.
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Aug 11, 2024 | 
editorandpublisher.com | Susan Benkelman
Posted Monday, August 12, 2024 9:19 am When describing a politician or political group in stories, it’s easy to reach for labels — conservative, liberal, moderate, progressive, etc.
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Aug 9, 2024 | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
What is a Critical Conversation? | Printable discussion guideNews organizations often use blueprints from previous years to plot out their election coverage plans. But while past coverage can help guide your planning, it is important not to make it the default. The electorate in your coverage area may have changed. New issues have emerged since the last big election. What worked then may not work this time around.
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Aug 6, 2024 | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
What is a Critical Conversation? | Printable discussion guideWhen describing a politician or political group in stories, it’s easy to reach for labels — conservative, liberal, moderate, progressive, etc. They can be a quick way to identify where someone falls on the political spectrum. But these labels can be problematic when they generalize or oversimplify, e.g., “conservatives say X…” or “liberals want Z…”Some editors discourage them.
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Jun 26, 2024 | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
What is a Critical Conversation? | Printable discussion guideDespite all the planning for it, Election Day is one of those news events that can catch newsrooms off guard. That is because planning is often designed around getting the results and reporting them, as opposed to unforeseen problems at the polls. There are, however, ways to best position yourself to handle things you don’t anticipate. Who’s in this conversation?
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May 29, 2024 | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
What is a Critical Conversation? | Printable discussion guidePublic opinion polls — both those conducted for your own news organization and those done for others — can be challenging to cover. There are the tricky mechanics of the polls, which need to be accurately explained, and there is the larger question of where polls fit in your overall coverage.
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May 29, 2024 | 
americanpressinstitute.org | Susan Benkelman
What is a Critical Conversation? | Printable discussion guideMisinformation often pops up unexpectedly. Sometimes that’s the whole point — it’s designed to quickly hijack people’s minds. In election season, partisans can spread falsehoods about candidates, their positions on the issues or things they supposedly said. Sometimes real quotes are taken out of context, then spread on social media.
