Jay Rosen

My hot take. Media companies learned they can't rely on the platforms to deliver an audience. That's why there's so much emphasis on newsletter subscribers. They restore a direct relationship with readers. Cuomo relied on the usual platforms. Mamdani had 50,000 volunteers.

Thanks to @jayrosen_nyu for introducing these very useful terms and concepts: "The view from nowhere” and the “savvy style” in political journalism both spread in this fashion, as did this mantra during the 2024 campaign: “Not the odds, but the stakes.” pressthink.org/2025/06/some-p…

As we say on the internet, "some personal news..." After 39 years on the job I am retiring as an NYU professor. In this essay I take a few moments to reflect on my academic career. Spoiler alert: I am not leaving the field, or the fight. pressthink.org

I did my doctoral dissertation (1986) on the idea of a public informed by the press. I'm not sure that idea survives this.

.@PhillyInquirer is a for-profit, owned by a nonprofit. Has ads, subscriptions & donations. Breaks even. And models how to cover local elections. 👇

I remember trying to talk about the crisis around the lack of trust in mainstream journalism at a panel last year and getting shrugged off. This is going the increasingly be a problem, no matter who wins today.

I agree with Dan.

In today's Times. nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/…

"With the 2024 presidential election a few weeks away, one question was top of mind for staff at The New York Times: Had the paper’s leadership noticed how many Democrats had become furious at it over its coverage of Donald Trump?" semafor.com/article/11/03/… What's striking to me…

The former public editor of the New York Times, @Sulliview, interviewed me about the six-word newsroom corrective I have been floating since 2022: "Not the odds, but the stakes." margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/a-media-crit…

Yep. This is what good faith critics and loyal readers are seeing and saying as we round the final turn. From @ParkerMolloy

In her interview with me about "not the odds, but the stakes," @Sulliview asked me: Did it work? I said real success would have required broad adoption of a more urgent principle, replacing "state of the race" reporting with the race to secure democracy. margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/a-media-crit…

Most did not.

Semafor boss to Jeff Bezos: "We need you, Jeff, to roll up your sleeves and get in the game. A last minute, controversial decision to cancel presidential endorsements is the kind of backward-looking tinkering that ultimately slows down this reinvention." semafor.com/article/11/03/…

Of the five boroughs in NYC, Staten Island is Trump's stronghold. Yet today the borough's newspaper, the Staten Island Advance, "enthusiastically" endorsed Harris, calling her "the only choice in 2024," and delivering some tough love to readers 🧵

Recommended.