The Kicker

Columbia Journalism Review
  • 0,0 (0)
  • NEWS
  • BIMENSILE

The Kicker is a podcast on the media and the world today. It comes out twice a month, hosted by Josh Hersh and produced by Amanda Darrach for the Columbia Journalism Review. It is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

  1. 6 GG FA

    Student, Teacher: Eric Gustafson on fighting for journalistic integrity at every level.

    I’ve spent my entire professional career in journalism, but student publications are still my favorite news outlets. I broke the biggest story of my life for my high school newspaper, and I find something so infectious about the energy of students who aren’t yet jaded about the industry or the job market, who just want to write about topics that matter to their peers. Us pros can learn a lot from them. Eric Gustafson is one of the few people I’ve ever spoken to whose passion for student journalism rivals my own. A longtime journalist, he took over the journalism program at Lowell High, a prestigious San Francisco public school, in 2017. Last year, after a couple of controversial stories about student drug use, teacher sexual harassment, and AI grading—including one that the student paper, The Lowell, never even published—he was removed from the role. California, Gustafson knew, has one of the strongest laws in the country protecting the independence of student journalists and their advisers. He sued his employer, and he won: his reassignment was illegal, a state superior court found.  In this episode, I talk to Gustafson about The Lowell’s steady stream of major stories, his decision to sue, the backlash from his colleagues, and why student journalism matters. Listen below—or wherever you get your podcasts. Show notes: Obtainable and addictive. Isadore Diamond and Clarabelle Fields, The Lowell Invasive and inappropriate. Ramona Jacobson, Serena Miller, and Dakota Colussi, The Lowell Know your student press rights. The Student Press Law Center Final judgment, Eric Gustafson v. San Francisco Unified School District. Superior Court for California for the County of San Francisco Judge rules that Lowell High School journalism teacher’s reassignment was illegal. Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle Lowell students open up about experiences with math teacher Tom Chan. Milena Garrone and Amálie Cimala, The Lowell Megan Greenwell, host Amanda Darrach, producer

    51 min

  2. 26 MAR

    The Inside Look: Chatting with the New York Times’ trust editor.

    I must confess that initially I was a bit skeptical of the concept. The New York Times was promoting a Q&A with two technology reporters, Mike Isaac and Sheera Frankel, and their editor, Pui-Wing Tam. The headline, in 2014 BuzzFeed style, was “Reporters Seek Comment. What Happens Next May Surprise You.” Over the course of several hundred words, Isaac, Frankel, and Tam explained how they ask sources for answers, especially those who might not be inclined to respond. Who is this for? I wondered. Who is this going to convince? So I called up Mike Abrams, the Times’ deputy trust editor, who conducted that Q&A, part of a series that runs under the “Times Insider” vertical. I wanted to know why he thinks trust in media is so low and why, after twenty-two years at the Times, this was the problem he wanted to work on. We talked about how all those front-facing videos that reporters are doing relate to trust, and how his role differs from that of the outlet’s PR staff biting back at criticism on X and Bluesky. And we got into the critiques of specific storylines: Trump, Gaza, trans medical care. Listen here—or wherever you get your podcasts. Show notes: Reporters seek comment. What happens next may surprise you. Mike Abrams, New York TimesTrust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S. Megan Brenan, GallupSeen but not heard: The New York Times failed to quote trans people in two-thirds of stories on anti-trans legislation in a one-year period. Vesper Henry and Ari Drennan, Media Matters and GLAAD Megan Greenwell, host Amanda Darrach, producer

    53 min

  3. 12 MAR

    Lessons from an Early-Career Journalist

    When I took over the Kicker host chair, one of the things I was most excited to do was to interview early-career journalists, who see the changes to our industry from an entirely different perspective from those of us who’ve been around since the days when Twitter was king, or before social media existed. I’ve always loved working with young people—among my many freelance gigs, I help run a program for high school journalists—because I feel like I get smarter (and hopefully even marginally more relevant?) every time I talk to them. For going on seven years now, Sofia Barnett has been one of my favorite young journalists to talk to. From the first time I met her, when she was a high school junior outside Dallas, she’s been uncommonly driven: toward a career in journalism, toward telling the stories of Indigenous Americans like herself, toward seeing the world and writing about all of it. Now, at twenty-three, she’s covered more big stories than many people do in a full career. She wound up at the Minnesota Star Tribune fresh out of college, moving to Minneapolis just in time for perhaps the newsiest year in the city’s history. As an intern, she was the first reporter on the scene of the Annunciation Catholic Church school shooting last August. Then, while formally assigned to cover the suburbs, she was named to the five-person team covering the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on the city. In this episode, Barnett and I talk about all of that, plus about how she thinks about a career in this tumultuous time for journalism. Listen below—or wherever you get your podcasts. Show notes: He couldn’t run. So they covered him instead. Sofia Barnett, Minnesota Star Tribune‘Just another Native’: Minneapolis Indigenous women demand emergency response to violence. Sofia Barnett, Minnesota Star TribuneTexas ranks almost dead last in the nation for women’s health care, research shows. Sofia Barnett, Dallas Morning NewsThe Princeton Summer Journalism Program Megan Greenwell, host Amanda Darrach, producer

    48 min

  4. 26 FEB

    A Look Back at Covering Gaza for the Post

    Since October 7, 2023, Miriam Berger has been on assignment in Jerusalem, covering Israel, Palestine, and war. A few weeks ago, she learned she and hundreds of colleagues were being laid off. One perk of hosting an interview podcast is having the opportunity to talk to journalists whose work I’ve admired for years but might never have met otherwise. Miriam Berger is one such journalist. She’s written some of the best articles I’ve read from Israel and Palestine: rich, textured narratives that tell stories of complicated human realities. A Philadelphia native, she’s spent a significant chunk of her career in the Middle East, working in both Arabic and Hebrew and becoming a go-to authority on the war. Though it was a thrill to get to speak with Berger, the peg for our conversation was a brutal one: She was one of three hundred–plus journalists who learned early this month that they would be laid off by the Washington Post, a dismantling that all but eliminated the publication’s international desk. Berger was on leave when the cuts were announced, working on a book about Israel’s starvation of Gaza. In this week’s episode of The Kicker, she and I talked about how media coverage of the region has evolved since October 7, 2023; how she reported stories from Gaza despite Israel banning reporters from entering; and the outdated distinctions Western media outlets draw between journalists sent from HQ and “local reporters” like the Palestinians she worked with. Listen below—or wherever you get your podcasts. Show notes:  Palestinian paramedics said Israel gave them safe passage to save a 6-year-old girl in Gaza. They were all killed. Meg Kelly, Hajar Harb, Louisa Loveluck, Miriam Berger, and Cate Brown, Washington Post Thousands of Gazans have gone missing. No one is accounting for them. Miriam Berger and Hajar Harb, Washington Post Support for Washington Post international employees, GoFundMe Megan Greenwell, host Amanda Darrach, producer

    32 min
  5. Profit or Nonprofit? A Debate over Journalism’s Future

    19 FEB

    Profit or Nonprofit? A Debate over Journalism’s Future

    While the newspaper industry continues to contract, nonprofit news outlets have proliferated over the past decade. But dismissing profitable models for journalism is premature.  How can journalism survive? Perhaps the question would once have sounded unduly panicked, but it has only grown more pressing over the past twenty years. Between 2004 and 2019, newspapers lost an astonishing 77 percent of their jobs—more than any other industry on record, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In early February, the industry suffered another historic blow, as the Washington Post announced it was laying off nearly half its staff. When even a legacy media outlet like the Post struggles—when even ownership by Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of two hundred and fifty billion dollars, cannot guarantee stability—it is easy to wonder what hope there is. Is journalism slowly, or not so slowly, going kaput?  Not so fast.  In this episode of Journalism 2050, we’re joined by two guests who show—in different yet equally promising ways—what the future of journalism can look like. Vanan Murugesan is the executive director of Sahan Journal, a widely acclaimed local news organization in Minneapolis that was set up in 2019 to cover immigrants and people of color. Joshi Herrmann is the founder of Mill Media, which launched in Manchester in 2020 and now provides high-quality local journalism across six different cities in the UK.  Sahan Journal is one of a growing number of nonprofit news organizations that rely on philanthropic grants. (The Institute for Nonprofit News now counts over four hundred members.) Mill Media’s success is based on subscriptions. Both are thriving, and both provide models that others can follow. What are the risks and rewards of each approach? Have we been too quick to accept that journalism cannot be profitable in the digital age? And what changes when, with rising authoritarianism, the pressures confronting a free press become political as well as economic?  Suggested Reading: “Straight to your inbox: meet the journalists shaking up local UK news,” The Guardian, July 2024“Sahan Journal Is Built for When the National Media Leaves,” CJR, December 2025 Hosts: Emily Bell and Heather Chaplin Producer: Amanda Darrach Production Coordinator: Hana Joy Research: Samuel Earle Art Director: Katie Kosma Illustrator: Aaron Fernandez Music: Henry Crooks

    1h 14m

  6. 12 FEB

    The Letter of the Law, and the Law in Practice

    Experts discuss the risks posed to journalism as the courts test the limits of press freedom law. If I recall correctly, the original news peg for a live Kicker recording about threats to the free press was a raid on the home of Hannah Natanson, a Washington Post reporter. By the time Amanda Darrach, The Kicker’s producer, and I were finalizing logistics for the event, which took place in CJR’s office, two independent journalists—Don Lemon and Georgia Fort—had been arrested for covering a protest in Minneapolis. A few days before we recorded, the Post eliminated three hundred–plus jobs. Suffice it to say, I had plenty to talk about.  I also had dream guests with whom to talk about it all. David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor at the New York Times, wrote the excellent 2025 book Murder the Truth about efforts to overturn the media law precedent set by New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964. Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of Columbia’s Knight First Amendment Institute, has been involved in litigating dozens of crucial cases on press freedom. In wrapping up the interview, I said I had about seven hundred more questions for them; in retrospect, that may have been an undercount. Recording live also meant the rare chance to take questions from other smart people, including Fabio Bertoni, the general counsel for The New Yorker, and Tsehai Alfred, the editor in chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator.  SHOW NOTES Q&A: David Enrich on the Right-Wing Plot to ‘Murder’ Libel Protections, Jon Allsop, CJR Barnard suspends WKCR and Spectator reporters who covered Butler Library protest, Isha Banerjee, Columbia Spectator Can the Media’s Right to Pursue the Powerful Survive Trump’s Second Term? David Enrich, the New York Times Magazine  Megan Greenwell, host Amanda Darrach, producer Jim Bittel, assistant dean of broadcast and multimedia technology, adjunct professor, and multimedia facility consultant  A.J. Mangone, assistant director, broadcast and multimedia technology  Pedro Florentin, videographer Jamal Jones, videographer Katie Kosma, art director

    1h 3m
  7. Outlier Media Reimagines What Local News Can Be

    5 FEB

    Outlier Media Reimagines What Local News Can Be

    In 2016, Sarah Alvarez, a former civil-rights lawyer and reporter, reimagined what journalism could be. Rather than break news or publish stories on a website, her project, Outlier Media, promised to provide the people of Detroit with information on any property they wanted, via text message—all they had to do was ask. Alvarez hoped that with vetted information, locals could hold landlords to account and avoid property scams in an increasingly hostile housing market. It was to be the first of many such services that Outlier would provide, all centered around making important information more accessible, in line with people’s needs. “I was not satisfied with covering low-income communities for a higher-income audience,” she said in 2018. “I wanted to cover issues for and with low-income news consumers.” Outlier Media now stands as an example of an innovative local media landscape defying the darkest prophecies of journalism’s future. Outlier has pioneered a new journalistic approach—highly interactive, collaborative, responsive, practical, community-focused—to old goals: holding the powerful to account. Its text message system exists alongside original investigative reporting, which is targeted “on issues where better information alone can’t make a difference,” as its site explains. Outlier’s radical mission is journalism that serves not people’s curiosity but their material needs. In this episode of the Journalism 2050 Podcast, Alvarez and Candice Fortman join Emily Bell and Heather Chaplin to discuss community-focused news, how the media landscape has changed over the last decade, and what the future holds. Alvarez is the James B. Steele Chair in Journalism Innovation at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. Fortman is a media consultant who served as Outlier Media’s Executive Editor between 2019 and 2024. Suggested Reading/Listening: How Outlier is helping Detroiters get millions of dollars back from Wayne County, Nieman Lab, April 2025 Candice Fortman, Commencement address for the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2025, May 2025 Civic Guides: How to solve everyday issues in Detroit, influence local decision-making and make the city work for you — written for Detroiters by Detroiters, Outlier Media (series) Producer: Amanda Darrach Production Coordinator: Hana Joy Research: Samuel Earle Art Director: Katie Kosma Illustrator: Aaron Fernandez Music: Henry Crooks

    51 min

  8. 29 GEN

    A Veteran of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette—and its Long Strike—Prepares for What’s Next

    At first, January 7 felt to Bob Batz Jr. like a triumphant day. The U.S. Supreme Court had declined to consider an appeal from Batz’s longtime employer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the latest in a long string of legal victories for the paper’s union. After more than three years on strike, Batz and twenty-four colleagues returned to work in late November. Now, the P-G was legally obligated to reinstate the workers’ previous health plan, plus reimburse costs accrued when management failed to bargain in good faith. A few hours after rejoicing over the Supreme Court news, though, elation turned to mourning. Citing 350 million dollars in losses over twenty years, the P-G’s owner, Block Communications, announced it would shut down the paper — one of the oldest in the country — effective May 3. The company took no questions from its employees.  The three weeks since have brought a flurry of activity designed to save some version of the Post-Gazette. Batz and his colleagues have been meeting multiple times a week — sometimes with potential funders, sometimes alone — to figure out the best path forward. This morning, a group of them announced the launch of the Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER), which is raising money to research “worker-owned and non-profit models as well as the potential for a truly independent Post-Gazette.” Forty-nine of their coworkers who didn’t strike, meanwhile, are working to overthrow union leadership in hopes of negotiating with Block Communications. Seemingly everyone in Pittsburgh’s large philanthropic world seems to be chattering about the potential for a nonprofit model. For this week’s episode of The Kicker, I talked to Batz about the highs and lows of his thirty-plus years at the P-G and his three years on strike, from his job editing the strikers’ award-winning newspaper, to the friendships that ended as a result of the battle, to the efforts to build something new. SHOW NOTES Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) Pittsburgh Union Progress Host: Megan Greenwell Producer: Amanda Darrach

    45 min
Elenco completo (323)

Trailer

Descrizione

The Kicker is a podcast on the media and the world today. It comes out twice a month, hosted by Josh Hersh and produced by Amanda Darrach for the Columbia Journalism Review. It is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Columbia Journalism Review
  • Anni di attività
    2016 - 2026
  • Puntate
    323
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti espliciti
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Columbia Journalism Review
  • Sito web del podcast
    The Kicker

Potrebbero piacerti anche…