Welcome back to another issue of The Front Page. This week, we’d normally have another installment of Lewis Raven Wallace’s column making the case for movement journalism, but it’s delayed due to technical issues — keep an eye out for it soon! Meanwhile, our newsletter top story is news you may have missed last week: Staff at the Internet’s oldest dedicated fact-checking news organization, Snopes, voted to create a union.
In this issue:
📝 Snopes, the Internet’s oldest dedicated fact-checking organization, announces intent to unionize
And also: Prism broadens Palestine pitch guidelines, the New York Times collaborated with a eugenicist, Hearst to purchase DallasNews Corporation, and a new report maps a “severe” shortage of local journalists in the U.S. Plus, the resource of the week is a fellowship for local journalists and freelancers due a week from today.
—James Salanga
LABOR
Snopes, the Internet’s oldest dedicated fact-checking organization, announces intent to unionize
Workers at Snopes, the Internet’s oldest dedicated fact-checking organization, are looking to verify their management’s commitment to transparency. Snopes Guild announced its launch on June 30, with 80% of the organization’s eligible staffers signing cards in favor of representation by Media Guild West.
Snopes Guild will represent the 31-year-old organization’s editorial staff. Guild members say they’re organizing around greater transparency, pay equity, job security, and more formal HR processes. Their intent to unionize is the latest in digital news workers seeking greater parity in their workplaces, whether through organizing unions or starting worker-owned newsrooms.
“It was amazing how quickly we organized, and it was amazing how united everyone was,” reporter Nur Ibrahim said. “I would say in a matter of a couple of weeks, we had a majority.”
She added that unionizing is a way to protect both current and future Snopes workers, especially as fact-checking in a political climate rife with misinformation has led to hate mail in response to Snopes stories.
“If Snopes has people from different backgrounds, different legal statuses in the country be a part of this fact-checking world, we want to make sure that they are protected and feel safe speaking up,” she said. “We’re doing this for anyone and everyone who’s going to be a part of Snopes, and because we believe in the truth, and the truth is what we rely on as we begin this unionization process.”
—James Salanga
WHAT ELSE?
A bit more media
Prism revises guidelines to welcome any pitches about Palestine, regardless of direct U.S. angle: “The consequences of U.S. policy and imperialism are global,” Prism editor-in-chief Lara Witt writes. “Prism has the moral duty to cover the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza and Israeli military and settler violence in the West Bank as a matter of editorial policy and without a narrative foothold in the U.S.”
Why did The New York Times collaborate with a eugenicist? “The paper of record is doing race science with Zohran Mamdani,” Hell Gate writers say after the Times’ nothingburger story about Mamdani’s college application. “Nothing here is untoward—unless one is operating under the strictures of a worldview that views both racial hierarchy and ‘college crimes’ as issues befitting both breathless coverage and Deep Throat-level secrecy regarding sourcing.”
DallasNews Corporation, owner of The Dallas Morning News, to merge with Hearst: Hearst now owns all major daily newspapers in Texas: The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Austin American-Statesman. The deal is expected to close in fall, and the companies didn’t share word about how the merger may impact the 137 newsroom employees at the Dallas Morning News.
New report maps a “severe” shortage of local journalists in the U.S.: One out of three U.S. counties don’t have the equivalent of one full-time local journalist, the report’s authors —from Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack — found. “The national average Local Journalist Equivalent of 8.2 shows a 75% decline from when researchers calculated it with a different methodology in 2002,” Corey Hutchins writes in his coverage of the report.
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JOURNALISM IN A GRAF
Quote of the week
“In immigrant media, reporting on your community isn't enough — you must stand with it … Journalism, fundamentally, is public service. For those of us serving marginalized communities, sometimes the greatest act of service is simply refusing to look away.”
FINALLY…
Resource of the week
This week’s resource is … a fellowship opportunity for freelancers and local journalists working in English or Spanish with community-based news outlets that serve historically disinvested communities.
Editor’s note: Beatrice is at NAHJ this week, but her column will be back in your inbox next issue!
Altavoz Lab seeks applications for its first cohort of the community journalist fellowship, which starts August 18. Fellows will receive grants ranging from $3,000 to $8,000 to produce an in-depth reporting project or series in 7 months. They’ll also receive up to $3,000 in additional funds to be allotted to an audience engagement project in collaboration with their newsroom or a local partner.
“We’re looking for journalists who are deeply rooted in their communities and ready to report stories that center local voices and urgent realities often overlooked by mainstream media,” the fellowship call reads. Applicants who are working in borderland communities and regions with low civic health scores will be prioritized.
Applications are due July 18, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Thanks for reading. We’ll have more for you next week.
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