Pulitzer Prizes shed light on wounded newsrooms, both literal and metaphorical
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
April 22, 2019
In Annapolis, Md., June 28, five journalists at the Capital Gazette newspaper were murdered by a disillusioned man who had his questionable conduct scrutinized by the paper. They wrote a story detailing his history of harassing women and—as a result—he attempted to kill "everyone present" at the new...
Media Mayhem: What even is a news organization?
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
March 5, 2019
It can be very easy to think of a newspaper as a manufactured product like your soaps and your silverware. If you look at the way you get your soap and silverware and the way you get a newspaper, they can look somewhat similar. Heavy machinery in a warehouse somewhere transforms a normal piece of metal ...
Robust student press freedoms used to be the norm. Now, they’re the exception.
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
February 23, 2019
The LION’s blog Media Mayhem evaluates the implications and the legacy of the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court Ruling to mark the end of Scholastic Journalism Week 2019. On this day 50 years ago—Feb. 23, 1969—the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a landmark decision: in the ca...
Media Mayhem: Podcast Serial grapples with the complexity of justice in America
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
January 31, 2019
When I heard that the third season of the hit narrative podcast Serial would be a deep-dive into America’s criminal justice system—through the lense of a courthouse in Cleveland—I was very intrigued as to what story they would ultimately tell. Serial came to prominence in 2014 when it told th...
Media Mayhem: To survive in the modern age, local news needs to adapt
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
December 17, 2018
Local news is in a crisis and it’s only getting worse. Over the past 10 years or so, an innumerable number of newspapers and periodicals have gone defunct. The incredibly fast destruction of these valuable, community-based institutions has likely been fueled by a painful reality: local news’ inability t...
Media Mayhem: Khashoggi’s last column call of accountability
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
October 30, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, but he would never come out alive. Almost a month after Khashoggi disappeared into the consulate, his disappearance is still captivating the world—and complicating the United States’ already tricky relationship with Saudi Arabi...
Media Mayhem: LTTV sportscaster becomes Emmy Award presenter
Lars Lonnroth, Managing Editor of Breaking News and Multimedia Content
June 4, 2018
When LTTV Sports Director Max Abrahamson walked across the stage at the Senior Honor’s assembly, there were audible gasps when his scholarship sum was announced. Such a feat was possible due to his success at LTTV. In recognition for his excellence in sports broadcasting—a field he entered as a...
Media Mayhem: Inside the Chicago Tribune’s unprecedented push for unionization
Lars Lonnroth, Assistant News Editor
April 16, 2018
As long-time readers of the Chicago Tribune can attest, the prestigious newspaper's editorial page has consistently published eviscerating editorials that have taken a vociferous anti-union posture. But despite that long-held position, staffers at the nearly 171 year old paper are pushing for un...
Media Mayhem: How a church retreat reminded me of the value of points of view
Lars Lonnroth, Assistant News Editor
March 12, 2018
Despite what some may claim, teenagers are aware of the world around them. Some are more aware of world than others, but high school students do consume news—but teenagers often consume the news in forms different than people have in the past: mainly, online. I read the news like some adults do, in prin...
Media Mayhem: Buzz about Buzzfeed
Lars Lonnroth, Assistant News Editor
February 26, 2018
Throughout all of its existence, Buzzfeed has garnered a reputation for being uber popular and uber inconsequential. But there is a side of Buzzfeed that is not factory-made viral videos, top 10 lists and articles claiming that “We Can Tell Which Office Character You Are From What You Get At Starbucks.”...
Lars Lonnroth’s Media Mayhem: The LION’s look at media, journalism and the world
Lars Lonnroth, Assistant News Editor
February 12, 2018
The media is a field that carries significant clout and influence on the world around us. The media shines a light on the things that impact people’s lives, but the media also impacts people’s lives. The content churned out daily by media organizations across the nation impacts how people view the wor...