Sophie Culpepper | Nieman Journalism Lab

Articles by Sophie Culpepper

Sophie Culpepper is a staff writer at Nieman Lab focused on covering local news. She previously co-founded the hyperlocal Lexington Observer, where she reported on public schools, local government, economic development, and public safety among other topics as the digital news nonprofit’s only full-time journalist for two years. She graduated from Brown University in 2021 and was a managing editor on The Brown Daily Herald’s editorial board.

@s_peppered

October 3, 2023

Aiming for 500,000 subscribers by 2026, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a big swing on growth

“We want to cloak ourselves in all things Atlanta. And frankly, in recent years, we haven’t necessarily done that.”

In another warning sign for nonprofit local news, The City cuts costs

September 14, 2023

Want to boost local news subscriptions? Giving your readers a say in story ideas can help

“By providing a service that answers questions posed by audience members, audiences are more likely to reciprocate through subscriptions.”

September 7, 2023

Is half a billion dollars a big-enough Band-Aid to cure what ails local news?

The Press Forward coalition, led by the MacArthur Foundation, has pledged to invest $500 million in revitalizing local news over the next five years while working to raise more.

August 30, 2023

With five old phones and some Pew data, the BBC’s Marianna Spring monitors social media from the inside

“The reason I have to have undercover voters is because social media sites won’t — and to some extent, can’t — tell you exactly what they’re recommending every single voter.”

August 15, 2023

Journalism with a PhD: The Conversation is pairing up academics with reporters for big investigations

“It is elevating investigative reporting to a level where we are able to access … jewels lying on the beach in the research of the academic world.”

August 7, 2023

A Norwegian newspaper’s “transparency portal” aims to anticipate and answer reader questions about reporting

Readers “have to see this again and again and again, I think, before you really make an impact.”

July 24, 2023

How a new two-minute quiz measures misinformation susceptibility

Results from a recent YouGov survey using the MIST suggest that younger Americans do a worse job than older Americans distinguishing real news from fake news.

July 13, 2023

Want a better comments section? Graham Media Group thinks AI can help with that

Graham Media Group developed the idea for a “first dibs” comment bot through NYC Media Lab’s AI & Local News Challenge.

July 6, 2023

Wesley Lowery talks journalism education, objectivity, and learning by doing

Lowery took the helm of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University as its executive editor this month.

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