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TGIT! A longtime Washington Post columnist reveals why he quit... An employee at X decries the company's "lack of clarity" about the future... And James Gunn makes a big prediction about the new Man of Steel. Plus, the latest on Linda Yaccarino, WPP, Albany Times Union, OpenAI, The Economist, the Nelk Boys, and much more...

Mapping America's local news shortage

Courtesy Muck Rack

The loss of local news relates to so many other problems plaguing the US: Polarization, radicalization, loneliness, lack of trust in everyone and everything.

So it's vital to track the so-called "news deserts" — and recognize that these deserts exist not just in rural areas, but also in highly populated parts of the country.

According to a new report detailing "severe shortages" in local news, the number of journalists working in the US has dropped by more than 75% since the start of the century — from 40 journalists for every 100,000 residents to just 8.2 journalists now. 

"Stunningly, more than 1,000 counties — one out of three — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist," Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack found. "And the ‘better off’ parts of the country are in lousy shape, too."

Overall, even as the US population continues to grow, the pool of journalists is shrinking, leaving local communities without relevant news coverage. The sharp declines translate to fewer stories being told at the local level. You can check out the Local Journalist Index for yourself here.

'Left without the basic reporting'

"Thousands of rural, urban and suburban communities are being left without the basic reporting they need to stay informed, connected and civically engaged," said Steven Waldman, the president of Rebuild Local News, who has led the charge on this issue for years.

Waldman said he hoped the new data "will help philanthropists target their funding; entrepreneurs spot opportunities; and local stakeholders better argue for public policy changes to help sustain local news." The policy changes advocated by Waldman's organization include tax incentives, government advertising, consumer subsidies and investment funds.

Big differences between states

Only 111 counties in the US — 4% of the total — "currently have at least as many local journalists as the national average from a generation ago," the report says.

Some states, however, are doing significantly better than others. Vermont has five times as many local journalists per capita as Nevada, according to the report — raising obvious questions about civic engagement and community building.

Vermont ranks highly "in part because major new publications such as the nonprofit Vermont Digger and Seven Days have helped fill some of the gaps and in part because few of the newspapers have been bought by private equity firms," the researchers concluded. Both Seven Days and VTDigger rely heavily on reader donations and other forms of direct support from residents.

Want to be the CEO of X?

Linda Yaccarino lasted a lot longer as X CEO than most insiders 🙋 expected, but now her time is up. And although the timing was curious, "it does not appear that Yaccarino's departure and Grok's antisemitic streak are connected – sources told CNN, the WSJ and others that it was more about xAI's merger with X, which raised questions about Yaccarino's role going forward," Hadas Gold reports.

 >> On one level the Yaccarino story is pretty simple: She "couldn't turn Elon Musk's business around — because of Elon Musk," Business Insider's Peter Kafka says.

Will advertisers still spend $$ on X?

X faces numerous challenges right now. As a current X employee told CNN's Clare Duffy yesterday, there's a "lack of clarity," even inside the company, about "what X is supposed to be."

The hate-spewing chatbot controversy is renewing memories of the advertiser exodus the platform experienced in 2023. And now ad buyers are left "without a chief negotiator to contend with" at X, AdAge's Garett Sloane notes.

I checked in with Lou Paskalis, an ad industry vet and a friend of Yaccarino's, about what this might mean for X going forward. 

"Through sheer force of will and strength of relationships, Linda was successful at getting many major advertisers to return to the platform, even if their spending never approached preacquisition levels. Unfortunately, Mr. Musk wasn't able to moderate some of his own content which created ongoing headwinds for Yaccarino," said Paskalis, the founder of AJL Advisory. "With her departure, and the apparent deemphasis on ad revenue within x.AI, it's hard to see those advertisers that Linda wooed back continuing to use the platform to reach new customers. Much will depend on who Mr. Musk chooses to follow Linda into the CEO role..."

 >> One wildcard: Musk's ongoing lawsuits. As the WSJ memorably put it last month, X's sales pitch is "give us your ad business or we'll sue."

Grok was 'too eager to please' ⁉️

Grok AI went full Hitler because it was being "too compliant to user prompts" and was "too eager to please and be manipulated," Musk wrote on X yesterday. The issue is "being addressed," he added. 

The antisemitic outbursts reflect a broader problem with AI chatbots, as CNN's Allison Morrow and Lisa Eadicicco wrote here.

 >> The mess led the Writers Guild of America to give up on X altogether.

James Bennet's Economist promotion

James Bennet, who has been the Lexington columnist for The Economist for the past few years, is stepping up to become interim DC bureau chief for the publication. Bennet will continue to write his column. The current DC chief, Idrees Kahloon, is departing for The Atlantic, where Bennet was editor in chief in a past life. 

Up in Albany...

President Trump and Pam Bondi's pick for interim US attorney in the northern district of New York, John A. Sarcone III, told his staff to take the Albany Times Union off his office's press release distribution list "after the newspaper published a story last month about him listing a boarded-up residence in Albany as his address," the Times Union reports.

When the paper found out about the snub and asked about it, the directive was apparently rescinded. Naturally, this episode has drawn more attention to Sarcone's residency...

Ex-WaPo columnist tells all

Why did longtime Federal Insider columnist Joe Davidson depart The Washington Post last month? Because one of his pieces was killed "because it was deemed too opinionated under an unwritten and inconsistently enforced policy," he explained in a revealing Facebook post this week.

In the draft column, Davidson had written that "one hallmark of President Donald Trump’s first three, turbulent months in office is his widespread, ominous attack on thought, belief and speech." He included examples, of course. But the piece was spiked. He tangled with an editor over other "restrictions," too, and concluded that "a column without commentary made me a columnist without a column." (Hat tip: The Daily Beast.)

Trumpworld notes and quotes

 >> Yet another company succumbs: "T-Mobile disconnects from DEI under pressure from Trump administration" (USA Today)

 >> A compelling compilation by NBC: "How user-generated videos on social media brought Trump's immigration crackdown to America's screens." (NBC)

 >> Big media outlets are "still dancing around the actual danger Trump represents," and being too euphemistic, WhoWhatWhy editor in chief Russ Baker argues. (WhoWhatWhy)

 >> "Autocracy in America won't unfold the way you expect," Damon Linker writes in this piece titled "How to Know When the Frog Has Boiled." (Persuasion)

 >> Benjamin Netanyahu taped an interview with the Nelk Boys earlier this week. Alex Isenstadt says it's "a sign that Netanyahu recognizes the influence of the MAGA media universe." (Axios)

A MUST READ:

Being more precise about 'false claims'

"The words misinformation and disinformation once served a purpose," NewsGuard's McKenzie Sadeghi writes. But they've "now been politicized beyond recognition and turned into partisan weapons by actors on the right and the left, and among anti-democratic foreign actors." So "at NewsGuard, we're retiring these words as primary labels" and "turning to language that’s more precise, harder to hijack, and more specific. We will describe what a piece of content actually does, such as whether it fabricates facts, distorts real events, or impersonates legitimate sources."

 >> Sadeghi argues that "a simple phrase like 'false claim' is more powerful and precise than 'misinformation'" because it plainly names the problem "without triggering partisan reflexes or rhetorical spin." Read on...

Briefly...

 >> WPP has named Microsoft exec Cindy Rose as its new CEO "as the advertising giant grapples with challenges from artificial intelligence and seeks to turn the page on a string of client losses." (WSJ)

 >> "Disney and ITV have struck a deal to show their programs on each other’s platforms." Daniel Thomas calls it "the latest sign of the fast-changing relationships between traditional European broadcasters and US streaming platforms." (FT)

 >> First the NYT, now Condé Nast and Hearst: The companies "have signed multi-year agreements with Amazon to license their content for use in its AI shopping assistant Rufus." (Digiday)

OpenAI's impending browser plans

OpenAI is "close to releasing an AI-powered web browser that will challenge Alphabet's market-dominating Google Chrome," Kenrick Cai, Krystal Hu and Anna Tong scooped for Reuters yesterday. Among the reasons why this matters:

 >> "OpenAI's browser is designed to keep some user interactions within a ChatGPT-like native chat interface instead of clicking through to websites," which is a huge source of stress for publishers right now.

 >> And "it could threaten Alphabet's ad business... as Chrome provides user information to help Alphabet target ads more effectively and profitably."

Speaking of... Perplexity AI is launching "a new artificial intelligence-powered web browser called Comet," CNBC's Ashley Capoot wrote here.

'Superman' is here*

*Well, starting this afternoon, when the film opens in previews. I'm thinking about seeing it tonight! "Studio sources tell us that that Superman will see at least a $200 million global start at 60,000 global screens," Deadline reports. Right now the film has an impressive 83% fresh score from critics, per Rotten Tomatoes...

James Gunn's prediction

"I think I'm really good at finding people who become huge stars," James Gunn said, admitting to a "bit of an ego" about his knack for casting.

"I think David Corenswet is the biggest movie star in the world and people don’t know it yet," Gunn told CNN's Jason Kravarik, predicting very big things in the new Man of Steel's future. Check out Kravarik's full interview with Gunn here...

Entertainment odds and ends

 >> The 10th season of "Queer Eye" will mark the final season of Netflix's longest-running unscripted series. (Deadline)

 >> A "reimagining" of "Night at the Museum" is in the works for 20th Century Studios. (Deadline)

 >> An English version of the runaway Chinese hit "Ne Zha 2" is coming to US theaters. (THR)

This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.