Leah Becerra

Come work with me! #journojobs #hiring

News Media Help Desk@newsmediahelpdesk.org

We're hiring a reporter to join our Help Desk team at @rjionline.bsky.social! This ✨Technology and Journalism Reporter✨ will cover the constantly evolving landscape where journalism and technology meet — and help newsrooms make sense of it all.

“News product thinkers are the DJs of the newsroom.” - Amethyst Holmes #NPASummit ✨

I’m here at #NPASummit in the RJI coworking space ✨ Room 422 ✨ Stop by and say hello to me and Sriya! We can answer your questions about @innovationrji.bsky.social and @newsmediahelpdesk.org. Also, we brought lots of swag. So, come grab some while the good pens are still available 👀

Leah Becerra reposted

Local news publishers: Got a digital challenge you’re trying to solve? Now you can chat with a real person at News Media Help Desk. 💬 We’re launching live chat support — staffed by humans, not AI.

nytimes.comAnthropic Agents Tried to Fill Out Visa Forms on State Dept. WebsiteThe Philadelphia Police Department said the agents had also sent in a false homicide tip. The incidents led the White House to call for better disclosure of rogue A.I. behavior.

The future is weird.

Leah Becerra reposted

Maggie Harrison Dupré

@mharrisondupre.bsky.social

NEW: Brown Brothers Media — the vast content network scaled through the heavy use of AI + fake writers w/ fabricated credentials — has halted publishing amid what appears to be a Google crackdown on many of its sites. BBM may have been earning 64m+ readers per month. futurism.com/artificial-i...

futurism.comThat Company That Buys Struggling News Sites and Turns Them Into AI-Powered Content Mills Has Halted Publishing After a Futurism InvestigationBrown Brothers Media has halted publication at its wide-ranging AI-powered content farm empire -- for now, at least.

newsmediahelpdesk.orgHow Little Green Light helped Flatwater Free Press grow to nearly $3 million in revenueFrom helping to process and organize donations, to initiating and tracking communication with constituents, Little Green Light is Flatwater Free Press’ go-to solution.

I've been a big fan of @flatwaterfreep.bsky.social for years! Excited that we were able to cover their smart, sustainable approach to launching a nonprofit news organization in @newsmediahelpdesk.org. Read this case study to learn why Little Green Light CRM is their centerpiece software.

politico.comTrump signs executive order renaming AI to ‘super intelligence’The rebranding comes amid mounting concerns over the dangers posed by the rapidly developing technology.

Kinda like that time Snoop Dogg tried to rebrand as Snoop Lion … I don’t think it’s gonna catch on.

20 Sept

We all keep referencing Terminator, but this is actually how The Murderbot Diaries begins. www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...

Leah Becerra reposted

muckrock.comMuckRock's ecosystem expands, adding four free services for verified newsroomsWe’re excited to share that we’ve grown our ecosystem to include new tools from us, Bloom Labs, Buried Signals and UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism. MuckRock users can now sign-in with their accounts to access Klaxon Cloud, Bloom, Scoutpost and The Accountability Project (TAP) and take advantage of powerful new tools for research and reporting.

15 Sept

@Muckrock.com is adding four free services for verified newsrooms. These tools can help watch a webpage for changes, monitor sources alongside an AI agent, search public records and geotag stories. https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2026/sep/09/four-new-ecosystem-services-available/

digiday.comGoogle rolls out pay-per-value AI licensing program to publishersGoogle has been quietly scaling a pay-per-value AI licensing scheme for publishers. Though some critics are skeptical of its

14 Sept

Google has quietly rolled out pay-per-value AI licensing program to publishers. But, like other AI licensing marketplaces launched by tech companies, there isn't a lot of transparency around how value is calculated.

Leah Becerra reposted

Louisville Public Media

@lpm.org

10 Sept

McClatchy laid off 12 journalists at the Lexington Herald-Leader, a majority of its positions, as a part of its deep, nationwide layoffs. www.lpm.org/news/2026-09...

lpm.orgMcClatchy guts Lexington Herald-Leader newsroom, among nationwide layoffsMcClatchy laid off 12 journalists at the Lexington Herald-Leader, a majority of its positions, as a part of its deep, nationwide layoffs.

Leah Becerra reposted

Caitlin McGlade

@caitmcglade.bsky.social

10 Sept

I, the only data reporter at the Charlotte Observer, am among the McClatchy layoffs in the bloodbath today. The HR person asked me not to talk about it! AMA. Anyway, here’s a link to one of my most important stories this year. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/a...

charlotteobserver.comA Black teen found hanged near Charlotte church was a suicide, police say. Questions remainIn May, 16-year-old Juliana Nzita was found dead in a Charlotte churchyard. CMPD called it a suicide. Her family isn’t so sure.

10 Sept

Sharing screenshots of the X posts about McClatchy layoffs happening today. These reference @kansascity.com and @miamiherald.com staff cuts.

Leah Becerra reposted

awards.journalists.orgCongratulations to the Winners of the 2026 Online Journalism Awards - Online Journalism AwardsFrom groundbreaking investigations to compelling visualizations, this year’s winners demonstrate the extraordinary ways journalism can strengthen communities and serve democracy.

4 Sept

Congrats to all the newsrooms recognized by @journalists.org's 2026 Online Journalism Awards! 🧵(1/4) Diving into the OJA winners’ reports is a great way to get inspiration and ideas to take back to your newsroom. We’re also excited to see two newsrooms we published case studies about honored, too!

9 Aug

Just got home from a week in the driftless region, but I’m still thinking about this waterfall in Iowa …

404media.coLinkedIn Introduces a 'Seems Like AI Slop' ButtonFollowing 404 Media's reporting on how LinkedIn is full of AI slop, the platform is giving users a chance to report it when they see it.

31 July

Honestly, I love this for LinkedIn.

Leah Becerra reposted

newsmediahelpdesk.orgAxios partnered with OpenAI to expand its local newsrooms and test tools. Here’s how it’s going.About a year and a half into Axios' partnership with OpenAI, take a look at what the collaboration has meant for the local newsrooms Axios created.

27 July

“We’re not just putting prompts into Claude or ChatGPT and then, voila, we have a story.” About a year and a half since Axios signed a three-year licensing deal with OpenAI, we look at how the partnership is going for the news teams working on Axios Local newsletters.

Leah Becerra reposted

newsmediahelpdesk.orgA newsroom’s guide to getting started with CapCut’s mobile app for editing vertical videosCapCut is ideal for creating social video on your phone. The app is free to download has built-in tools for trimming video clips, adding captions, editing audio and applying graphics.

13 July

If you've ever edited a reel on Instagram or used TikTok's native video editor, you know they aren't the best for having complete control over the final edit. Here's a guide to using CapCut, a mobile app for editing vertical social videos.

14 July

I can't believe it's 2026 and I am still just throwing all my laptop screenshots into a new folder on my desktop in order to clean things up.

apnews.comICE sent officers to a man's home over an email. Now he’s suingAn upstate New York resident sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for sending federal officers to his house with a warning over an email he sent to the agency’s one-time head.

7 July

ICE sent officers to a man’s home over an email. Now, he’s suing. AP reports that he’s one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June for criticizing ICE online.

techcrunch.comFord rehires ‘gray beard’ engineers after AI falls short | TechCrunch"Mistakenly we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence ... that would produce a high-quality product.”

1 July

Wish this trend were being monitored more closely, because there’s no way Ford is alone in making this error. “Mistakenly we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that that would produce a high-quality product.”

wired.comHere’s How to Opt Out of Google Search’s New AI Data Training FeatureGoogle’s Search history update stores media uploads from your interactions, like images used in reverse image searches, for training its AI models.

26 June

I can’t see Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in the same video frame without thinking about … soap

Leah Becerra reposted

Reece

@thiccreese.bsky.social

24 June

A little piece of my soul shrivels up every time I get a message laying out how another company plans to use personal data in ever encroaching ways for AI training. I got one of those emails recently from Google and blogged about it for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/how-to...

16 June

Sitting on the tarmac because there’s a ground stop at Chicago O’Hare Airport. A whole lot of flights are about to be delayed 🫠

15 June

Excited to take @newsmediahelpdesk.org on the road to INN Days this week! We’re a sponsor of the annual @inn.org conference this year, which means you can grab some of our swag in Pittsburgh. If you see me, say hello! Tell me how the Help Desk can support your news org’s digital strategy.

15 June

Also, YES, that is a word search 👀

newsmediahelpdesk.orgHow to monitor your AI traffic | Help Desk Monthly - News Media Help DeskThe Help Desk's Scorecard now includes AI monitoring tools to help news publishers navigate what to do about agent and bot traffic to websites.

11 June

Have you been thinking about your newsroom's path forward in an AI internet? The @newsmediahelpdesk.org has been, too. This month's newsletter offers guidance for local news on where to begin.

404media.co'Sloppenheimer:' Amazon Employees Mock the Company’s AI on SlackAmazon employees have a Slack channel for memes where the mock and commiserate about the company’s faulty AI coding product.

9 June

I love @404media.co's newsletter. Today's edition pointed to this gem of a story on Amazon employees' Slack channel for memes mocking the company’s AI products.

Leah Becerra reposted

8 June

We just added two new categories to the Scorecard: social media management and AI monitoring. Look up individual tools or filter by category and compare to see which tool aligns best with your news organization's needs. Visit the Scorecard here: https://www.newsmediahelpdesk.org/tools-scorecard/

7 June

The key to being a runner in Missouri in the summer is to assume it’s very humid and hot, and just go for it.

7 June

Today’s run temp: 80 degrees (F) Humidity: 79% Feels like 86. But I saw this cute turtle 💕

blog.googleA new era for AI SearchWe shared the next step in our journey to bring together the best of a search engine with the best of AI.

22 May

🧵 Thread full of info for local news publishers thinking about how to react to Google's latest search changes.

News Media Help Desk@newsmediahelpdesk.org

With Google's announcement that it's changing its search function to be more AI-powered and conversational, it's a good idea for news publishers to experiment with different ways to approach AI traffic online.

sltrib.comThe Salt Lake Tribune just removed its paywall, making its journalism free to everyoneGetting the journalism of The Salt Lake Tribune has always cost something to readers. Not anymore, as The Tribune is making its daily work free to anyone. Here’s what to know about accessing Utah’s no...

18 May

The @sltrib.com has removed its paywall, making its journalism free for anyone.

Leah Becerra reposted

RJI

@rjionline.bsky.social

12 May

SURVEY: When audiences see "no comment" in a story, one in five trust the reporting less, while nearly 40% assume the source is hiding something. Dig deeper: rjionline.org/news/journal.... #NoComment

newsmediahelpdesk.orgTechnical.ly welcomed AI bot traffic instead of blocking it, and gained subscribers - News Media Help DeskTechnical.ly's news organization decided to optimize news articles for AI. Here's how third-party AI monitoring tools helped inform and support the strategy.

11 May

Last week, @newsmediahelpdesk.org profiled @technicallynews.bsky.social in a case study looking at the news organization's decision to optimize its journalism for AI discovery.

newsmediahelpdesk.orgGetting started with AI monitoring tool Known Agents: A guide for news publishers - News Media Help DeskDeciding what bot to block or allow starts with understanding the agent audiences visiting your website. Here's how to get started with AI monitoring tool Known Agents.

11 May

One of the tools that empowered news leaders at Technical.ly to choose this strategy was Known Agents. It's a low-risk AI monitoring tool that can help news organizations better understand their agent audience. Here is the Help Desk's guide for news publishers wanting to get started with the tool.

kcur.orgHackers hit University of Missouri system and 9,000 other Canvas schoolsThe University of Missouri system and other affected schools all use an education management tool called Canvas, which helps keep track of assignments, grades and other information.

7 May

It's the final day of classes this semester at Mizzou. Just figures that something like this would happen 🥲

cjr.orgIn Indiana, a campus newspaper adviser fights for the “soul of our country.”Jim Rodenbush refused to make students stop printing hard news. He got fired. Then he became a national hero.

1 May

All eyes in the journalism industry were on Bloomington last year when Indiana University halted printing of the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. This write-up from @columjournreview.bsky.social is a good overview of everything that went down and what's happened since.

30 Apr

The Ozempic commercial with the Mac vs PC guys is bizarre

Leah Becerra reposted

newsmediahelpdesk.orgDeep research: What it is and how it can be a journalist’s AI secret weaponDeep research is a different AI chatbot mode that prioritizes thoroughness over speed. Learn how journalists can benefit from this tool while searching for experts.

28 Apr

New today: The Media Copilot's founder, @petepachal.bsky.social, writes about how journalists can use AI to create a deep research report. He includes an example prompt and some best practices to help make fact-checking outputs easier for reporters.

404media.coStudy Finds A Third of New Websites are AI-GeneratedResearchers found the internet is becoming aggressively positive as AI-generated text floods the web.

27 Apr

"Researchers working with data from the Internet Archive have discovered that a third of websites created since 2022 are AI-generated." And I bet they all have great UX, too 🫠

27 Apr

I see you @wired.com! And I would love to talk about how this advertising effort is going for @newsmediahelpdesk.org.

nytimes.comSoldier Used Classified Information to Bet on Maduro’s Ouster, U.S. Says

A US soldier who participated in the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has been charged with using classified information to bet on the mission on Polymarket.

nytimes.comMeta to Cut 10 Percent of Work Force in A.I. Push

As I'm actively cursing and struggling with Meta Business Suite, this news signals this experience will only get worse.

At first I felt trolled, then I found myself loving this: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...