As an official media partner, Polygon will bring programming that celebrates the diverse communities, weird fandoms, popular franchises, and undiscovered talent that shape pop culture

We need local news more than ever. The value of trusted local journalism has never been more clear: as trust in government erodes, it is independent reporting that provides the necessary oversight and illumination to inform the public and hold policymakers accountable — local newspapers are responsible for half of the country’s original reporting despite only accounting for 25% of the media outlets. In times of crisis, we rely on trusted information from local outlets to stay safe and informed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, local publishers have seen a significant boost in readership as information about community response has become essential; many have even dropped their paywalls in service of delivering vital information at the expense of short-term revenue gains. Despite this surge in value and readership, many local publishers find themselves on the brink of collapse. This year, local advertising revenue could drop as much as 25%, perpetuating and accelerating a crisis that’s been building for years. For vulnerable local publishers already facing an uphill battle, it could spell doom. To help prevent more news deserts from popping up throughout the country, local publishers need the support of the nation’s biggest advertisers. These high stakes present an opportunity to better understand the connection that local news fosters between audiences and their communities, and whether that same connection can translate to untapped opportunity for national advertisers. We know that supporting local news is good for our world and society, but is it also better at driving business outcomes for advertisers? Vox Media partnered with the global research firm Nielsen to test this theory. Here’s what we learned: Local news helps build incremental audiences In our study, we found that 38% of local news site visitors do not visit any national news sites — meaning a large audience is not being

Audiences are looking to podcasts for content they can’t get anywhere else

Introducing “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism In America” from the Vox Media Podcast Network

The new community pairs the storytellers behind acclaimed programming including “Dorktown,” “Beef History,” and Jon Bois’s ASME-winning “17776” with an interactive community platform at sbnation.com/secret-base

Q&A with Bijan Stephen, Reporter, and Mariya Abdulkaf, Video Producer, outlines how “Capturing the Police” was developed

“Eater’s Guide To The World” Debuts on November 11 with Emmy® Nominated Actress Maya Rudolph To Narrate Straight-to-Series Order for Docuseries “The Next Thing You Eat” from James Beard Award-Winning Chef David Chang and Academy Award® Winning Documentary Filmmaker Morgan Neville Emmy® nominated actress Maya Rudolph will narrate the upcoming original Hulu series “Eater’s Guide To The World,” premiering November 11. The series, developed by Eater and Vox Media Studios, explores some of the most satisfying culinary destinations around the world including the Pacific Northwest, Casablanca, Tijuana and Costa Rica. Leveraging Eater’s in-depth knowledge of food around the world with its dedicated global network of journalists and contributors, “Eater’s Guide To The World” offers the award-winning network’s unique insight into local food communities and a broad, inclusive perspective on the experiences and people shaping food culture today. Lauren Cynamon, Chad Mumm, Mark W. Olsen and Amanda Kludt serve as executive producers and the series is produced by Eater and Vox Media Studios. From the Emmy® nominated creators of Ugly Delicious—James Beard Award winning chef David Chang and Academy Award® winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville—“The Next Thing You Eat” is a six-episode docuseries that explores the seismic changes happening all around us and how they affect not only the restaurant world but people’s fundamental relationship to food. Chang and a diverse cast of correspondents will take an unflinching look at the challenges and opportunities ahead, including how our food is grown, who cooks it, how we pay for it, and whether or not deliciousness will fall by the wayside. “The Next Thing You Eat” is produced by Tremolo Productions and Majordomo Media for Vox Media Studios—executive producers include David Chang, Christopher Chen, David O’Connor and Chris Ying on behalf of Majordomo Media, Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers on behalf of Tremolo

Avery Trufelman to host and B.A. Parker to produce

The Pulitzer Center and Diversify Photo are thrilled to announce a new collaboration with Vox for the Eyewitness Photojournalism Grant, as well as an extension of the grant deadline to August 7, 2020. The Eyewitness Grant supports underreported stories told by freelance photojournalists historically underrepresented in the American press. Now, as part of this program, one of the grant finalists will have the opportunity to work with the Vox editorial team to develop and publish a story along with their visual series. We encourage photographers to continue seeking commitment from outlets to publish their work, but we hope this partnership with Vox will open doors for photographers still seeking a distribution plan to apply for the grant. During the judging process, Diversify Photo, the Pulitzer Center editorial team, and the Eyewitness jury will work with the Vox team to identify a recipient whose story will be published on the site. “The American news media is a relationship-based industry and too often, this means audiences miss out on great stories from journalists without access to editors,” said Andrea Wise and Brent Lewis, co-founders of Diversify Photo. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with such a conscientious and forward-thinking media outlet to ensure the stories we fund find an audience, regardless of applicants’ prior relationships with editors.” “Vox exists to empower its readers through journalism that explains the ideas and issues shaping our country and the wider world beyond,” said Kainaz Amaria, Visuals Editor, Vox. “We are grateful to be able to partner with the Pulitzer Center and Diversify Photo, and look forward to working with one of the talented photographers—leveraging our platform to publish their work.” “The Pulitzer Center is thrilled to welcome Vox as a partner in the Eyewitness Photojournalism Grant,” said Marina Walker Guevara, the Center’s executive editor. “We need the leadership of news organizations like Vox to give visibility to the stories of journalists of color who historically have been

As part of the Your News Update audio news briefing, audiences can tune into custom produced audio segments from Vox’s daily news podcast, Today, Explained on Google Assistant-enabled devices in the US today, with more content from Vox to premiere next month

Subscribe to Future Perfect: The Way Through — a new podcast series on philosophical teachings and faith traditions from around the world — hosted by Vox’s Sean Illing and Sigal Samuel

Hosted by Pivot’s Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, each event in the five-part series will zero in on one way the pandemic is accelerating industry trends.

The six-month collaborative project will explore the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks and budget cuts, and their impact on public health.

Each week, the gaming content creator and entrepreneur will join Mondal in exploring the diverse communities that make up gaming culture.

America is going through an unprecedented time: a pandemic, economic downturn, and now a societal movement confronting racial injustice. The killing of George Floyd became a catalyst for hundreds of thousands of people around the world to march and take a stand against police brutality and for racial justice. In this context, we spoke to ~1,000 Vox Media consumers to understand their perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement. UNIVERSAL SUPPORT FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT Our audience feels activated by the Black Lives Matter movement and — although many say they are taking action — the complexity of this issue leaves many wondering how they can support and/or drive meaningful and lasting change. Our users want to and/or are responding to the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations: 94% are looking for ways to support the Black Lives Matter movement; 62% have donated to a social justice organization; Half of our audience knows someone who attended a demonstration and 18% personally participated in the demonstrations; 50% say they would have participated in a demonstration, but they were concerned about COVID-19 contagion. Our audience is strongly affected by the movement, with 73% saying they’ve had trouble focusing on work and life since the demonstrations started. Distraction notwithstanding, 77% say the demonstrations make them feel more unity with their communities and motivate them to do something. But many in our audience aren’t sure what that “something” should be. 63% feel uncertain about “how to make things better.” THIS TIME WILL REQUIRE UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLANATION Vox Media consumers state that they would like to understand several facets of the Black Lives Matter movement more deeply. As an example, when it comes to the recent protests, our audiences are curious about: Actions they can take in support of the Black Lives Matter movement (94%);

Subscribe to “The Netflix Effect,” hosted by Recode’s Peter Kafka and Rani Molla

The Vox Media Podcast Network’s Pivot, Recode Decode’s special segment with HBO, and The Ezra Klein Show earned both Webby wins and People’s Voice Awards

Local is more relevant than ever to consumers

Your brand’s response matters in this moment

The following has been adapted from a live presentation from Edwin Wong, Vox Media’s SVP of Insights & Innovation during a weekly ‘Smart Solutions for Extraordinary Times’ discussion. You can view the webinar here. When I was a child, I wasn’t the healthiest of children. There was a span of two years where I would only eat McDonald’s Happy Meals every meal, and it had a profound impact on my health. At this point, everyone reading this recognizes that eating fast food for two meals a day is not ideal for health. In a similar way, are we currently in the first inning of understanding our digital diets? Many of us have been feeling uneasy for years, and it’s time to figure out why. We are all part of the collective Borg If any of us believes we are not addicted to our devices and digital media experiences, we are kidding ourselves. We spoke to over 4,000 people who represent the digital U.S. population, and found that more than half (52%) pick up their devices at least once every waking hour. Not surprisingly, the younger we are, the more likely this behavior exists. 65% of 18-34 years look at their devices every hour 61% of 35-44 years look at their devices every hour 54% 45-54 years look at their devices every hour The gap is not as big as you would think. Therefore, we have to question whether this is a learned behavior like a Pavlovian response. The algorithm is driven by YOU…sort of It’s obvious that the addictive nature of our smartphones is rooted in our apps, and marketers are eager to capture those eyeballs. In fact, eMarketer tells us that 75% of every digital dollar spent will be on social platforms like Google and Facebook. But as an