Skip Navigation

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

The Purple Buck masthead

Insights into WITF’s newsroom and an invitation to join in the pursuit of trustworthy journalism.

Subscribe to The Purple Buck

Hidden
Groups

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Welcome to The Purple Buck, WITF’s new, weekly journalism email newsletter. 

We’re glad you’re here. It’ll give us a chance to talk about the massive amounts of news you come across every day from dozens of different sources, and to share ideas on what makes for trustworthy news that can strengthen communities and promote civic participation and civil dialogue. We’ll also bring you inside the WITF newsroom in ways we’ve never done before, letting you know what goes into journalism decisions and asking for your thoughts.

Mostly, you’ll be hearing from me, Scott Blanchard, director of journalism here. But other writers will take turns along the way. As we get started, feel free to email me with any questions, concerns, frustrations or success stories about where you’re finding credible news. I’m at scott_blanchard@witf.org

And if your first question is “What’s the deal with the name?” — the answer is right here.

Catch up on past editions

April 22: Getting a cross-section of perspectives matters

April 15: On that NPR liberal-bias column people are talking about…

April 8: Takeaways from our unusual candidate forum

April 1: Despite violent threat, journalists kept doing their jobs

March 25: How slowing down can lead to better journalism

March 18: How this Congressional candidate forum will be different

March 11: In Red Lion, great conversation — and questions for us

March 4: A newsroom listens to its community’s pain, and acts

Feb. 26: High schoolers embrace the challenge of news judgment

Feb. 19: Meet WITF’s new democracy beat reporter, Jordan Wilkie

Feb. 12: Covering a campaign speech, differently

Feb. 5: We’re going cross-country for insight on Pa.

Jan. 29: AI is part of this WITF effort. Here’s a look at how it will work

Jan. 22: A new, easy way to get your election questions answered

Jan. 15: What we (and facts) are up against

Jan. 8: Wading in to social media comments

Dec. 18: What we missed in the Harrisburg Palestine rally story

Dec. 11: Can we do better at covering politics amid polarization?

Dec. 4: How often do you just scan headlines?

Nov. 27: A short rant about lying and journalism

Nov. 20: What’s the deal with ‘couldn’t be reached for comment’?

Nov. 13: ‘It made me cry’

Nov. 6: WITF’s election conflict of interest, and how we’ll handle it

Oct. 30: Should journalists change to address lack of trust?

Oct. 23: Listening in Lititz

Oct. 16: An airport security scare, and lessons learned

Oct. 9: Live theater + journalism

Oct. 2: How will we cover the 2024 election?

Sept. 25: An artist’s thank-you and its deeper meaning at WITF News

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »