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March 11, 2025

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Colleagues,

Good Tuesday morning on this March 11, 2025,

As others buckle to Trump's bullying, the AP holds the line…This is what courage looks like.

That’s the headline over Margaret Sullivan’s take on the AP’s battle with the White House after being denied access weeks ago from events involving President Trump. Sullivan is the former media columnist for The Washington Post and was the fifth public editor of The New York Times and the first woman to hold the position. 

PENTAGON CORRECTION: In Monday’s Connecting, we quoted from CNN Reliable Sources that the AP had been rotated out of its spot in the Pentagon. This is not the case, Washington CoB Anna Johnson said.

RECOVERY WISHES – to our colleague Adophe Bernotas, who marked his 84^th year on Monday by being “pricked, poked and prodded in an emergency room of Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Nokomis, Fla. Stomach issues sent him there. “No cake; I am not allowed to eat, getting minimal nourishment by IV…Confined to bed, I pass time reading emails and answering phone calls of Natal Day greetings.” He wrote overnight to say he’s better now and may get solid food today. Bet he’d appreciate a note of encouragement…

Here’s to a great day – be safe, stay healthy, live it to your fullest.

Paul



As others buckle to Trump's bullying, the AP holds the line…This is what courage looks like.

By Margaret Sullivan

It takes a lot these days to stand up for one’s principles. The retaliation from Trump World is often swift and brutal.

But that’s what the Associated Press is doing right now, and as every day goes by — with more retribution, more threats and more self-protective silence — the more inspiring and unusual it looks.

I already had a soft spot in my heart for Julie Pace, the top editor of the global news organization. She grew up in my hometown of Buffalo; and more importantly, she’s always struck me as a news leader with integrity, good judgment and a moral compass — not exactly universal qualities.

Now I’m even more impressed as the AP has stuck to its guns under attack from the Trump White House.

When Trump unilaterally decided that the Gulf of Mexico would henceforth be known as the Gulf of America, a lot of news organizations and other institutions — including Google and Apple — simply went along.

The AP, because it has a vast international audience, declined to do so. In their stories, at least for the first reference, they continue to use Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging the Trump preference when appropriate. They chose not to update their style book, which many journalists use as a kind of professional Bible, to accommodate the change. They did this not to pick a fight with the president, but for solid reasons having to do with serving their audience.

Retribution from the White House came swiftly. AP reporters and photographers now are denied access to White House briefings and no longer allowed to travel with the president. In some sense, these journalists can no longer do their jobs as well.

It would have been easy enough for the AP to buckle — to just start doing Trump’s bidding, and keep their access.

Instead, the AP is suing the White House on First Amendment and due process grounds. Other news organizations and Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute are showing support with legal filings.

Read more here. Shared by Sylvia Wingfield, Malcolm Ritter.

Your ideas for an AP motto/slogan campaign

Judy Capar - For an AP motto, a variation of Malcolm Browne's quote:

All of the truth all of the time

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David Egner - Accurately informing the world.

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Mike Holmes - Back in the early 80s, AP was looking for slogan suggestions (which may have produced Reporting the World). Columbus COB Jake Booher offered one that I always liked and still works today:

AP - News with Integrity.

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Russell Kaurloto - I took part of one of the slogan and rewrote it:

                 AP News 

"All of the Truth all of the Time" 

                         not 

some of the truth some of the time

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Doug Pizac - Yes, we are in peculiar times that are not only controversial, but at times confrontational too. Like the old saying goes: “The truth will always come out” but the road getting there can be filled with potholes - especially when one is known for and relied on to stay in the middle without changing lanes to the left or right. It’s tough; nonetheless well worth it in the long haul.

Without taking sides, per se, my mottos on the caps and mugs are meant to be plain, straight forward facts on what AP stands for by keeping them simple and easy to remember to avoid any alternative excuse to defend against. The first one though is meant to provoke those who read it into asking what it means to spark an intellectual conversation where we can clarify AP’s core functions and beliefs.

Everyone knows what AI stands for, but what is RI? I mean it to be a new/old way of coming to grips with what is being said and by whom. Instead of relying on a new different type of intelligence. we need to promote old-school thinking - Real Intelligence -- on a united front. 

I hope you agree. 

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Ed Tobias - AP slogan - AP: Truth be told

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John Willis - This is all we need.

Remembering Ross Simpson

Charles Arbogast - 14 years ago, when the company was asking some of us still photographers to do video projects I shot, edited, wrote the very small introduction to a piece on the Ballhawks outside Wrigley Field catching balls that sailed out of the ballpark during batting practice and home runs.

I struggled coming up with the opening script then one morning it came to me. “Welcome to Wrigley Field, where baseball dreams are made, and yield. Let’s go outside these ivy walls and watch the men who chase baseballs.”

My voice was not doing it justice then it dawned on me, Ross Simpson. He was very happy to lend his voice to my project. You can hear his golden voice one more time in the opening here.

‘The Associated Press stays’

Harry Moskos - With what President Trump is doing to the AP is the opposite of an experience I had while AP chief of bureau in Honolulu.

Philippines President Ferinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were on an official visit to America and of course flew through Honolulu.

Hawaii Gov. John Burns had a reception for them and invited me to attend. As they were greeting guests, I stood behind them and the governor taking notes.

(Not directly behind them but several feet in back of them.)

I was then approached by a man who identified himself as from the State Department and wanted to know who I was.

When I answered, he replied I had to leave. I responded by saying the governor invited me and I’ll leave if he asks me to. At that point, Imelda Marcos turned around and said, “What is the problem here.”

I explained what was going on and without hesitation she turned to the State Department official and said, “The Associated Press stays.”

He left. I stayed.

(Incidentally on another visit through Honolulu I had a one-on-one interview with Imelda.)

What Trump is doing is simply awful!

An AP photographer sees the plight of Palestinians in one man carrying a refrigerator through the rubble

Residents of the West Bank urban refugee camp of Nur Shams evacuate their homes and carry their belongings as the Israeli military continues its operation in the area on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

By  MAJDI MOHAMMED

NUR SHAMS, West Bank (AP) — Majdi Mohammed has been working as a photojournalist for The Associated Press for 19 years in the West Bank. He lives in the village of Salem, east of the city of Nablus. This what he had to say about this extraordinary photo.

Why shoot this photo?



The distance between Nablus and Tulkarem is approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles), but the trip is compounded by the Israeli military checkpoints that block the main roads, forcing me to take rough, unpaved dirt roads, which adds more difficulty and time to the journey. On the way, news came in that the Israeli army had decided to demolish 17 homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp for Palestinians, giving its residents only two hours to enter their homes and take their personal belongings before the detonations started.

Read more here.

Future of photo archives

Dennis Whitehead - Good piece in The Washington Post about photo archives. Raises the question of what to do with a lifetime’s work stored in file cabinets? Same goes for boxes filled with research papers gathered for books and stories.

Personally, I culled some 1,200 35mm color slides for scanning and digital preservation; dreading the upcoming 1,200 metadata entries that will follow, Then, what to do with the physical photos and the digital files? Not crazy about photo agencies. Photoshelter? A collection website?

Same goes for the research papers. As they mostly deal with WWII topics, I’ve offered them to several repositories without luck. Going to try a local university today.

Curious how others are handling their personal archives.

Inside the hospital after Reagan was shot

Margaret Lillard - I had a start when I read Ross Simpson's lovely remembrance for a few reasons, primarily in relation to the shooting of President Reagan. And while I don't feel the need to contradict the item in Connecting, for the record I'd like to share that I don't think it's correct that he was the only reporter to gain access to the hospital - Ken Bode of NBC did as well.

I was finishing my junior year at Tennessee and taking a course in broadcast law, and focused my term-end paper on the legal implications of covering breaking news.

My sister Donna worked at Mutual's sports department at the time and gave me contact information for several people, including Ross, that I might interview. Don Budd of the news department turned me down on behalf of the reporters; I had an off-the-record conversation with a couple of their lawyers.

Bode gave me a phone interview in which he described getting into the hospital and seeing Reagan's chest X-ray. My questions to him focused on why NBC didn't report that, so I didn't ask about the erroneous later report that Reagan had "open heart" surgery.

I think Ross was the genesis of that report (see 7th graf, "The bullet's proximity ..."), which was why I wanted to talk to him - and, it was hinted, why he wasn't allowed to talk to me. My understanding was that he had accurately if possibly misleadingly said that Reagan had "open chest" surgery, which was then inaccurately repeated.

Again, I don't see any need to rehash this in Connecting. I just hate to see Ken squeezed out, as he was very generous to me and, in his later career, many other budding journalists. I owe him this acknowledgement.

Complete AP report on Canadian results

John Wylie – The New Yori Times published the "in-depth" bulleting on the Canadian results shortly before AP's, but AP's was far more complete for readers in the US, Canada, Europe and the rest of the year. The hockey glove quote from the new Canadian leader was missing from NYT, but there in full context from AP.

Doubling down on women’s sports coverage

By Patrick Maks

As women’s sports continue to set new records for attendance and viewership, Global Sports Editor Ricardo Zuniga explains how AP is doubling down on its industry-leading coverage of the biggest stories, teams, stars and leagues:

Describe AP’s coverage of women’s sports. What should audiences know about what we cover and how?

The Associated Press has a longstanding commitment to women’s sports — highlighted by our coverage of the WNBA, women’s college basketball and our Top 25 poll — that has set the standard in the industry for decades. Over the past few years we have expanded on that strong foundation with significant investment to add regular coverage of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and other sports, going beyond game coverage with deep storytelling in all formats.

This has allowed for a wide range of storytelling opportunities that are deeply unique to AP. I’d call out a couple:



• Embedding a reporter with the WNBA’s New York Liberty on a cross-country flight to chronicle the difficulties that professional basketball players face traveling on commercial instead of charter like their NBA counterparts;
• Delivering an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the PWHL’s inaugural game;
• Covering the launch of the 3-on-3 Unrivaled basketball league in all-formats;
• Scoring exclusive interviews with Brazil soccer great Marta and ski legend Lindsey Vonn;
• Reporting the inspiring story of a teenager looking to make it in the world of professional bull riding;
• And traveling to Mexico to cover a regional women’s soccer tournament, among many other stories and events.

Why is it important for AP to invest in covering these stories?

Audiences have been asking for broader and deeper coverage of women’s sports for some time — and AP has been at the forefront of the drive to provide it. We’ve witnessed the meteoric rise in popularity of the women’s NCAA Tournament and WNBA, with record attendance and ratings for both, as well as the steady rise in women’s soccer, golf and tennis. Most of the biggest names at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris were women – Simone Biles, Coco Gauff, Sha’Carri Richardson, Katie Ledecky. Still, we know coverage of women’s sports across the media industry lags behind men’s coverage and AP is uniquely situated to help bridge that gap. Our coverage goes beyond the games and focuses not only on the news and the challenges that women face in sports, but we aim to elevate their stories and bring them to the widest possible audience.

What can customers and audiences expect AP to deliver in the months ahead?

Our coverage of the women’s NCAA Tournament this month will continue to grow with more dedicated resources. We’ll also provide wide coverage of the Women’s Soccer European Championship in Switzerland this summer, with multiple reporters and photographers across the country, as well as full coverage of the Women’s Champions League final in Lisbon. We continue to chronicle the growth of the PWHL and NWSL, while gearing up for some of the 2026 Winter Games profiling the women who will be the biggest names in Milano-Cortina.

Anything else to add?

I am pleased to share that we have created a Sports internship this year focused on women in sports, a position that will provide a unique opportunity for an early-career journalist to report on some of the biggest news and stories around women’s sports.

See a slideshow featuring some of the top AP images from women’s sports by clicking here.

Connecting sky shot

Hank Ackerman – Sunrise at St. Simons Island, Ga.

Jet d-Eau

Chris Connell - We’re just back from visiting our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters in Geneva. Of course, we see the Jet d’Eau every visit but this was the first time with a rainbow.

Connecting wishes Happy Birthday

Molly Gordy

Kernan Turner

Stories of interest

Washington Post columnist quits after her opinion piece criticizing owner Jeff Bezos is rejected (AP)

By DAVID BAUDER

A columnist who has worked at The Washington Post for four decades resigned on Monday after she said the newspaper’s management decided not to run her commentary critical of owner Jeff Bezos’ new editorial policy.

“It breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave,” Ruth Marcus, who has worked at the newspaper since 1984, wrote in a resignation letter.

Her exit is the latest fallout from the billionaire owner’s directive that the Post narrow the topics covered by its opinion section to personal liberties and the free market. The newspaper’s opinions editor, David Shipley, had already resigned because of the shift.

The storied newspaper has been in a free fall, financially and editorially, over the past year. Marcus, who worked in the news and opinion departments during her career, is “the bedrock of The Washington Post, embodying the history of the place as well as the talent and accomplishments of its journalists,” said Paul Farhi, a former media reporter there.

Marcus said that the Post’s publisher, Will Lewis, declined to run her column, which she described as “respectfully dissenting” from Bezos’ edict. It was the first time in nearly 20 years of writing columns that she’s had one killed, she said.

Read more here. Shared by Dennis Conrad, Myron Belkind, Michael Rubin, Adolphe Bernotas.

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The Future of News Looks Niche (New York Times)

By Edmund Lee

In 2013, Jessica Lessin, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, left the paper to start a competing publication, The Information.

A few years later, her fledgling newsroom had grown to nearly two dozen reporters and editors and booked more than $20 million in sales, as she revealed in a profile I wrote for The Times’s Sunday Business. She says she has since doubled her editorial staff and continued to stay profitable, with revenue growing 30 percent in 2024 over the previous year.

But it’s her investments outside of The Information that are gaining attention these days.

Her company Lessin Media has put money into Semafor, The Ankler, the former Business Insider editor Nicholas Carlson’s Dynamo, Kevin Delaney’s Charter Works and other titles at a time when the news business appears bleaker than before. Lessin, however, is optimistic.

I caught up with the entrepreneur about her latest media bet, the tennis publication Racquet magazine, and what she thinks about the changing news landscape. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Read more here. Shared by Michael Rubin.

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Trump Lashes Out At Reporter On Air Force One After Triggering Putin Question (Mediaite)

Story by Tommy Christopher

President Donald Trump was triggered by Washington Post White House correspondent Michael Birnbaum when he asked a pointed question about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has taken years of heat over his relationship with Putin, which has only intensified over the course of his nascent second term as his handling of the Ukraine war has outraged critics across the political and journalistic spectrum.

That criticism intensified after the Trump-Zelensky clash in the Oval Office last Friday — which devolved into a stunning outright shouting match and ended with Zelensky’s ejection from the White House. As Trump expresses confidence Putin will make peace, Russia has continued “bombing the hell” out of Ukraine, in Trump’s own words.

The Putin criticisms have also long been a sore spot, and were the subject of a famous moment at his presidential debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Read more here. Shared by Doug Pizac.

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A Political Reporter Takes Her Scoops to YouTube (New York Times)

By Jessica Testa

After a few years of writing what she called a “niche newsletter for Washington insiders,” the political journalist Tara Palmeri decided she wanted to reach a wider audience. A much wider audience.

She’s taking her reporting to YouTube.

Ms. Palmeri said she is leaving the start-up Puck to strike out on her own, focusing much of her effort on the streaming giant. She joins a slew of other journalists who have left news organizations to build their own businesses around podcasts and newsletters.

But in politics, the most successful of these independent media stars have strong views and clear allegiances. Conservative hosts like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly remain atop the podcasting charts, and anti-Trump media collectives are rapidly growing; two of them, The Contrarian and MeidasTouch, each have more than half a million newsletter subscribers, many of them paid.

That is not Ms. Palmeri.

“I’m not on a crusade,” said Ms. Palmeri, 37, the type of political journalist who proudly abstains from voting in elections while she’s covering them in order to maintain objectivity with her audience. “I’m not sold on either party, and that’s why I don’t really have a lot of friends.”

Read more here. Shared by Richard Chady.

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Infowars Reporter ‘Brutally Murdered’ in Texas: ‘Blood All Over the Parking Lot’ (Mediaite)

Charlie Nash

Jamie White, a reporter for Alex Jones’ Infowars, was killed in a suspected homicide outside of his home in Austin, Texas just before midnight on Sunday.

“We are deeply saddened to inform you that Infowars Reporter Jamie White was brutally murdered around midnight Sunday night due, in part, to the policies of the Soros Austin, TX D.A. Jose Garza,” announced Jones in a social media post on Monday. “We pledge that Jamie’s tragic death will not be in vain, and those responsible for this senseless violence will be brought to justice.”

Austin Police Department found White outside his apartment complex at around 11:59 p.m. on Sunday with “obvious signs of trauma.” While White was quickly transported to the hospital, he died of his injuries soon after arriving. Austin police are investigating White’s death as a homicide.

Read more here. Shared by Paul Albright, Doug Pizac.

AP classes, by the year...

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a listing of Connecting colleagues who have shared the year and the bureau where they started with the AP. If you would like to share your own information, I will include it in later postings. Current AP staffers are also welcome to share their information. We include deceased staffers when their information is shared.)

1951 - Norm Abelson (Boston)

1953 – Charles Monzella (Huntington, WVa)

1955 – Henry Bradsher (Atlanta), Paul Harrington (Boston), Joe McGowan (Cheyenne)

1957 - Louis Uchitelle (Philadelphia)

1958 – Roy Bolch (Kansas City), Robert Dubill (deceased) (Buffalo)

1959 – Charlie Bruce (Montgomery)

1960 – Claude Erbsen (New York), Carl Leubsdorf (New Orleans), Harry Moskos (Albuquerque)

1961 – Peter Arnett (Jakarta, Indonesia), Strat Douthat (Charleston. WVa), Warren Lerude (San Diego), Ed Staats (Austin)

1962 – Paul Albright (Cheyenne), Malcolm Barr Sr. (Honolulu), Myron Belkind (New York), Dave Mazzarella (Newark), Peggy Simpson (Dallas), Kelly Smith Tunney (Miami)

1963 – Hal Bock (New York), Jeff Williams (Portland OR)

1964 – Rachel Ambrose (Indianapolis), Larry Hamlin (Oklahoma City), John Lengel (Los Angeles), Ron Mulnix (Denver), Lyle Price (San Francisco), Lew Simons (New York), Arlene Sposato (New York), Karol Stonger (Indianapolis), Hilmi Toros (New York)

1965 – Bob Dobkin (Pittsburgh), Harry Dunphy (Denver), John Gibbons (New York), Bob Greene (Kansas City), Jim Luther (Nashville), Larry Margasak (Harrisburg), Rich Oppel (Tallahassee), Jim Rubin (Trenton)

1966 – Shirley Christian (Kansas City), Mike Doan (Portland, OR), Edie Lederer (New York), Nancy Shipley (Nashville), Mike Short (Los Angeles), Marty Thompson (Seattle), Nick Ut (Saigon), Kent Zimmerman (Chicago)

1967 – Dan Berger (Los Angeles), Adolphe Bernotas (Concord), Lou Boccardi (New York), Linda Deutsch (deceased) (Los Angeles), Don Harrison (Los Angeles), Frank Hawkins (New York), Doug Kienitz (Cheyenne), David Liu (New York), Bruce Lowitt (Los Angeles), Chuck McFadden (Los Angeles), Martha Malan (Minneapolis), Bill Morrissey (Buffalo), Larry Paladino (Detroit), Michael Putzel (Raleigh), Bruce Richardson (Chicago), Richard Shafer (Baltimore), Victor Simpson (Newark), Michael Sniffen (Newark), Kernan Turner (Portland, Ore)

1968 – Lee Balgemann (Chicago), John Eagan (San Francisco), Earleen Fisher (Indianapolis), Joe Galu (Albany/Troy), Peter Gehrig (Frankfurt), Charles Hanley (Albany), Jerry Harkavy (Portland, Maine), Herb Hemming (New York), Brian King (Albany), Samuel Koo (New York), Karren Mills (Minneapolis), Michael Rubin (Los Angeles), Rick Spratling (Salt Lake City), Barry Sweet (Seattle)

1969 - Ann Blackman (New York), Ford Burkhart (Philadelphia), Harry Cabluck (Pittsburgh), Dick Carelli (Charleston, WVa), Dennis Coston (Richmond), Ron Frehm (New York), Mary V. Gordon (Newark), Daniel Q. Haney (Portland, Maine), Mike Harris (Chicago), Brad Martin (Kansas City), David Minthorn (Frankfurt), Cynthia Rawitch (Los Angeles), Bob Reid (Charlotte), Mike Reilly (New York), Doug Tucker (Tulsa), Bill Wertz (Minneapolis), Jim Willse (New York), Bill Winter (Helena)

1970 – Richard Boudreaux (New York), David Briscoe (Manila), Sibby Christensen (New York), Richard Drew (San Francisco), Bob Egelko (Los Angeles), James Gerstenzang (San Francisco), Steve (Indy) Herman (Indianapolis), Tim Litsch (New York), Lee Margulies (Los Angeles), Arthur Max (Tel Aviv), Chris Pederson (Salt Lake City), Brendan Riley (San Francisco), Chuck Robinson (Indianapolis), Larry Thorson (Philadelphia)

1971 – Harry Atkins (Detroit), Jim Bagby (Kansas City), Larry Blasko (Chicago), Jim Carlson (Milwaukee), Jim Carrier (New Haven), Chris Connell (Newark), Bill Gillen (New York), Bill Hendrick (Birmingham), John Lumpkin (Dallas), Kendal Weaver (Montgomery)

1972 – Hank Ackerman (New York), Rod Davis (Dallas), Bob Fick (St. Louis), Joe Frazier (Portland, Ore.), Terry Ganey (St. Louis), Mike Graczyk (Detroit), Denis Gray (Albany), Lindel Hutson (Little Rock), Brent Kallestad (Sioux Falls), Tom Kent (Hartford), Nolan Kienitz (Dallas), Kent Kilpatrick (Detroit), Andy Lippman (Phoenix), Ellen Miller (Helena), Mike Millican (Hartford), Bruce Nathan (New York), Ginny Pitt Sherlock (Boston), Lew Wheaton (Richmond)

1973 - Jerry Cipriano (New York), Susan Clark (New York), Norm Clarke (Cincinnati), Marty Crutsinger (Miami), Steve Fox (Los Angeles), Joe Galianese (East Brunswick), Merrill Hartson (Richmond), Mike Hendricks (Albany), Tom Journey (Tucson), Steve Loeper (Los Angeles), Jesus Medina (New York), Tom Slaughter (Sioux Falls), Jim Spehar (Denver), Paul Stevens (Albany), Jeffrey Ulbrich (Cheyenne), Owen Ullmann (Detroit), Suzanne Vlamis (New York), John Willis (Omaha), Evans Witt (San Francisco)

1974 – Norman Black (Baltimore), David Espo (Cheyenne), Dan George (Topeka), Robert Glass (Philadelphia), Steve Graham (Helena), Tim Harper (Milwaukee), Elaine Hooker (Hartford), Sue Price Johnson (Charlotte), Dave Lubeski (Washington), Janet McConnaughey (Washington), Lee Mitgang (New York), Barry Shlachter (Tokyo), Bud Weydert (Toledo), Marc Wilson (Little Rock) 

1975 – Peter Eisner (Columbus), Charles Hill (Charlotte), Jim Limbach (Washington), Bill McCloskey (Washington), David Powell (New York), Eileen Alt Powell (Milwaukee)

1976 – Brad Cain (Chicago), Judith Capar (Philadelphia), Dick Chady (Albany), David Crary (Jackson), Steve Crowley (Washington), David Egner (Oklahoma City), Carole Feldman (Newark), Steve Hindy (Newark), Marc Humbert (Albany), Steven Hurst (Columbus), Richard Lowe (Nashville), Mike Mcphee (Boston), John Nolan (Nashville), Guy Palmiotto (New York), Charlotte Porter (Minneapolis), Chuck Wolfe (Charlotte)

1977 – Bryan Brumley (Washington), Robert Burns (Jefferson City), Charles Campbell (Nashville), Carolyn Carlson (Atlanta), Dave Carpenter (Philadelphia), Solange De Santis (New York), Jim Drinkard (Jefferson City), Ken Herman (Dallas), Mike Holmes (Des Moines), Doug Jeffries (New York), Brad Kalbfeld (New York), Larry Kilman (Atlanta), Scott Kraft (Jefferson City), John Kreiser (New York), Peter Leabo (Dallas), Kevin LeBoeuf (Los Angeles), Ellen Nimmons (Minneapolis), Joyce Rosenberg (New York), Dan Sewell (Buffalo), Estes Thompson (Richmond), David Tirrell-Wysocki (Concord)

1978 – Jane Anderson (Providence), Vinnie D'Alessandro (Hartford), Tom Eblen (Louisville), Ruth Gersh (Richmond), Monte Hayes (Caracas), Doug Pizac (Los Angeles), Charles Richards (Dallas), Reed Saxon (Los Angeles), Steve Wilson (Boston)

1979 – Jim Abrams (Tokyo), Peter Banda (Albuquerque), Brian Bland (Los Angeles), Scotty Comegys (Chicago), John Daniszewski (Philadelphia), Frances D’Emilio (San Francisco), Pat Fergus (Albany), Brian Friedman (Des Moines), Sally Hale (Dallas), Susana Hayward (New York), Jill Lawrence (Harrisburg), Warren Levinson (New York), Joe Madison (New York), Barry Massey (Kansas City), Phillip Rawls (Nashville), John Rice (Carson City), Kurt Rossi (New York), Linda Sargent (Little Rock), Joel Stashenko (Albany), Robert Wielaard (Brussels)

1980 – Alan Adler (Cleveland), Christopher Bacey (New York), Diane M. Balk (Indianapolis), Jeff Barnard (Providence), Mark Duncan (Cleveland), Bill Kaczor (Tallahassee), Mitchell Landsberg (Reno), Mike Mazzo (East Brunswick), Kevin Noblet (New Orleans), Lee Perryman (Tampa), Jim Rowley (Baltimore), David Speer (Jackson), Hal Spencer (Providence), Jo Steck (Los Angeles), Carol J. Williams (Seattle)

1981 – Paul Davenport (Phoenix), Dan Day (Milwaukee), John Flesher (Raleigh), Debra Hale-Shelton (Little Rock), Len Iwanski (Bismarck), Ed McCullough (Albany), Drusilla Menaker (Philadelphia), Kim Mills (New York), Mark Mittelstadt (Des Moines), Susan Okula (Hartford), Roland Rochet (New York), Lee Siegel (Seattle), Marty Steinberg (Baltimore), Bill Vogrin (Kansas City)

1982 – Dorothy Abernathy (Little Rock), Al Behrman (Cincinnati), Tom Cohen (Jefferson City), John Epperson (Chicago), Ric Feld (Atlanta), Kiki Lascaris Georgio (New York), Nick Geranios (Helena), Mike Gracia (Washington), Howard Gros (New Orleans), Mark Humphrey (Nashville), Dan Juric (East Brunswick), Robert Kimball (New York), Rob Kozloff (Detroit), Bill Menezes (Kansas City), David Ochs (New York), Eric Risberg (San Francisco), Cecilia White (Los Angeles)

1983 – Elise Amendola (Boston), Edward L. Birk (Boston), Donna Cassata (Albany), Scott Charton (Little Rock), Sue Cross (Columbus), Mark Elias (Chicago), Mary Esch (Albany), Doug Fisher (Columbus), Alan Fram (Newark), David Ginsburg (Washington), Lisa Hamm-Greenawalt, Diana Heidgerd (Miami), Kevin McGill (New Orleans), Sheila Norman-Culp (New York), Carol Esler Ochs (New York), Jim Reindl (Detroit), Amy Sancetta (Philadelphia), Angie Lamoli Silvestry (New Orleans), Rande Simpson (New York), Dave Skidmore (Milwaukee), Barbara Worth (New York)

1984 – David Beard (Chicago), Owen Canfield (Oklahoma City), Wayne Chin (Washington), Jack Elliott (Oklahoma City), Jim Heintz (Columbus), Candice Hughes (Dallas), Danny Johnston (Little Rock), Kelly P. Kissel (New Orleans), Joe Macenka (Richmond), Paul Newberry (Atlanta), Eva Parziale (San Francisco), Walt Rastetter (New York), Malcolm Ritter (New York), Keith Robinson (Columbus), Cliff Schiappa (Kansas City), David Sedeño (Dallas), Andrew Selsky (Cheyenne), Pedro Sotomayor (Los Angeles), Patty Woodrow (Washington)

1985 – Dennis Conrad (Cleveland), George Garties (Los Angeles), Beth Grace (Columbus), Betty Kumpf Pizac (Los Angeles)

1986 – Joni Baluh Beall (Richmond), David Beard (Jackson), Tom Coyne (Columbia, SC), Dave DeGrace (Milwaukee), Alan Flippen (Louisville), Paul Geitner (Montgomery), Jim Gerberich (San Francisco), Howard Goldberg (New York), Mark Hamrick (Dallas), Sandy Kozel (Washington), Arlene Levinson (Boston), Robert Meyers (London), David Morris (Harrisburg), Susan Ragan (New York), Bob Seavey (Lima), Barbara Woike (New York)

1987 – Donna Abu-Nasr (Beirut), Jim Anderson (Mexico City), Dave Bauder (Albany), Bob Bellafiore (Albany), Chuck Burton (Charlotte), Ted Duncombe (Philadelphia), Beth Harris (Indianapolis), Lynne Harris (New York), Steven L. Herman (Charleston, WVa), Elaine Kurtenbach (Tokyo), Rosemarie Mileto (New York), John Rogers (Los Angeles), Julia Rubin (Denver)

1988 – Chris Carola (Albany), Peg Coughlin (Pierre), Frank Eltman (New York), Kathy Gannon (Islamabad), Steve Hart (Washington), Melissa Jordan (Sioux Falls), Margaret Lillard (Nashville), Bill Pilc (New York), Philip Rosenbaum (New York), Kelley Shannon (Dallas), Darlene Superville (Newark)

1989 – Charlie Arbogast (Trenton), Susan Boyle (New York), John Braunreiter (Milwaukee), Ted Bridis (Oklahoma City), Katie Fairbank (Indianapolis), Paul Randall Dickerson (Nashville), Ron Fournier (Little Rock), Ann Gibson (Richmond)

1990 – Frank Fisher (Jackson), Ken Giglio (Washington), Kathryn Loomans (Washington), Dan Perry (Bucharest), Steve Sakson (Baltimore), Sean Thompson (New York)

1991 – Amanda Kell (Richmond), Suzanne Mast Lee (Washingon), Santiago Lyon (Cairo), Lisa Pane (Hartford), Wayne Partlow (Washington), Ricardo Reif (Caracas), Bill Sikes (Buffalo)

1992 – Emery P. Dalesio (Trenton), Jennifer Garske (Washington), Kerry Huggard (New York), Wilfredo Lee (Washington)

1993 – Connie Farrow (St. Louis), Shawn Pogatchnik (London), Jim Salter (St. Louis), Tim Sullivan (New York), Adam Yeomans (Tallahassee)

1994 - Glen Johnson (Boston), Ralph Siegel (Trenton)

1995 – Elaine Thompson (Houston), Donna Tommelleo (Hartford)

1996 – Patricia N. Casillo (New York), Burt Herman (Sacramento), John Khin (New York)

1997 – J. David Ake (Chicago), Martha Bellisle (Carson City), Chuck Burton (Charlotte), Pamela Collins (Dallas), Rachel La Corte (Miami), Madhu Krishnappa Maron (New York), Jim Suhr (Detroit), Jennifer Yates (Baltimore)

1998 – Alan Clendenning (New Orleans), Guthrie Collin (Albany), David Koenig (Dallas), Mitch Stacy (London), Richard Turkheimer (New Orleans)

1999 – Melinda Deslatte (Raleigh), Stacey Plaisance (New Orleans), Laura Rauch (Las Vegas), Terry Spencer (Miami)

2000 – Carrie Antlfinger (Milwaukee), Betsy Blaney (Dallas), Gary Gentile (Los Angeles), Ken Miller (Oklahoma City), Rhonda Shafner (New York), Tom Tait (Las Vegas)

2001 - Mike Weissenstein (New York)

2002 - Michael Casey (Jakarta)

2003 - Valerie Komor (New York)

2004 - Jim Baltzelle (Dallas)

2005 – Ric Brack (Chicago), Richard Jacobsen (Mexico City), Frank Jordans (London)

2006 – Jon Gambrell (Little Rock)

2008 - Steve Braun (Washington)

2011 - Joseph B. Frederick (New York)

2013 - Alex Sanz (Atlanta)

2014 - Peter Costanzo (New York)

2024 - Gabriela Aoun (San Diego)

Today in History - March 11, 2025

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, March 11, the 70th day of 2025. There are 295 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake and resulting tsunami struck Japan’s northeastern coast, killing nearly 20,000 people and severely damaging the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

Also on this date:

In 1918, what were believed to be the first confirmed U.S. cases of a deadly global flu pandemic were reported among U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas; 46 soldiers would die. (The influenza outbreak would ultimately kill an estimated 20 million to 40 million people worldwide.)

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act, which provided war supplies to Allied countries during World War II.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Konstantin Chernenko as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.

In 2004, three days before general elections in Spain, 10 bombs exploded in quick succession inside commuter trains in Madrid, killing 193 people in an attack linked to al-Qaida-inspired militants.

In 2006, former Serb leader Slobodan Milošević was found dead at age 64 of a heart attack in his prison cell in the Netherlands, abruptly ending his four-year U.N. war crimes trial.

In 2010, a federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the use of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency.

In 2012, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales shot and killed 16 Afghan villagers — mostly women and children — as they slept. (Bales later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that he said would help defeat the virus and nurse the economy back to health. Lower-income Americans would receive up to $1,400 in direct payments, along with extended unemployment benefits.

Today’s birthdays: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 94. Former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 91. Musician Flaco Jimenez (FLAH’-koh hee-MEH’-nez) is 86. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 75. Actor Elias Koteas (ee-LY’-uhs koh-TAY’-uhs) is 64. Actor Alex Kingston is 62. Actor John Barrowman is 58. Singer Lisa Loeb is 57. Actor Terrence Howard is 56. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer Becky Hammon is 48. Rock musicians Benji and Joel Madden (Good Charlotte; The Madden Brothers) are 46. Singer LeToya Luckett is 44. Actor Thora Birch is 43. Actor Jodie Comer is 32.

Got a photo or story to share?

Connecting is a daily newsletter published Monday through Friday that reaches 2,000 retired and former Associated Press employees, present-day employees, and news industry and journalism school colleagues. It began in 2013. Past issues can be found by clicking Connecting Archive in the masthead. Its author, Paul Stevens, retired from the AP in 2009 after a 36-year career as a newsman in Albany and St. Louis, correspondent in Wichita, chief of bureau in Albuquerque, Indianapolis and Kansas City, and Central Region vice president based in Kansas City.

Got a story to share? A favorite memory of your AP days? Don't keep them to yourself. Share with your colleagues by sending to Ye Olde Connecting Editor. And don't forget to include photos!

Here are some suggestions:

- Connecting "selfies" - a word and photo self-profile of you and your career, and what you are doing today. Both for new members and those who have been with us a while.

- Second chapters - You finished a great career. Now tell us about your second (and third and fourth?) chapters of life.

- Spousal support - How your spouse helped in supporting your work during your AP career. 

- My most unusual story - tell us about an unusual, off the wall story that you covered.

- "A silly mistake that you make"- a chance to 'fess up with a memorable mistake in your journalistic career.

- Multigenerational AP families - profiles of families whose service spanned two or more generations.

- Volunteering - benefit your colleagues by sharing volunteer stories - with ideas on such work they can do themselves.

- First job - How did you get your first job in journalism?

- Most unusual place a story assignment took you.

Paul Stevens

Editor, Connecting newsletter

paulstevens46@gmail.com