August 21, 2023

■ A tropical storm and an earthquake: Southern California stations cover two natural events in one day (AdWeek) 

■ Bloomberg shakes up leadership team, overhauls board (Axios) / ‘Mike Bloomberg anoints two senior executives, hinting at succession plans’ (Ben Mullin) / ‘Per an internal email to staff, JP Zammitt is the new president of Bloomberg LP. Patti Roskill is BLP’s new Chief Financial Officer, Vlad Kliatchko is Bloomberg's new CEO. Mark Carney is the new chair of the board of directors.’ (Max Tani)

■ FCC: Maui communications restoration continues (Next TV) / Why climate experts are criticizing a Hawaii headline from ABC News (Poynter) / How journalists in Hawaii are covering (and coping with) the Maui wildfires (Poynter) 

■ Donald Trump says he will skip Republican presidential primary debates (Associated Press via Hollywood Reporter) / Fox News preps for first Republican debate, with or without Trump (Wall Street Journal) / Trump to release taped interview with Tucker Carlson, skipping GOP debate (Washington Post) 

■ For an Atlanta reporter, a Trump scoop long in the making (New York Times) / ‘Asked the morning after Mr. Trump’s indictment whether he would now leave the story to the national press, Mr. Chidi put down his cup of coffee and thought for a moment. “Hell, no,” he said. “I want to compete with those guys. ...’ (Patrick Howell O’Neill)

■ Republican candidate told associates Newsmax tried to make him pay for coverage (Semafor) / ‘This is actually a very serious allegation against Newsmax, which is under huge financial pressure right now from Dominion and Smartmatic’ (Ben Smith) / Newsmax denies report alleging they tried to shake down Vivek Ramaswamy (Mediaite)

■ Former Republican FCC chair is the latest to call for hearing into license renewal for Fox’s WTXF Philadelphia (TV News Check)

■ Publishers see dramatic drop in Facebook referral traffic as the social platform signals exit from news business (CNN) / Meta’s Threads app to launch web version as rivalry with X enters new stage (Wall Street Journal) 

■ NABJ acknowledges COVID cases; group to ‘continue to monitor this situation’ (journal-isms) 

■ NPR's podcast and programming chief Anya Grundmann to leave after 30 years (NPR) 

■ Don Lemon says he feels ‘vindicated’ after Chris Licht's CNN exit (Hollywood Reporter) 

■ What’s it take to make a great daily newsletter? Axios’ Kendall Baker is planning to bring one to Yahoo Sports (Nieman Journalism Lab) 

■ The Columbia J-School wants to help its alums in nonprofit news pay back their student loans (Nieman Journalism Lab) 

■ Escaped inmate caught after walking past WBAL-TV news crew during manhunt (Baltimore Banner)

■ Photographer details the horror and hope of documenting the war in Ukraine (PetaPixel)

■ For cable news, UFO story has ratings payoff — and reporting pitfalls (Washington Post) 

Press freedom

■ Court documents suggest reason for police raid of Kansas newspaper (Associated Press. via POLITICO) / Police accused raided Kansas newspaper of lying to get records. A reporter used public info. (NBC News) / The initial online search spurring a raid on a Kansas paper was legal, a state agency says (Associated Press) / Kansas newspaper is talk of town, and not just for getting raided (New York Times) 

■ What's at stake as two Republicans in Congress push resolution on how media cover shootings (The Tennessean) 

■ Pittsburgh reporter sues Allegheny County over jail ‘gag order’ (90.5 WESA) 

■ Dangerous threats to local press freedom (Columbia Journalism Review) / ‘In February, I wrote for CJR about how press threats in the U.S. could be thought of as a pattern of concentric geographic circles … since then, we've seen several sharp new threats in the hyperlocal "circle," most recently the raid at the Marion County Record in Kansas.’ (Jon Allsop)

Need to verify the rank of a dead veteran? Wondering about access to New York criminal records? Trying to find the maiden name of a twice-married woman? For journalists, knowing where to look – without waiting on a public information request response – is key. 

Join us to learn from award-winning investigator Caryn Baird, who will present a practical working model of public records research based on her years of experience at the Tampa Bay Times. Baird is a researcher for Politifact and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.



Registration is open for this virtual program, which will take place on Friday, Sept. 15, at 11:30 a.m. ET over Zoom.

Participants will gain: 



• A working knowledge of public records that exist online and where to find them
• Strategies for efficient independent public record searches
• Guidance on practical searches for more common fact-checks 

This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco and Holly Butcher Grant. Send us your questions and suggestions for topics to cover.

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