The Latest: Misinformation + the war in Gaza; WSJ’s full-time focus on Evan; What’s next in speaker race?; Kansas City’s Swift beat

October 11, 2023

Top stories

Every reporter in Washington, D.C. has descended on the Longworth building waiting for House GOP lawmakers to pick speaker nominee (JC Whittington) / Scalise wins Round 1. What's next? (POLITICO)

Wall Street Journal DC bureau chief to focus full-time on Evan Gershkovich release (The Hill) / ‘Today.. I will be moving from DC bureau chief to WSJ assistant editor working full time on the mission to secure the release of our colleague Evan Gershkovich. Let’s hope it is a short-term assignment . #IStandWithEvan’ (Paul Beckett)

ABC war correspondent forced to evacuate from war-torn area in Israel during live broadcast on The View (People) / ‘As air raid sirens went off in Tel Aviv… Norah O'Donnell and the Evening News team…. noticed how even during times of distress, strangers help strangers , ensuring those around them find safety when needed.’ (CBS Evening News) / Sealed off and under siege, Gaza journalists bear witness for the world (Vanity Fair)

False claims around the Israel attacks include recycled videos and a game clip (New York Times) / How to avoid misinformation about the war in Gaza (Poynter) / Elon Musk's X could face expulsion from Europe over Israel-Gaza disinformation , EU official says: 'These are not empty threats' (Insider) / The war in Israel shows how social media's idealistic era has ended (Bloomberg)

Washington Post cuts follow rapid expansion , unmet revenue projections (Washington Post) / ‘... Post employees with 15 years or more at the Post will receive 2 years of salary as part of their buyout offers.’ (Will Sommer) / ‘Context for …buyout program… per interim publisher Patty Stonesifer. Since 2021: Audience: down 28 percent. Subscriptions: down 15 percent (to around 2.5 million). Print revenue: down 10 percent. Digital ads: down 30 percent. (Paul Farhi)

Six months ago NPR left Twitter. The effects have been negligible (Nieman Journalism Lab)

CBS sued by '60 Minutes' producer claiming gender discrimination (Variety)

How the Seattle Times prioritized DEI (Local Media Association)

People’s (mis)trust of doctors can help us understand their (mis)trust of journalists (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Public corruption prosecutions rise where nonprofit news outlets flourish, research shows (Nieman Journalism Lab)

How The Kansas City Star is covering the Taylor Swift beat (Poynter)

What I've learned: Gay Talese (on Frank Sinatra, journalism, and style ) (Esquire)

Press Freedom

National Press Club calls for release of Nigerian journalist (NPC/JI)

China releases Australian journalist three years after arrest (New York Times) / National Press Club statement on freedom for Australian journalist Cheng Lei (NPC/JI)

Sports reporter in Philadelphia loses job over pro-Palestinian comments (The Guardian)

Tips for covering conflict and war with empathy

“Cover the conflict (or the politics) — but focus on the people. Tell their stories with compassion and sympathy. Try to understand their motivations even when you disagree. Find the best available local knowledge, and let it inform your understanding. Remember it’s your job to make people care . Recognize the limits of your role and be humble about what you can change. Never forget that your primary function is to bear witness, and never lose confidence in the value of doing so. These are the essential values of our profession.”

-- Joel Simon, founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative, “What political reporters can learn from war correspondents”

Money in Politics: Reporting on campaign finance and lobbying

Political spending is expected to reach record-breaking heights in the coming year.

Journalists will play a crucial role in informing the public about who and what organizations are funding candidates, ballot measures, and policy debates in Washington, D.C., and state capitals across the country. But campaign finance and lobbying laws are complex and often opaque, posing challenges to journalists assigned with tracking money in politics and the lobbying beat.

To help you with your reporting, the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the nonpartisan research group OpenSecrets are hosting a training on the basics of how to cover campaign finance and lobbying. We invite you to join us for this hour-long session that will take place at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 20.

The training will be taught by OpenSecrets’ research experts Anna Massoglia, editorial and investigations manager, and Pete Quist, deputy research director. Participants will:

Learn how to use the OpenSecrets’ national and state databases to identify who and what organizations are contributing to politicians and their campaigns
Understand the ways that money is funneled into politics, including candidate advocacy groups, political action committees, dark money, and direct donations
Develop skills to uncover which individuals, companies, labor unions, trade associations, and other organizations spend on lobbying
Gain story ideas for the national and state politics-in-money angle

All registered participants will receive a copy of the recording.

Avoid being the office gossip by creating a feedback-rich environment

“By talking to anyone, everyone, or even one person about another colleague who isn’t there to hear the feedback, provide his or her perspective, and engage in joint problem solving, you are undermining the benefits of an open, honest relationship and a feedback-rich culture. ... The more you normalize feedback — both positive and negative, and both giving and receiving — the less likely people will be to look for alternative means to express their frustrations and concerns. Rather than 'saving' feedback for annual performance reviews, make discussions about what someone did well, and what he or she could do differently, a part of every supervision meeting or project debrief . And make sure to give people positive feedback when they offer particularly useful feedback — even if it’s hard to hear.”

-- Deborah Grayson Riegel, author and coach, “Stop complaining about your colleagues behind their backs”

Resources

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

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The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.