The Latest: NYT vs. NAJA; ‘She Said’ publicity & the Weinstein trial; Life after Fox

August 29, 2022

■ They were some of the last journalists at their papers . Then came the layoffs. (Washington Post) / 'Some facts left out of this @washingtonpost story on Gannett: CEO Michael Reed pays himself nearly $8m a year ; the company took on unsupportable debt when it merged with GateHouse; and independent local news outlets across the country are filling the gap.' (Dan Kennedy) / 'A Northwestern University study predicted that one-third of American newspapers that existed roughly two decades ago will go extinct by 2025. Another study … found some 40,000 newspaper newsroom jobs vanished between 2008 and 2020 .' (Ron Fournier) / How the decline of local news exposes the public to lies and corruption (L.A. Times)

■ Gray Television adopts minimum wage of $18 per hour (Gray Television)

■ 'It's a gold mine': Inside The Washington Post’s big Hollywood deal (Vanity Fair)

■ What I learned about media rage after getting fired from Fox (POLITICO) / Life after Fox News . What's the fallout for former employees who speak out? (Crikey)

■ ‘An ex-senior aide to former President Donald Trump revealed there was a hodgepodge “filing system” for classified documents mixed with newspapers in boxes.’ (Mediaite)

■ ‘A judge on Monday denied a defense request to postpone Harvey Weinstein’s trial in Los Angeles in order to avoid publicity for “She Said,” a feature film about the exposure of sex abuse allegations’ inspired by the book by New York Times reporters about their work. (Variety)

■ ‘The New York Times has had ongoing discussions with NAJA leadership regarding concerns they raised with some of our reporting in 2019 … After NAJA expressed that they were not comfortable with The Times being at the 2022 conference, we respected their wishes and did not attend.’ (Journal-isms) / ‘Scoop: @najournalists asked @nytimes to apologize for racist, stereotypical coverage . NAJA President Francine Compton says NYT refused and asked for refunds on their $55 NAJA memberships. Times reporters are not at #NAJA22.’ (Tristan Ahtone)

■ Retiring AP reporter chronicles 4 decades covering Congress (AP)

■ 'We lost a great man today. George Christian. Unflappable in chaos - never failed to get "the shot." The ultimate WashDC gentleman. He did it all, the White House beat was his. He was in the Oval Office the night Nixon resigned. Part of the soul of CBS left us today.’ (Susan Zirinsky) / Colleagues remember longtime CBS photojournalist George Christian (CBS News) / ‘I am so sorry to hear this. George was an unsung hero in and around the WH, and I’m sure he liked the unsung part of it. A top notch professional and an all around decent, good man. He was on the plane on 9/11 as I recall. May his memory be a blessing.’ (Ari Fleischer) / ‘Scared to death’: CBS cameraman covered Nixon's resignation speech (CBS News) / By George! A view from behind the lens (CBS News)

Press freedom

■ R. Kelly, tale of the tape; Three teams of criminal defense lawyers have tried to cast doubt on the origins of the central video, questioning who gave it to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter before they turned it over to the police. Here’s the story behind the tape . (Chicago Sun-Times)

■ Russian journalist charged for donating $16 to Navalny group (AP)

■ Brazil president Bolsonaro launches personal attack on female journalist during election debate with rival Lula (CNN)

■ Afghan media face daunting challenges since Taliban takeover, panelists report (National Press Club) / 'There is no more life in Afghanistan .' How one refugee photographer is rebuilding in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)

■ How two forensic teams investigated the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (Global Investigative Journalism Network)

Program promo for ‘Listen, World!’: Women’s voices in the news, then and now. Click here for more event details.

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute on Tuesday, September 13 at 11:30 a.m. ET for a wide-ranging conversation, held on Zoom, about how women’s voices have been silenced and spotlighted in newsrooms and in the public square, and how we can ensure that journalism raises up a diversity of women’s perspectives in the future.

"We forget that much of our journalism doesn’t reflect the perspectives, sensibilities, and realities of many people in our country . There are people and entire communities who have seen what is supposed to be a democracy, ignore them, or even actively work against them. They are beyond being critical. They are indifferent. They have written off the role of democracy in their lives. They have written off the role of much of the media in their lives. But we can’t write them off, and we can’t write off our responsibility to them and to try to maintain our great experiment."

-- Michael Bolden, CEO and executive director of American Press Institute, “The power of democracy and why journalists must work together to protect it”

Before you have a tough conversation

1. Know your goal — and include respecting the dignity of the other person.

2. Be specific in your description of a problem; avoid generalities and hyperbole.

3. Stay cool, even in the face of pushback; anger and fear hijack critical thinking.

Jill Geisler is the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago and Freedom Forum Fellow.

Get more career advice: Read Jill's columns | Watch Manager's Minute videos

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