The Latest: New York Times office mandate; Who’s next at MSNBC?; CIA recruits Gen Z; Customize your communication

November 10, 2021

■ How the media missed a New Jersey senate candidate’s racist social media posts — until he’d already won. (Washington Post)

■ California governor has tense exchange with journalist over canceled trip (SFGATE)

■ ‘He’s hanging out with the stars of the gossip column’: The Eric Adams era has the makings of a tabloid gold mine (Vanity Fair)

■ Remote control: Looming back to office mandate roils New York Times (Off the Record)

■ Longtime Bay Area TV news anchor says he’s done at KTVU, apologizes to newsroom for ‘drama’; he was suspended in September for an off-air dispute about coverage of the Gabby Petito case (Mercury News)

■ As Brian Williams exits MSNBC, network brass have an intensifying talent problem (CNN) / ‘Brian Williams leaving, Rachel Maddow scaling back her schedule. In a moment of instability for MSNBC’s lineup at night, one man is proving more dependable than the rest: Lawrence O’Donnell’ (Max Tani) / Brian Williams’s NBC departure isn’t a retirement , he said — others may feel the same (MarketWatch)

■ Don Lemon files legal complaint against Megyn Kelly (theGrio.com)

■ Newsmax reporter permanently suspended from Twitter after COVID-19 claims (The Hill) / ‘A Newsmax spokesperson tells The Daily Beast that Emerald Robinson “remains off-air as Newsmax reviews matters relating to her posts made outside of the channel on her own social media" and they have "not determined when she will return to the air."’ (Justin Baragona)

■ Opinion: Email suggests Project Veritas seeks donors’ ‘input’ on when investigations run (Washington Post)

■ Perspective: ‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ was the buzziest show of the fall — then died on arrival . What happened? (Washington Post)

■ The CIA is trying to recruit Gen Z — and doesn't care if they're all over social media (Washingtonian)

■ US journalist held in Myanmar charged with terrorism and sedition (The Guardian)

Austin Tice is a Marine combat veteran, a seventh-generation Texan from Houston, a graduate of Georgetown University, and an award-winning journalist who has been unjustly detained in Syria since 2012. After seeing reports of the refugee crisis unfolding in Syria, Austin picked up his camera and headed straight to the front lines as a freelance reporter. He delivered important dispatches to The Washington Post and McClatchy before he was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus on August 14, 2012. Austin is currently the only U.S. journalist being held overseas, and after more than nine years, he has endured the longest detention of any U.S. journalist to date.

"Before I go into the field and film, I pre-interview . And what that means is I have a conversation, and very often it is a wide-ranging conversation in which I'll hear something that the subject doesn't fully know is a diamond — that is that aha moment for them and for me that they have just normalized. And then I'll help them articulate. Figure out what is ... their lived experience that we want people to understand."

-- Kate Woodsome, Washington Post senior producer of op-ed video, from NPCJI panel on op-eds

How op eds can amplify original voices & engage new communities

Customized communication is a must-have skill for successful leaders

When managers express themselves (or fail to), people see and hear it through many filters: their past experiences, their BS meters, their hopes, dreams, and fears. Top leaders communicate with clarity and authenticity. They understand the strengths and shortcomings of various communication channels. They are adept at sharing organizational info in one-to-one or one-to-many formats, and know when each is best. They know instinctively when face-to-face conversation is a necessity. They think about how their messages might be misunderstood and aren’t reluctant to reframe, rephrase, or even apologize. Their default setting is “share.”

-- Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago and Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership

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

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

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