Oct. 6, 2025

■ Paramount buys Bari Weiss’s the Free Press for $150 million (Wall Street Journal) / How Bari Weiss of The Free Press won the top job at CBS News (New York Times) / Read the memo Bari Weiss sent to CBS News staff listing 10 core values she'll champion as EIC (Business Insider) / Trump in talks to appear on CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ (Semafor)

■ Today is MSNBC’s first day apart from NBC. Here is its new code of principles. (Poynter)  / Donald Trump wants FCC to ‘look into the license’ of NBC in rant over Al Sharpton’s MSNBC show (Deadline) 

■ Chicago journalists sue Trump over ‘extreme brutality’ at ICE protests (Axios) / RCFP calls DHS actions against journalists 'disturbing,' seeks meeting with federal officials (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

■ U.S. deports journalist Mario Guevara to El Salvador, family says (Washington Post) / Statement from NPC president Mike Balsamo on the deportation of journalist Mario Guevara (National Press Club) 

■ A public broadcaster's path after losing U.S. funds: Youth sports and less local news (NPR) / New Mexico governor approves emergency funds for public media (Current) / Prairie Public event exceeds fundraising goal as PBS president delivers ‘state of the station’ (Current) 

■ ‘A three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. declined to stay the blocked firing of Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz pending appeal. Another loss for Kari Lake and the government in court.’ (Scott Nover)

■ Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray sees 'zero meddling' from Jeff Bezos in newsroom overhaul (The Wrap) / ‘In a rare interview with Status, Matt Murray addressed the upheaval inside The Washington Post — from the exodus of journalists to the paper’s fight to regain stability and reader confidence.’ (Status)

■ Lee Enterprises cuts Monday print editions at several dailies (MediaPost) / 4 Virginia newspapers cut back on print editions (Cardinal News) / Post-Dispatch among several Lee-owned papers cutting Monday print edition (St. Louis Business Journal) / Lincoln, Omaha newspapers to stop printing 7 days a week (Nebraska Public Media) 

■ International journalists visit Gaza City under the supervision of Israel's army (Associated Press) / Israel’s influencer insiders (Columbia Journalism Review)

■ POLITICO reinforces New York coverage and names Nick Reisman as Albany bureau chief (POLITICO) / POLITICO transportation editor Wolfe moves to White House team (Talking Biz News) / KDKA-TV names new vice president, news director (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) / WDIV-TV's Victor Williams leaving Detroit for new job in hometown of Atlanta (Detroit Free Press) / WFSB reporter Marcy Jones accepts new job as network departures continue (CT Insider) / New York Times real estate reporter Kamin moving to metro desk (Talking Biz News) / John Maher is joining the Book Review (New York Times) / Former Washington Post economics columnist moves to The Bulwark (Semafor)

■ C-SPAN chief jumps to ‘Ceasefire’ after ‘Crossfire’ in bid to create news programs that unify, not divide (Variety)

■ Inside The Economist’s plan to grow revenues in a post-search, AI-driven future (Digiday)

The Pamela Tobey Award for Excellence in Visual Storytelling is a national award and $1,000 prize recognizing journalistic work that pushes the boundaries of storytelling beyond text and rewards creative uses of emerging visual tools. Apply by Oct. 24, 2025.

How journalists can better cover urban-rural health care disparities

By Maggie Amacher

Journalists play a crucial role in shedding light on the disparities between health care in urban and rural areas. 

“You are the voices of people, and that is the voice of change, and [health care professionals] cannot do what we do without you,” said Anne Zink, senior fellow at the Yale School of Public Health and the former chief medical officer for the state of Alaska.

Zink shared her perspective on covering rural health issues with care during an Institute webinar for journalists earlier this year as part of the Public Health Reporting Fellowship.

Here’s her advice:

Build relationships and trust

• Engage multiple stakeholders by considering the five P’s: Providers, patients, policymakers, public, and press.
• Keep communication open. Offer sources the opportunity to clarify or add context after an initial interview.
• Understand that healthcare providers and public health officials may be legally or professionally restricted from discussing certain topics. “When you’re thinking about talking to healthcare providers, just acknowledge that tension that they’re under,” Zink said.

Understand different perspectives

• Seek out local leaders and community members who can provide ground-level insights into healthcare challenges.
• Recognize that communication differs across sectors. Scientific, clinical, and media contexts each have distinct needs. For example, Zink explained, scientists tend to focus on limitations and replicability of data, clinicians balance providing information with guiding patients, and public health officials communicate to entire populations. Understanding these communication styles will help you work more effectively as a journalist.
• Acknowledge and respect local contexts. “If you’re unsure about the data source or who you’re talking about, just go to that community or that data source [directly],” Zink said.
• Learn how communities share information locally. “We would say, ‘What is the most common way that you all share information?’ and it was either Facebook, radio, sometimes TV, and occasionally [amateur] radio,” Zink said.
• Empower experts to speak, as Zink said, by providing a roadmap for them to structure their responses.
• Recognize that people will get their information from somewhere, so be proactive in providing accurate sources to communities. As Zink noted, people are increasingly turning to TikTok and other social media platforms rather than traditional news sources.

Recognize data limitations

• Compare multiple data sources to gain a fuller picture. “It is only telling one bit of the data based on what they saw, or what was observed, or what question was asked,” Zink said.
• Seek context behind the numbers. Statistics alone do not always reflect lived experiences.
• Recognize limitations of national data sets in local contexts and consider cultural and geographical factors that may impact data.

Missed the conversation? Watch this program here:

Resources

• The Reporter's AI Toolkit: Enhancing stories while preserving standards (Oct. 7, 8 p.m. ET)
• 2025 Mental Health in Journalism Summit (Oct. 8-10) 
• MediaFest (Oct. 15-18)

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

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