Dec. 9, 2024

■ ‘In chaos, there is opportunity’: Journalist Austin Tice’s family finds hope (Washington Post) / U.S. searching for journalist Austin Tice in Syria prisons, White House says (Reuters) / What to know about Austin Tice, journalist held in Syria who U.S. is ‘committed to returning’ to his family (CBS News) 

■ Rupert Murdoch loses succession battle, Nevada official rules, cites mogul’s ‘bad faith’ (Deadline) / ‘Fox is talking to potential acquisition targets in political media, particularly on the right.’ (Semafor) 

■ UnitedHealthcare parent company CEO decries media coverage of Brian Thompson slaying in leaked video (Vanity Fair) 

■ Weakened U.S. public broadcasters will fight for their lives in 2025 (Semafor) / Brendan Carr, soon to be FCC chair, says Commission will back local TV stations ‘even if that’s in conflict’ with broadcast networks (Deadline) / PBS deal with Amazon introduces model for free public TV streams (Current) 

■ The Onion’s bid to buy Infowars goes before a judge as Alex Jones tries stopping the sale (Associated Press) 

■ The unraveling of Ozy Media (Columbia Journalism Review) 

■ Health and medicine publication STAT News lays off 11 employees (The Boston Globe) / CNBC makes small number of international layoffs (Talking Biz News) / ‘The Washington Post has laid off 10 people in its engineering organization, according to an internal memo from CTO Vineet Khosla’ (Ben Mullin)

■ Taylor Lorenz and Vox are parting ways (Semafor) 

■ Matea Gold named Washington editor of The New York Times (New York Times) / ‘Jennifer Jacobs is joining CBS News covering the White House’ (Max Tani) / Rufus Friday named executive director of the Center for Integrity in News Reporting (Center for Integrity in News Reporting via Editor and Publisher) / Roger Simmons named Orlando Sentinel’s executive editor (Orlando Sentinel) 

■ Ali Vitali to host MSNBC's early morning show ‘Way Too Early' (Deadline)

■ After three decades, Denver’s city magazine, 5280, has a new owner (5280 Magazine) 

■ Bluesky teases paid subscription, Bluesky+, in new mockup (TechCrunch) 

■ Omnicom and Interpublic to merge, creating ad agency giant (New York Times) / What the Omnicom-IPG deal means for workers across the global ad industry (Business Insider) / Global ad market to surpass $1 trillion for first time (Axios)

Friday: How to handle (and prevent) online threats as a journalist

Journalists today are increasingly facing digital threats. An October 2024 survey by the International Women’s Media Foundation reported that 33% of journalists it surveyed had faced a threat of digital violence — and a 2020 UNESCO-commissioned study found that nearly three-quarters of the journalists it surveyed who identified as women had experienced online violence.

But when — and how — should journalists react when they experience digital harassment? What legal tools are available to newsrooms and independent journalists when dealing with online threats? And what are the tangible ways to prepare for such attacks before they happen?

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute for a free webinar on Friday, Dec. 13, at 11 am ET.

Participants will hear from:

• Tat Bellamy-Walker, Program Manager of Digital Safety Training and Resources (Media) at PEN America
• María Salazar Ferro, Director of Newsroom Safety and Resilience at The New York Times
• Greg Lipper, a D.C.-based litigator with extensive experience in criminal defense and investigations, and First Amendment and media law

Resources

• The care & collaboration toolkit (Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute) 
• Covering science in the context of conflict (The Open Notebook) 
• How to hook your broadcast audience in 3 seconds (or less) (Journalism Education Association)

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

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