The Latest: Turmoil at LAT, WaPo; Baltimore Sun dissolves features department.; Meta AI deal

Oct. 28, 2024

■ Inside The Washington Post’s decision to stop presidential endorsements (New York Times) / Washington Post editorial board rocked by exodus after endorsement decision (Daily Beast) / Over 200,000 subscribers flee Washington Post after Bezos blocks Harris endorsement (NPR) / Rivals scramble to react to Washington Post endorsement crisis (Semafor)

■ Los Angeles Times planned 'Case Against Trump' series alongside Kamala Harris endorsement before owner quashed it (The Wrap) / Daughter of L.A. Times owner says endorsement decision stemmed from Harris stance on Gaza war (New York Times) / ‘A civic disappointment’: Fallout continues after Los Angeles Times chooses not to endorse (Semafor)

■ Jeff Bezos just proved the value of the newspaper endorsement (Columbia Journalism Review) / ‘The decisions by Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong to spike endorsements of Kamala Harris have created an uproar … Is this a genuine gripe, an assault on democracy, or simply the latest grievance consuming a legacy media industry mad as hell and unwilling to take it any longer?’ (Puck)

■ How social media video clippers have become some of the most powerful outlets of the 2024 campaign (CNN) / Fox News plans a ‘Super Desk’ and virtual set for election night coverage (Hollywood Reporter) / Brian Williams and Amazon are asking election night news-seekers to take a leap of faith with them (Associated Press)

■ ‘The Baltimore Sun dissolved its features department Monday , reassigning its staff to news departments – the first time since at least 1888 the newspaper won’t have even one reporter dedicated to covering the city’s cultural life.’ (Baltimore Sun Guild)

■ Jessica Adams joins Wisconsin Watch as director of partnerships for northeast Wisconsin (Wisconsin Watch) / Yvonne Dennis joins NPR as senior editor for editorial review (Talking Biz News) / Dan Zak named style assignment editor (Washington Post) / The New York Times names new editor on food and cooking (New York Times)

■ Jon Stewart extends ‘Daily Show’ hosting gig through end of 2025 (CNN)

■ Meta strikes multi-year AI deal with Reuters (Axios) / Meta builds AI search engine to reduce its dependency on Google and Bing (The Wrap)

■ A big tech local news precedent ? New York, Illinois among states waiting to see how California-Google deal shakes out (Medill Local News Initiative)

■ A new study finds an uphill journey for college newspapers (Editor and Publisher)

■ Obits for a paper’s long-time staffer underline new approaches to media competition and collaboration (Poynter)

Press freedom

■ Press Club statement on safety of journalists covering elections (National Press Club)

■ Deadly Israeli strike on journalists in Lebanon prompts global condemnation (Reuters)

■ Venezuela press groups demand whereabouts of missing journalist (Reuters)

Election 2024: Navigating photography at polling locations

Each state has its own laws governing photography and recording devices at polling places. For example: While there is no federal law prohibiting “ballot selfies,” it is still illegal in certain states in 2024.

To help journalists with their election coverage, the Institute reached out to attorney Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association, for an overview on photography at polling locations.

What are journalists allowed to photograph at the polls?

Osterreicher: The general answer is that you need to be aware of state and local rules regarding photography and recording at the polls as they vary widely from state to state.

For example, Florida prohibits any photography at polling or early voting locations, including the use of security cameras. The Florida statutes on polling place administration, 102.031 (5), were amended to state: “No photography is permitted in the polling room or early voting area, except an elector may photograph his or her own ballot.” The change went into effect July 1, 2019. But even that change comes with conditions:

You can take a picture of your ballot inside the voting booth.
You can’t take a picture of you inserting the ballot into the tabulator.
You can’t take pictures of anything else in the polling place or early voting area.

Since 2014, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Utah have all either repealed bans on ballot selfies or passed laws allowing them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). All Oregon ballots are vote by mail, which voters are free to photograph. Some states, such as Texas, prohibit any wireless communication or recording devices of any kind within a certain distance of a polling location, so selfies can’t be taken there anyway.

In some states, people are expressly barred by law from recording anyone at the polls. Some state laws prohibit recording only inside the polling place while others prohibit recording both inside the polling place and in the areas surrounding it (up to a set distance, usually measured in feet).

What are your top tips for journalists when faced with roadblocks to access at the polls?

Osterreicher: Make sure you know the law for the polling sites you wish to access.

Contact the board of elections for those sites and have discussion about the “rules of engagement” for newsgathering coverage long before Election Day (or the start of early voting).

Make sure you have the cellphone number of someone from the board of elections and/or the polling site supervisor so you can immediately contact them should you or your news crews run into any difficulty.

What are some resources you recommend for journalists covering the election?

Osterreicher:

National Conference of State Legislatures Electioneering Prohibitions
Voting photos: A state-by-state guide to taking selfies when you vote
RCFP Election Legal Guide: Newsgathering in or near polling places
Video recording in or near polling places

Consideration for your next journalism job application

“These days, if you include a published article in your job application, I am only partly interested in the quality of the writing: The piece could have been heavily edited by someone else. I’m much more interested in whether your article offers new insights. It’s about how you tackle a given subject and whether you are saying something different, thought-provoking – offering a perspective on any given subject that I’ve not seen before. … The depth of your thinking counts for more than your writing skills.”

-- Joseph Harker, senior editor, diversity, and development at The Guardian, excerpt from “An editor’s guide to a winning journalism job application ” (The Guardian Foundation)

Resources

This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, and Mitch Harle. 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. The Institute's tax ID number is 52-1750908.