Jan. 28, 2025

■ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in first briefing, cites ‘record low trust’ in legacy outlets (Deadline) / ‘White House Press Secretary announces following changes to the briefing room: Restore passes of journalists revoked during Biden; welcome independent journalists (podcasters/influencers) to apply for press passes; front seat on the side will be called new media seat.’ (Philip Melanchthon Wegmann) / What to know about White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (The Hill) 

■ Using Trump’s own legal arguments, Pulitzer Board seeks stay of Trump defamation case while he’s in office (CNN) / RNC, Trump's former co-campaign manager preparing lawsuit against The Daily Beast (Axios) 

■ ‘Every president oversees deportations of undocumented migrants. But President Trump is also producing “deportation TV” – making sure people around the world can see his immigration policy in action.’ (Brian Stelter) / How Donald Trump is turning deportation into reality TV (NOTUS) 

■ CNN anchor Jim Acosta will exit network after turning down midnight shift (Los Angeles Times) / Jim Acosta announces departure from CNN with a message: ‘It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant’ (Deadline) 

■ CBS unveils new format for venerable ‘Evening News’ (Variety) / CBS stations launch one day ‘Insta-Thon’ to support California Wildfire relief (TV News Check) 

■ TelevisaUnivision, Nielsen squabble over single household that appears to skew Spanish-TV ratings (Variety)  

■ ABC News agrees to AI protections for writers in latest contract (Hollywood Reporter) 

■ Bloomberg Industry Group union objects to company proposal (Talking Biz News) 

■ ‘Peter Spiegel, the U.S. managing editor for the Financial Times, has been in talks for an editorial role at The Washington Post. He is under consideration for a senior job overseeing The Post's national coverage, per people familiar.’ (Ben Mullin)

■ Marshall Project names Katrice Hardy as chief executive (New York Times) / States Newsroom names new editors at Nebraska Examiner, Source New Mexico (States Newsroom) / Des Moines Business Record names new editor (Talking Biz News) / Hinton, Meyer, and Shapiro appointed to NAB Radio board of directors (National Association of Broadcasters) / Business Insider hires Julia Hornstein to cover VCs, startups (Talking Biz News) / Faith Hatton named associate publisher of the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal (BizFayetteville) / Caroline Hopkins Legaspi is joining Well (New York Times) / New Director of Operations Eric Marsh joins PCGVR to advance strategy and increase impact (The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting)

■ MacArthur announces more than $6 million in support of climate journalism (MacArthur Foundation via Editor and Publisher)

The importance of adding solutions to your environmental coverage

“As part of telling the full climate story, it’s important that we see more stories that are about solutions grounded in communities most affected by extreme weather, polluting industries, and other consequences of the climate crisis. They are closest to the problems and offer the most effective solutions. … So much of the struggle surrounding climate action is a crisis of the imagination beyond the doom and gloom. If people can’t see what is possible to build, then they won’t be able to advocate for it or imagine other solutions in their community.”

-- Thelma Young Lutunatabua, senior manager, narrative strategies at The Solutions Project. Read more tips for telling impactful, solutions-oriented climate stories.

Resources

• SEO Basics: How to write headlines that rank (Feb. 6, 2 pm ET)
• Video: Clear, strong writing for broadcast journalism (Poynter) 
• Planning interviews with scientist sources (SciLine and The Open Notebook)

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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