The Latest: White House limits newswire access; CNN’s ‘editorial reshuffle’; NBC News TikTok growth

April 16, 2025

■ How the Trump administration is changing the White House briefing room (New York Times)

■ PBS and NPR are in a once-in-a-generation funding fight . They might well lose. (CNN) / ‘...PBS and NPR station leaders from Alaska to Maine are rallying public support and lobbying persuadable lawmakers , hoping to fend off the funding threat.’ (Brian Stelter)

■ US office that counters foreign disinformation is being eliminated (MIT Technology Review)

■ Radio Free Europe journalism challenged autocrats . Trump wants to silence it. (New York Times)

■ Legacy broadcasters account for just more than 10 percent of TV viewership in March (The Hill)

■ ‘CNN’s latest editorial reshuffle — just weeks after the last — has staffers dizzy, as the network tries to find its digital footing with a layered org chart’ (Status)

■ NBC News' TikTok viewership surges 1,800% to 2.5 billion views in Q1 (The Wrap) / TikTok to launch its own Community Notes-style fact-checking feature : Footnotes (Poynter)

■ Acast and The Athletic strike exclusive sales partnership (Hollywood Reporter) / Women's sports coverage goes mainstream (Axios)

■ CNN puts Adam Levine back in charge of DC bureau as Philip Rucker promoted (The Wrap) / POLITICO names Christopher Cadelago as California's new editorial director and Joel Rubin as California's first-ever senior policy editor (POLITICO) / Reyhan Harmanci joins WIRED as features director (WIRED via Editor and Publisher) / Bloomberg hires Borter as breaking news editor in DC (Talking Biz News) / Two new producers join Wesley Morris’s podcast (New York Times)

■ Don't like a columnist's opinion? L.A. Times offers AI-generated opposing viewpoint (TV News Check)

■ ‘Multi-local’ newsrooms aim to get more news to more people (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Improving your public health policy coverage

“Public health is likely to be a victim of the ongoing war on expertise. As the current administration continues to disappear information and terminate career government officials, journalists have the important role of keeping this information public.”

-- Advice for covering public health policy from Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent at KFF Health News. Watch the recent webinar:

For more public health journalism advice, join the Institute on April 29 to learn how community health workers can be the key to your reporting

When reporting on sensitive public health issues, it can be difficult to find a way into the communities you're covering. Often, the best way to learn what's at stake is to connect with community health workers who are on the frontlines of local issues , have earned the trust of those they serve, and can act as a liaison to potential sources.

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute at noon ET on Tuesday, April 29 , to hear Dr. Bechara Choucair , Chief Health Officer at Kaiser Permanente, and Denise Octavia Smith , Executive Director at the National Association of Community Health Workers, discuss how journalists can engage community health workers while respecting privacy issues that may arise in their work.

Advice for selecting a board of directors, from a worker-led newsroom

“Boards of directors are often given the unilateral authority to control an organization, but there is actually a lot more flexibility to determine a board’s responsibilities than you might think . … While board members are legally required to retain their fiduciary duties of care (pay attention to the organization’s activities and operations) and loyalty (act in the best interest of the organization), there is otherwise a lot of room to determine and delegate the board’s responsibilities. First, it’s helpful to review a typical board’s powers and responsibilities, such as:

Then, ask your team how they feel about this list and what they would change.”

-- Excerpt from “How to build a board of directors that actually helps ” (The Appeal)

Resources

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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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.