The Latest: The future of media; Hallie Jackson to interview Harris; ‘Massive freeriding’

Oct. 21, 2024

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Top stories

■ Can the media survive? 57 of the most powerful people in media on its future (Intelligencer) / S&P report: TV-station advertising to grow 14% to $24.95 billion in 2024 (TV Tech) / Meet David Hoffmann, the Florida billionaire buying up print newspapers (New York Times)

■ Trump ratchets up threats on the media (New York Times) / How Donald Trump’s campaign sees the media (Semafor) / How Trump’s stop at McDonald’s was covered by partisan media (New York Times)

■ ‘Hallie Jackson will sit down with Vice President Harris for an exclusive one-on-one interview on Tuesday, Oct. 22.’ (NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt) / Fox News’ Bret Baier defends combative Kamala Harris interview , would ‘love’ to have her on again (Vanity Fair) / 60 Minutes says Trump's accusation that Harris interview was deceptively edited is false (Los Angeles Times)

■ Who won? How AP calls the election, in ‘single largest act of journalism ’ (Washington Post) / What Fox News’ decision desk chief expects for the 2024 election (POLITICO) / How Democrats are helping restore Fox News to cable dominance (Semafor) / Don’t trust the polls? Neither did The New York Times in 1956 (spoiler: it didn’t work out great) (Nieman Journalism Lab)

■ 'Garbage in, garbage out': AI fails to debunk disinformation , study finds (Voice of America) / Civil rights coalition calls on Musk and Zuckerberg to take action against election disinformation (CNN)

■ Wall Street Journal, New York Post sue AI startup Perplexity , alleging ‘massive freeriding’ (Wall Street Journal)

■ Olivia Nuzzi and New York magazine ‘part ways’ after review finds no bias or error (Washington Post)

■ CPB awards $1.9 million to NPR for editorial enhancement (Corporation for Public Broadcasting)

■ Underrepresented journalists most impacted by layoffs , says new report (The Objective)

■ ABC names Chris Dinan executive producer of 'World News Tonight With David Muir' (The Wrap) / Jason Rezaian named director of press freedom initiatives for The Washington Post (Washington Post) / Ashley Alvarado to be TPR’s President & CEO (Texas Public Radio) / Texas Monthly’s editor in chief Dan Goodgame to step down, be succeeded by Ross McCammon (Texas Monthly) / ‘The Ringer has hired Todd McShay, Joel Anderson, Kirk Goldsberry, and David Jacoby.’ (Andrew Marchand) / Jemele Hill will lead TNT Sports magazine show 'Above the Fold' (Variety)

■ Disney names James Gorman chairman, sets ‘early 2026’ for CEO change (New York Times)

■ G/O Media agrees to sell Jalopnik , cars and auto culture site (Axios)

■ Costco has a magazine and it’s thriving (New York Times)

Press freedom

■ DeSantis’ office drafted threats to Florida TV stations over abortion ads, lawyer says (Miami Herald) / ‘It’s the First Amendment, stupid’: Federal judge blasts DeSantis administration for threats against TV stations (CNN)

■ ‘Vladimir Putin’s government is trying to scrub critical journalism from the internet . The Russian Independent Media Archive is standing in its way.’ (Nieman Reports)

■ Guatemalan judge grants investigative journalist Zamora house arrest and his family celebrates (Associated Press)

Getting started with solutions journalism

"I now always tell my team to never end a difficult story without some exploration of the solutions. ... I am also advocating for the inclusion of in-depth solutions journalism and 'complicating the narrative' techniques as a way for the media to survive in a highly polarized environment. Solutions journalism is also essential for reporters’ mental health as they are on the front line when it comes to news fatigue and depression induced by our multi-crisis era."

-- Excerpt from a case study on exploring planetary boundaries with solutions journalism (European Journalism Centre)

Reminder: Don’t let your PTO go unused

“How much vacation time do you have left this calendar year? If you don’t know, now is a good time to check. And if you have a habit of leaving time on the table, now is the time to plan to avoid that. … There are real consequences for organizations and for workers around not taking time off . Higher burnout rates. Reduced retention. Greater turnover costs. Lower morale. Poor quality work.”

-- Bob Helbig, contributor, Washington Post Jobs, excerpt from “Don’t leave vacation time on the table In 2024 ”

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.