March 19, 2026

■ ‘Photographers from several outlets were allowed into the Pentagon's briefing today — the first time since my reporting.’ (Scott Nover) 

■ Pete Hegseth again uses Iran war update to tear into media and assures Americans ‘we’re winning, decisively’ (The Independent) / How CNN's lone journalist in Iran survived a war (Hollywood Reporter) / Why Iran is winning the slop war (New York Magazine) 

■ CBS News plans to imminently cut dozens of employees as Bari Weiss remakes the broadcast network (Business Insider) 

■ How Kari Lake’s dismantling of Voice of America unraveled in court (Washington Post) / ‘After days of silence, the U.S. Agency for Global Media sent out a statement — not from them, but from a White House spokeswoman.’ (Scott Nover) / ICYMI: Statement on judge’s order to restore Voice of America operations (National Press Club) 

■ PBS proposes FY27 budget that would continue dues relief for stations (Current)

■ Eight states sue to block $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger (Wall Street Journal) / ‘...They say broadcast TV consolidation would hurt consumers by hiking prices and weakening local news coverage.’ (Brian Stelter)

■ Delayed Nielsen data will show traditional TV back on top (for now) (Wall Street Journal)

■ KABC & USC face ‘legal remedies’ from ex-LA mayor over exclusion from gubernatorial debate (Deadline)

■ National parks employees say SFGATE has been blacklisted by the Interior Department (SFGATE) 

■ ‘As BuzzFeed teeters on the brink, HuffPost staffers tell Status that anxiety is rippling through the newsroom and raising uncomfortable questions about the progressive outlet’s uncertain future.’ (Status)

■ How Will Lewis lost The Washington Post (Washingtonian) 

■ Jeff Bezos in talks to raise $100 billion for AI manufacturing fund (Wall Street Journal)

■ POLITICO announces new Congress and tax hires (POLITICO) / CNBC taps Morgan Brennan to revive 'Morning Call' (Variety) / Paula Szuchman joins the enterprise team at The New York Times (New York Times) / ‘Per a note to NYT staff this afternoon, T magazine EIC Hanya Yanagihara will be stepping down to pursue opportunities in theater.’ (Max Tani) / CBS Sacramento stations ups Scott Rates to VP of news (TV News Check) / Fortune taps Banicki to run video team (Talking Biz News) 

■ ‘For the last year I’ve been working with a terrifyingly talented team to put together L.A. Material, a new local news outlet covering Los Angeles. We’re launching TODAY.’ (Julia Turner)

■ Four things about Yahoo News that may surprise you (Nieman Journalism Lab) 

■ It’s alive! Pittsburgh City Paper set to relaunch under new owner, start membership program (90.5 WESA)

Sunshine Week reporting tip: ‘Turn every page’

“We took a shoe-leather approach: Check out everything we can. Dig out records, new and old, and comb through backgrounds. Call everybody we can locate who might know something. … We have sought records for criminal and civil cases, combed through property listings, old newspaper clippings, classified advertisements, corporate documentation, high school yearbooks, criminal backgrounds and files in the state archives. We didn’t know what we might find in these files, but we believe in the old adage passed down by the editor of famed journalist Robert Caro: Turn every page.”

-- The Post and Courier staff, excerpt from "She claimed to FBI that Epstein and Trump abused her. We checked it out." (Post and Courier)

Resources

• NPCJI videos: My first FOIA – open records are for everyone / The appeals process — steps to take when your FOIA requests are denied
• Video: Totally basic FOIA tutorial (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) 
• FOI ListServ (National Freedom of Information Coalition)

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

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