The Latest: POLITICO layoffs; Pittsburgh’s fragmented news landscape; Gourmet Magazine returns

Jan. 13, 2026

■ CPB grants $2.9M to American Public Television for distributing local programs nationwide (Current)

■ BBC seeks dismissal of Trump's multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuit (BBC)

■ ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor Tony Dokoupil to interview President Trump (The Wrap) / ‘We need to be the news’: Inside Bari Weiss’s bumpy revamp at CBS (New York Times) / Bari Weiss helped cause Tony Dokoupil’s viral teleprompter gaffe by tinkering with script minutes before CBS debut (Mediaite)

■ How New York Times reporters prepared to interview President Trump (New York Times)

■ ‘Three percent of POLITICO staff will be laid off today , including fewer than 10 people in the newsroom, I’m told. Notably, POLITICO is also planning to announce a new subscription business aimed at finance/investment professionals.’ (Max Tani)

■ Hong Kong trial of media tycoon Jimmy Lai concludes mitigation phase (Reuters)

■ More than 40 news sources remain in Pittsburgh’s fragmented media landscape (Pittsburgh's Public Source)

■ Nexstar DEI philosophy could complicate TEGNA deal at FCC (The Desk)

■ Some TV news stations are breaking their national network affiliations and leaning into local programming (Columbia Journalism Review) / Netflix wanted to reinvent live TV . It hasn’t been easy. (Wall Street Journal)

■ The Atlantic sues Google over its digital ad model , alleging manipulation and fraud (The Wrap)

■ San Francisco schools in court battle over student journalism (The Voice of San Francisco)

■ Ben Rubin and Tadafe Gbaje join The Times ; Carlisa Robinson, Alena Cerro and Audria Lee have new roles (New York Times) / The Spokesman-Review announces two promotions (Spokesman-Review via Editor and Publisher) / The Information hires Mann to cover Meta (Talking Biz News) / Wordock joining WTOP as business reporter (Talking Biz News) / RCFP welcomes new legal fellow focused on supporting documentary filmmakers (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press) / Chris Cuomo sets live morning show at SiriusXM (The Wrap)

■ Gourmet Magazine is back . It’s not exactly sanctioned. (New York Times)

Following the Money in the 2026 Midterms Resources for local journalists free webinar with OpenSecrets on Friday Jan 16 at noon ET

Friday: Following the money in the 2026 midterms – resources for local journalists

The most consequential midterm election stories — who is organizing, how money and messaging are taking shape, and which issues are reshaping voter priorities — are already unfolding, long before the first votes are cast.

Join the Institute and OpenSecrets for a free webinar that will prepare journalists to cover the midterms with financial data top of mind. This interactive session at noon ET on Friday, Jan. 16, will focus on OpenSecrets’ campaign finance tools that can support your local and regional political reporting in 2026 and beyond.

During this one-hour, virtual session, participants will learn:

How to find, download, and incorporate public data into their elections-focused storytelling on deadline
How to explore Open Secrets’ “Get Local!” donations tracker and other reliable tools
Strategies to strengthen their midterms coverage in 2026 through accountability journalism

About the speaker

Brendan Glavin is the director of insights at OpenSecrets. He has worked extensively with federal campaign disclosure data, including congressional and presidential campaign donor data, modeling public financing proposals, and analyzing state and federal independent expenditures.

Leadership Tip: ‘Don’t protect by sidelining’

“What we often find in this industry is that folks believe that the way to protect and support those of us from diverse backgrounds is to push us to the side. They think they’re protecting us by not assigning us to the protest. But I wanted to be at the protest so I could be part of documenting this shift in culture that we were witnessing. I want to be there, and also I want my newsroom to check in with me after I come back. I want to be asked if I need a mental-health day because I was just verbally assaulted in public. Do I need some other kind of support or resource? Do we need to explore having security in the field for our reporters? Creating a systematic process as a leader to check in intentionally with your reporters is how we ensure that trans folks in particular still get opportunities. These are the steps you should take to support all of your journalists, not just the trans folks. I often say that if you’re making sure that you’re developing policies that ensure the most marginalized person on your staff is taken care of, it will benefit everyone else in your newsroom.”

-- Tre’vell Anderson , executive director of the Trans Journalists Association and freelance culture and entertainment journalist, excerpt from “Reporting while trans ” (Columbia Journalism Review)

Resources

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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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.