The Latest: BBC launches Gaza radio service; Condé Nast to cut 5% of staff; AP hit by DOS attack; How PBS stations reach young + diverse audiences

November 1, 2023

Top stories

A media freedom group accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes and reports deaths of 34 journalists (Associated Press)

BBC launches Emergency Radio Service in Gaza (Deadline) / ‘... Gaza Daily will broadcast vital news , including safety advice on where to access shelter, food, and water supplies.’ (Sofia Bettiza) / Washington Post fact-checker hammers Biden for doubting Gaza death toll: 'Remarkably uninformed' (Mediaite) / Haaretz rebuts a viral claim about its reporting on Israeli casualties (Poynter)

Speaker Johnson taps veteran GOP operative [and former Fox exec] as chief spokesperson (POLITICO)

AP news site hit by apparent denial-of-service attack (Associated Press)

Condé Nast, publisher of Vogue, will cut 5% of its workforce (New York Times) / ‘Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch's note: "...We can’t control platform algorithms or how AI may change search traffic, we believe our long-term success will be determined by growing the many areas that we can control." ’ (Ben Mullin)

This is the beginning of the end for the Union-Tribune (Voice of San Diego)

J-group behind diversity tally wants to dissolve : News Leaders Association cites financial pressures (Richard Prince)

Why are journalists losing their jobs in record numbers ? Blame the Trump slump (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Trump rages against the New York Post , threatens 'if they don't change' the paper will 'be no more' (Mediaite)

U.S. media veterans back new trading firm with financial news arm (Financial Times)

HBO bosses used ‘secret’ fake accounts to troll TV critics (Rolling Stone)

T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach return to the air with a podcast . ‘Nothing is off limits’ for the former ABC anchors (CNN)

‘Well, it's the end of an era. Today marked the last edition of Axios Space . In November, I'm joining WPLN as a news editor. Once a space reporter, always a space reporter .’ (Miriam Kramer)

When it comes to audience diversity, newsrooms are asking the wrong questions (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Death, rituals and outlaws: How PBS stations are using YouTube to reach young and diverse audiences (Current)

Press Freedom

Alabama publisher, reporter arrested , charged with disclosing leaked information (Committee to Protect Journalists)

Florida joins conservative states severing ties with national library group (POLITICO)

In appeal brief, Texas defends controversial book rating law (Publisher’s Weekly)

Tips for public records requests: Find a human + be specific

“Seek out the records keeper in any given agency and have a conversation with that person before filing a records request ; doing so will help reporters better understand what data is available and file a more precise request. [Data journalist MaryJo] Webster said over the years, her records requests have become more specific, typically including a deadline for the records, the format she would like to receive the records in, and the type of software she will be analyzing the data in. … Providing the precise details of a request at the beginning can save time and confusion when seeking information from government agencies.”

-- Cassandra Garibay, Center for Health Journalism fellow, “There are endless public records, but how do you access them? Two data experts share advice”

Is your newsroom hiring? Try this:

“One of the things that folks should be doing is writing job descriptions that really do a good job of telling somebody what the job actually is . We see a lot of job descriptions that are just copied and pasted over and over again and over and over again. And they’re not really reflecting what the person needs to do in that role to succeed. ... Have explicit language in your job description, saying, 'Our job description is a wish list, and the perfect candidate may not exist.' ... One thing that we’re doing at The Marshall Project that I’m really proud of is, for a lot of our bigger roles—for which we have received hundreds of applications—we’ll offer 'hiring hours' in a webinar style. We’ll make two editors available for an hour. People can come to the webinar, sign up in advance, and submit their questions anonymously. People can hear from editors what we’re looking for in the clips, what we’re looking for in the cover letter, what kinds of stuff the person will be doing, how will we manage—all that.”

-- Emma Carew Grovum, director of careers and culture at The Marshall Project, Columbia Journalism Review’s “Survival Guide”

Resources

This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Bara Vaida, and Holly Butcher Grant. 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.