March 4, 2024

• A look at Joe Biden’s media diet (Washington Post) / '..The White House is preparing its usual State of the Union pre-and-post-speech comms blitz — one that includes, yes, national media ..but also regional TV interviews, briefings with social media influencers' (POLITICO) 

• Measuring bias in Israel-Palestine coverage (WNYC) / In internal meeting, Christiane Amanpour confronts CNN brass about ‘double standards’ on Israel coverage (The Intercept) 

• New York Times accused of racial targeting in leak hunt over Israel stories (Washington Post) / New York Times still seeking a correction or clarification from the Atlantic over former opinion staffer article (Semafor)

• Semafor launches Global Election Hub (Semafor) / ‘...we'll be doing live updates on elections around the world, tracking local quirks and worldwide trends in an easily scannable format’ (Benjy Sarlin)

• The Salt Lake Tribune says ‘it’s increasingly difficult’ to report on how Utah lawmakers are serving the people who elected them (Nieman Journalism Lab) 

• Unionized Desert Sun journalists launch first open-ended strike in paper’s history (Poynter) 

• Report for America is phasing out its relationships with hedge fund-owned newspaper companies (journal-isms)

• Two former Minnesota legislators to launch Woodbury news site (Star Tribune)  / The life and death of one local newspaper in Virginia (Marketplace) / What can we learn about sustainability from shuttered newsrooms? (University of North Carolina Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media) 

• Will Shortz, New York Times crossword editor, says he is recovering from a stroke (New York Times) 

• Chris Mortensen, longtime ESPN journalist, dies at 72 (The Athletic) / Texas has lost a public media titan. TPR’s President and CEO Joyce Slocum dies at 66 (Texas Public Radio) 

• The Washington Post promoted Spencer Nusbaum ….to cover the Washington Nationals (Washington Post) / ‘Former WSJ editor-in-chief, Matt Murray, is becoming a contributing editor to the newsletter "News Items" and writing a weekly newsletter’ (Katie Robertson) / Silicon Valley Biz Journal hires Gary Boulanger as editor in chief (Talking Biz News) 

• India-based content farm impersonates 60+ major news outlets, like BBC, CNN, CNBC (BleepingComputer)  / Facebook to drop support for news tab in the U.S. and Australia, Meta says (Quartz)

• MyHeritage debuts OldNews.com, offering access to millions of historical newspaper pages (TechCrunch) 

• Rogue editors started a competing Wikipedia that’s only about roads (Gizmodo) 

Press Freedom

• National Press Club statement on contempt ruling against reporter Catherine Herridge (NPC/JI) / National Press Club condemns rearrest of Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan and demands his release (NPC/JI) 

• Hong Kong’s journalist associations call for protection under new security law (Voice of America) / Can journalism survive in Hong Kong? (Voice of America) 

• New BBC Chair Samir Shah says he will safeguard its 'independence’ (Variety)

Friday: Learn strategies to minimize personal risk of digital threats

From doxing to hacking, journalists around the world are subject to online harassment and abuse every day. While some of these attacks have been aimed at political journalists and those working to hold power to account, all reporters need to be on the alert for potential online harassment and attacks.

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute at 11:30 am ET this Friday, March 8, for instruction on how to minimize your personal risk of online harassment and protect your private information, taught by David Huerta, senior digital security instructor for the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Resources

• 5 tips for coping with a media layoff (Lenfest Institute for Journalism)
• Navigating the ins and outs of getting started with a freelance career (March 5, 4 pm ET)
• Covering the 2024 elections? Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press free legal resources can help (RCFP)

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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