The Latest: Trump’s FCC pick; AP to cut 8% of staff; America’s news influencers

Nov. 18, 2024

Top stories

■ ‘The Associated Press is cutting staff through buyouts . Per a note from the AP News Guild, the AP is approaching 121 eligible employees with this offer’ (Ben Mullin)

■ Trump picks Brendan Carr to lead FCC (New York Times) / Trump’s new FCC nominee promises to bring Project 2025-style governance to media (Nieman Journalism Lab) / Four priorities for Trump’s top telecom regulator (Wall Street Journal) / The Verge Editor-In-Chief Nilay Patel breathes fire on Elon Musk and Donald Trump's Big Tech enablers (Oliver Darcy)

■ MSNBC ‘Morning Joe’ hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski meet with Trump in bid for ‘new approach’ to coverage (Hollywood Reporter) / ‘Loyal "Morning Joe" viewers are furious about the Trump meeting … Some fans are vowing not to watch the show anymore.’ (Brian Stelter)

■ Both right- and left-leaning media criticize Trump elevating Matt Gaetz (New York Times)

■ Karoline Leavitt snags White House press secretary position , the youngest to ever serve in the role (Vanity Fair)

■ Alex Jones-affiliated company challenges the Onion's Infowars purchase (Reuters) / The Onion CEO explains Infowars purchase amid Alex Jones’s claims about auction (The Hill)

■ 1 in 5 Americans get their news from social media influencers (CNBC) / Two-thirds of news influencers are men — and most have never worked for a news organization (Nieman Journalism Lab) / The right-wing media voices you may hear more of soon (Columbia Journalism Review) / Substack’s bet on politics newsletters leads to subscriber growth (New York Times)

■ Writers Guild East members vote to authorize a strike against PBS (Hollywood Reporter)

■ NPR board elects Sarah Morris as member director (NPR) / ONA announces new interim leadership (Online News Association) / Dionne Searcey joins Metro desk (New York Times) / Jan Kobal joins Times opinion (New York Times) / Reuters hires Wen-Yee Lee as tech correspondent in Taiwan (Talking Biz News) / Wilfredo Pacheco joins Telemundo62 as multimedia journalist (NBC10 Philadelphia) / Comings and goings : ‘PBS News Weekend’ hires EP, Priska Neely to leave Gulf States Newsroom (Current)

■ Investor building newspaper chain eyes Lee Enterprises, DallasNews (Wall Street Journal)

■ WBD to settle NBA broadcast rights suit , move ‘Inside the NBA’ to ESPN and ABC (CNN) / How Warner Bros. Discovery’s settlement with the NBA worked out (Hollywood Reporter)

■ OpenAI is paying Dotdash Meredith at least $16 million to license its content (Adweek) / HarperCollins confirms it has a deal to sell authors' work to AI company (404 Media)

■ Local news is in crisis. This paper has a $150 million plan (NPR)

Press freedom

■ How could Donald Trump actually go after the media ? (Poynter) / How Trump’s first administration threatened press freedom at the border (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

■ Guatemalan court overturns order that freed journalist José Rubén Zamora, orders his return to jail (Associated Press)

How ProPublica will cover a second Trump term

“The coming months will feel as chaotic as they always do during a transition. Various figures in the president-elect’s orbit will be jockeying for influence and will leak transition team documents in hopes of turning them into reality. You will read many stories about proposals for radical change in every government agency. Some will be embraced. Many more will be cast aside, never to be seen again. … As we have done for each presidential administration since 2008, our reporters will begin with basic questions about new government policies : Who is benefiting? Who is suffering? What are the unintended consequences?”

-- Stephen Engelberg , editor-in-chief at ProPublica, excerpt from “What we’ll be covering in a second Trump administration ” (ProPublica)

Networking tip for your next job search

“When an organization publishes a job listing or an opportunity, the recruiting and communications teams typically are responsible for promoting it. The natural networking impulse here is to reach out to the promoters and let them know you’ve applied. However, it can be unclear whether those messages ever reach the team that’s looking for the new member(s). Search the ‘People’ section of the organization’s LinkedIn page or their website’s staff page to identify the members of the team that is hiring . Write to them about your application. Remember that this message is not a cover letter but an interest statement that outlines your skills and interest in the organization.”

-- Muskan Bansal , IJNet disarming disinformation consultant, excerpt from “Networking advice for student journalists ” (International Center for Journalists)

Resources

This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, Elliot C. Williams, 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.