Jan. 8, 2026

■ Trump sits down with New York Times reporters for two-hour interview (New York Times) / ‘Remarkable moment: NYT reporters and Trump watch video of the ICE shooting together, and Trump appears to backtrack on his claim Renee Good ran over an agent’ (Aidan McLaughlin) / People are using AI to falsely identify the federal agent who shot Renee Good (WIRED) 

■ ‘CBS Evening News’ number two producer dismissed amid Tony Dokoupil’s rocky rollout (The Wrap) / ‘Guzman's firing left multiple CBS News staffers "in tears" during Thursday’s editorial meeting as they pressed management on why the “highly respected” producer was ousted, according to a source in the room. Management did not offer a reason.’ (Corbin Bolies) 

■ Fox News leads cable news ratings for breaking coverage of Venezuela strike (The Wrap) / After Maduro’s ouster, Venezuela’s press braces for renewed repression (LatAm Journalism Review)

■ Paramount defends its hostile bid for Warner (Wall Street Journal) / Paramount sticks with $30-per-share bid as WBD backs Netflix deal (CNN) / DOJ digs in on the dueling takeover bids for Warner Bros. (Bloomberg)

■ ‘A recent meeting with McClatchy executives left union leaders stunned and deeply alarmed about how the company wishes to implement AI in the newsroom’ (Status) / ‘McClatchy executives told NewsGuild journalists that the company wants to publish AI-generated stories, create fake AI versions of reporters, and bypass human review.’ (NewsGuild-CWA)

■ Mamdani hosts influencer summit, sidestepping traditional media (New York Times) / Why publishers are building their own creator networks (Digiday) / Fox launches creator studios venture to develop next-generation talent and content (Variety) 

■ Arkansas TV, PBS dispute accounts of decision to end membership (Current)

■ Columbus Dispatch, NBC4 announce content sharing agreement (Columbus Dispatch)

■ Maggie Hyde named global planning director (Associated Press) / NorthJersey.com and The Record announce Blake Kaplan as new editor (NorthJersey.com) / The Atlantic hires Adam Harris to host new weekly video podcast (The Atlantic) / Camille Bromley and Doug Watson join Times Opinion (New York Times) / The Guardian Foundation appoints Rosie Parkyn as executive director (Guardian) / Beehiiv doubles ad sales team, scaling newsletter ads business (Adweek) 

■ A 200-year-old book distributor is closing. Here's what that means for public libraries (NPR)

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Covering fatal use of force by law enforcement officers

“Educating people about local law enforcement’s use-of-force policies is a form of accountability journalism. It helps people understand the professional standards expected of their local police officers. And it allows the public to compare local standards to federal policies. It’s not immediately clear how much training ICE agents receive on the use of deadly force or what specific policies govern their actions. It’s reasonable for that information to be part of the public record, although it’s likely the administration will fight to limit public scrutiny of ICE policies. By surfacing these policies and past training practices, reporters will help people reach their own conclusions about whether ICE is acting responsibly and within accepted professional standards.”

-- Kelly McBride, senior vice president and chair of Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at Poynter Institute, excerpt from "How journalists should cover ICE’s fatal shooting of a civilian in Minneapolis" (Poynter)

Resources

• Following the Money in the 2026 Midterms: Resources for local journalists (Jan. 16, noon ET)
• The 2026 journalist’s digital security checklist (Freedom of the Press Foundation) 
• How to create grant programs with support built-in for newsrooms (Lenfest Institute for Journalism)

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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