Oct. 9, 2025

Editor's' note: The Latest will return to your inbox on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

■ Illinois judge blocks federal authorities from using force against Chicago journalists (POLITICO)  / No rubber bullets, no body slamming and no attacking journalists: Judge lays down rules for Trump’s federal agents in Chicago (The Independent) / Illinois Press Association CEO resigns after dispute over ICE lawsuit (Local News Initiative)  / “The press association board reportedly told Craven, a veteran First Amendment attorney, to ‘do whatever is necessary to dismiss the IPA as a plaintiff in that litigation.’ " (Tim Franklin)

■ Pentagon charges ahead with press restrictions ‘designed to stifle a free press,’ media orgs say (CNN Business) 

■ ‘On Day 4 at CBS, Bari Weiss is looking to make an early mark. She told staff today that she'd reached out to Hillary Clinton, Tony Blinken & Mike Pompeo, and that the former Secretaries of State had agreed to appear on a Middle East roundtable on the network, per a source.’ (Michael M. Grynbaum) / Bari Weiss ‘vocal’ in CBS News meetings on coverage of Israel-Hamas: ‘Making her presence known’ (New York Post) 

■ David Ellison “can’t comment” on a potential Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal (Hollywood Reporter) / Paramount hires Roku's Jay Askinasi as chief revenue officer (Axios)

■ People Inc. laying off 226 people (Axios) 

■ ‘Just in: an "overwhelming majority" — 85% — of unionized L.A. Times employees have voted to authorize a strike. The Guild said the strike has been authorized "if such a step is necessary to reach a new contract" - but no strike has yet been scheduled.’ (Jeremy Barr)

■ The New York Times wins right to obtain info Musk wanted kept private (The New Republic)

■ Pope Leo XIV: News agencies have ‘crucial role’ in forming consciences, sharing the truth (Catholic World Report) 

■ EA Sports strikes deal to integrate The Athletic content in games and app (SportsPro) 

■ Allen Media’s Local Now expands streaming content with 5 Fox channels (TV News Check) 

■  Re:Public is reporting stories about the lands that belong to all of us (Nieman Lab) 

■ The YouTubification of local news is here (TV NewsCheck) / Watchdog journalism’s future may lie in the work of independent reporters like Pablo Torre (Nieman Lab) 

■ Cuomo deepfaked himself. You can too. (Columbia Journalism Review)

Translate data into graphics with Magic Charts

Editor’s note: Throughout the month of October, the Institute and Canva are offering free bite-sized trainings on tips, tools, and Canva templates designed just for journalists. Sign up now to receive the daily emails.

This week at Camp Canva is all about data storytelling.

📊 Today we’re going to show how to bring a dataset to life with Canva’s Magic Charts. This tool suggests charts for your data project and will embed any information you select from your spreadsheet directly into your design. From there, you can download the chart to enhance and clarify your published story or incorporate it into your other Canva designs. Magic Charts is included in all Canva plans.

🔍 See how this works in practice with a short demo:

Practice this!

📝 Build your own Magic Chart using this sample dataset that showcases how temperatures have changed in the Mid-Atlantic basin since 1994. 

🗣️ Share your chart: To quickly share your chart, select “Share” in the top right corner of your window, then select “Public View Link.” You can use this to showcase any of your designs without granting edit access to the viewer. Share your link on the social channel of your choice with #CampCanva25.

For more Canva tips, tools and exercises, sign up now to receive the daily Camp Canva emails.

The Pamela Tobey Award for Excellence in Visual Storytelling is a national award and $1,000 prize recognizing journalistic work that pushes the boundaries of storytelling beyond text and rewards creative uses of emerging visual tools. Apply by Oct. 24, 2025.

2025 Mental Health in Journalism Summit continues through Friday

The Institute is proud to return as a partner for the free Mental Health in Journalism Summit, an online event (Oct. 8-10) dedicated to building collective resilience during uncertain times. This year's conference is taking a close look at the latest trends and case studies on mentally healthy workspaces in journalism.

Sign up today: Click here to learn more about the speakers and agenda.

Resources

• Design Fundamentals Workshop (Oct. 10, 11 a.m. ET)
• Be Heard: Pitching Your Op-Ed (Oct. 17, noon ET)
• COVID-19 vaccine updates explainer (Common Health Coalition)

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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