January 8, 2024

• OpenAI responds to New York Times lawsuit, claims paper ‘intentionally manipulated’ prompts (Hollywood Reporter) / Dark corners of the web offer a glimpse at AI’s nefarious future (New York Times) 

• Axel Springer to review Business Insider story on Neri Oxman (Washington Post) / Billionaire hedge fund owner Bill Ackman pledges to ‘save all news organizations from the trouble of doing plagiarism reviews’ and review the work of all MIT faculty (Bill Ackman)

• Asking people to ‘do the research’ on fake news stories makes them seem more believable, not less: new study shows (Columbia Journalism Review) 

• Biden campaign brings top journalists to Wilmington …for background briefings (Semafor) / ‘... the Biden team has a spreadsheet for meetings with reporters detailing where they think their reporting has fallen short. The meeting with the NYT didn’t seem to go well.’ (Alex Thompson)

• ‘MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan announces he is leaving network ‘to look for a new challenge’ after his Sunday program was canceled’ (Mehdi Hasan)

• Star Tribune announces plans to further expand coverage in Greater Minnesota (Star Tribune via Editor & Publisher)

• NPR’s new executive editor scouts paths for audience growth (Current) 

• Radio conglomerate Audacy files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (Variety) 

• New York Post‘s Page Six launching video studio (The Hollywood Reporter) 

• NBC News reporter Miguel Almaguer, who was suspended over retracted Paul Pelosi story, quits network (New York Post) 

• How the journalist John Nichols became another January 6th conspiracy-theory target (The New Yorker) 

• The L.A. Public Library is getting into book publishing. Why it makes total sense (Los Angeles Times) 

Press Freedom 

• Al Jazeera bureau chief's son Hamza al-Dahdouh among journalists killed in Gaza (BBC) / CPJ calls for probe into whether Hamza Al Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya were targeted in strike (Committee to Protect Journalists) / As of Jan. 7, at least 79 journalists and media workers killed since the beginning of the war on Oct. 7 (Committee to Protect Journalists)

• National Press Club Journalism Institute FOIA case advances (NPCJI)

• Journalist arrives at Northwestern, under threat, with much to share (Evanston RoundTable)  

“We have communities who depend on us for information. If the journalists who have gathered that information are not operating at a level where we can do that, then it’s not just us who are personally suffering, but the newsroom culture as a whole, and then by extension, the communities we cover.”

-- Kari Cobham, director of fellowships at The 19th, excerpt from Headlines Network’s “Burnout in journalism” guide

Managing burnout and stress as a journalist: Free webinar, Jan. 12

Journalists are likely to face stressors from many directions in 2024: the demands of constant deadlines, industry-wide financial turmoil, and an uncertain election season ahead are among them.

Research shows these stressors affect journalists’ mental health. Depending on their beats or work locations, as many as 59% of journalists experience symptoms of serious stress including the inability to concentrate or to sleep, as well as feeling on edge, numb, or angry, according to the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute at 11:30 am ET on Friday, Jan. 12, for a conversation focused on practical tips and effective methods for journalists and newsroom leaders to address stress and burnout. Registration is open for this free webinar.

Participants will:

• Learn about mental health toolkits for journalists
• Find a network of like-minded journalists to talk about mental health
• Gain strategies for garnering their leadership’s support for mental health

Confirmed speakers include:

• Tara Francis Chan, managing editor & operations director, The Appeal
• Naseem Miller, senior editor for health, The Journalist’s Resource
• AX Mina, co-creator of the Take Care/Make Care zine for the Care Collaboratory and senior civic media fellow at USC Annenberg School of Journalism
• Samantha Ragland, vice president, journalism programs, American Press Institute
• Moderator: Bara Vaida, director of training, National Press Club Journalism Institute

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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