January 23, 2024

• Los Angeles Times lays off more than 20% of newsroom staff as the paper confronts 'financial crisis' (CNN) / L.A. Times axes D.C. bureau chiefs on day of key GOP primary (Daily Beast) / ‘..the L.A. Times Washington bureau was decimated…There are five reporters left covering D.C.’ (Sarah D. Wire) / ‘The number of reporters of color being laid off by the L.A. Times today is baffling. How can the newspaper justify this move in a city where Latinos account for half the population?’ (Kim Bojórquez)

• Over 400 Condé Nast employees to stage 24-hour walkout Tuesday amid layoffs (The Wrap) / Condé Nast union workers walk out following layoff announcement (Axios) 

• Facebook made a major change after years of PR disasters, and news sites are paying the price (CNBC) / Inside the collapsing U.S. political-media-industrial-complex (Semafor) 

• As sports teams prosper, SI chaos spotlights journalism’s struggle (Sportico) 

• The 19th launches The 19th News Network, a network for more equitable news (The 19th)

• Charles Osgood, veteran CBS newsman and longtime host of 'Sunday Morning,' dies at 91 (CBS News) 

• Inside CNN, a debate over taking Trump live (New York Times) / CNN dumps Trump presser — Kaitlan Collins corrects pro-Trump reporter pushing election lie (Mediaite) 

• NYT correspondent nixes eyebrow-raising climate change post (Daily Beast) / Media and Democracy Project asks The New York Times to reinstate public editor (The Media and Democracy blog)

• Congress considers proposal to have broadcasters help police political ads for foreign ties (InsideRadio) 

• Paige Winfield Cunningham named deputy Washington editor (Washington Post) / McClatchy promotes Jeremy Chisenhall to editor of The Telegraph and Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) / Soccer star Sam Mewis retires, joins Men in Blazers as editor-in-chief of The Women's Game (Deadline)

• AI generates debate over newsroom ethics (Voice of America) / As gen AI inches closer to TV news, stations build ‘policy groups’ to be ready (TVNewsCheck) / How podcast networks are testing AI tools for faster translation, ad sales (Digiday)  

• Oscar nomination for '20 Days in Mariupol' is a first for the 178-year-old Associated Press (Associated Press) 

• A 'Times' leak saga for our times - the chilly relationship between the New York Times and the source who stole Trump’s tax returns (Puck) 

Press Freedom 

• Oklahoma State Senator authors bill to limit freedom of the press (Oklahoma Public Media Exchange) 

• Evan Gershkovich begins 300th day in Russian detention (CNN) / ‘Thursday will mark 100 days since Russia wrongfully detained RFERL journalist and U.S. citizen Alsu Kurmasheva. Alsu was highlighted alongside other Russian political prisoners in New York's Times Square on Sunday. #FreeAlsu’ (Radio Free Europe)

• Is Ukraine’s information war turning on its own journalists? (Columbia Journalism Review)

Tips for interviewing a trauma survivor

“If you’re interviewing a trauma survivor, think about how you’re caring for them before, during, and after the interview. Let survivors pick the place of the interview so they can feel safe. Tell survivors what questions you’re planning to ask… Ask if there are questions you should avoid. During the interview, make sure survivors aren’t reliving the event. Find out if they want to take a break. [At the] end of the interview, thank your sources and let them know how their interview will be used and when to expect the story.”

-- Naseem Miller, senior editor for health at The Journalist’s Resource, excerpt from tipsheet on trauma-informed journalism. For more of Miller’s advice on this topic, watch the NPCJI webinar on preventing burnout & stress.

Webinar on reframing firearms violence: How journalists can use research in their reporting

Firearm violence is largely covered in the media as a crime issue focused on individual shooting events. But experts assert that reframing firearms violence as a broader public health issue is crucial to finding policy and community solutions aimed at preventing deaths and injury from guns. 

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute at 11:30 am ET on Friday, Feb. 9, for a conversation among experts and journalists on where to find the best data and research on firearms and gun deaths for your reporting.

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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