February 28, 2024

• Investigative news site Center for Public Integrity weighs merger or shutdown amid dire financial straits (New York Times) 

• Essence in talks to buy Refinery29 from embattled publisher Vice Media (Wall Street Journal)

• DCist archive will be available for 1 year, as WAMU seeks long-term home for beloved news site (WAMU 88.5)

• News outlets are collapsing as advertisers flock to social media platforms. It has major implications for society (CNN) / How the media industry keeps losing the future (New York Times) 

• Shane Smith and the final collapse of Vice News (Hollywood Reporter) / ‘In a town hall with remaining staff today, Vice CEO Bruce Dixon said that news has a future at Vice. He gave the example of ‘a potential Vice sub brand under CNN’ (Max Tani) / ‘As I reported last week, the CNN-Vice idea is a totally specious rumor... There have been no real talks with CNN’ (Dylan Byers)  

• San Francisco Chronicle tries an AI chatbot — er, Chowbot — for food recs (Nieman Journalism Lab) / Google is paying news outlets to unleash an avalanche of AI slop (Gizmodo) / The Intercept and Raw Story, progressive news stalwarts, sue OpenAI (Daily Beast) 

• Google hit with $2.3 bln lawsuit by Axel Springer, other media groups (Reuters) 

• Mehdi Hasan launches his own media company after leaving MSNBC (Washington Post) / Phil Mattingly named CNN's chief domestic correspondent following network's overhaul of morning show (Deadline) / ESPN hires Major League Baseball reporter Jorge Castillo to cover New York Yankees and New York Mets (ESPN) 

• Billionaire and Time magazine owner Marc Benioff is buying up land in Hawaii. And no one knows why (NPR) 

• ABC News president Kimberly Godwin: Trump’s comments on Black voters ‘as racist as they come’ (Semafor) 

• Tracking misinformation: Fabricated headline on Ukraine coverage (New York Times) 

• Spokane’s Black community newspaper is making a comeback (Crosscut)

• LGBTQ+ media broke details about Nex Benedict's gender identity. Mainstream media reacted slowly (Poynter) 

• Substack's 20 most profitable newsletters in terms of paid subscribers (MediaPost) 

Press Freedom

• CNN, BBC, CBS & Sky journalists sign open letter demanding ‘unfettered’ access to Gaza (Deadline) / ‘This letter is the latest in a series of efforts we have made as international correspondents to be allowed access to Gaza to report independently’ (Clarissa Ward)

• Police haul in China-based X followers of citizen journalist Mr Li (Radio Free Asia) 

• Death threat voicemail shakes up Las Vegas reporter murder case (Courthouse News Service)

Tips for covering a potential government shutdown

On March 8, a portion of the federal government could shut down and the rest by March 22. This is the fourth time in four months that a shutdown has been threatened. 

To help reporters, Shai Akabas, executive director of the Economic Policy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center shared where journalists can find resources and look for stories. [Congress also came close to a shut down in October and November 2023 and January 2024]

Here are a few resources mentioned in the discussion:a few excerpts from the conversation:

• The Bipartisan Policy Center summary about what a shutdown means (updated January 2024)
• White House contingency plans for a shutdown
• How many federal government employees are there? (USA Facts)

For more advice and resources, watch the webinar.

Resources

• Webinar series on accessing police misconduct records (NEFAC)
• Fact-checking in 2024? 5 tools to help with research and promotion (OpenNews) 
• SPJ Foundation Grants (Deadline: March 15)

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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