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‘Reporting from the Front Lines’
Two ethics centers funded by craigslist founder Craig Newmark kick off today with live-streamed events from New York City.
Journalism is in a fight.
The media continues to go up against the threat of information warfare, and the ethical challenges that come with it. That will be a topic of conversation today at a special event in New York City. And even if you’re not in New York, you can join in.
The Poynter Institute and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism will explore a number of fronts in the battle and the best practices for media organizations at Reporting from the Front Lines of the Information Wars.
The symposium marks the formal launch of Poynter’s Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership and Columbia’s Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security. In February, Newmark, founder of Craigslist, gave a $5 million grant to Poynter and $10 million to Columbia University.
Poynter President Neil Brown will lead guest speakers today who also include Newmark, Poynter Senior Vice President Kelly McBride, Rappler founder Maria Ressa and New York Magazine Senior Correspondent Irin Carmon. The event also will feature the standards editors at The New York Times, CNN and USA Today.
The program runs all day at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York City, and is scheduled to be livestreamed on Poynter’s website.
Finding las noticias
A new project seeks to map out Latin American news sources north of the border.
Screenshot.
Where can you get Latino news in the United States? There is now an interactive map of more than 600 Latino news outlets in the United States. It’s a companion to the “State of the Latino News Media Report” by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY (The City University of New York) that will go live in June.
The map is still a work in progress and those behind it state that the “directory is not a comprehensive or conclusive one.” The goal is that with help from media outlets and communities, the list will be more complete in the future.
What stands out about the map are the large gaps in the country — particularly in upper New England and northern western states such as the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming — where Latino news outlets are almost non-existent.
Mitchell honored at free press gala
Speaking at the event, she said phrases like ‘enemy of the people’ and ‘fake news’ are meant to isolate and diminish.
NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell was honored Tuesday night with the Freedom of the Press Award at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in New York City. “NBC Evening News” anchor Lester Holt emceed the event.
In her acceptance speech, Mitchell said, “We are not enemies of the people. We are not fake news. Those slogans are meant to isolate us from the public — to diminish our credibility and undercut our effectiveness. Yes, as technology has enhanced our immediacy and reach, we have to constantly remind ourselves of the first principles: accuracy, context, to not be distracted by the next shiny object.”
It’s the Times for some good news
First-quarter earnings for the newspaper show increasing success in digital reach and a commitment to landing paying customers.
The New York Times released its first quarter report for 2019, and the headline is that more people are reading the Times than ever before. The paper reports its total number of paid digital and print subscriptions is now at 4.5 million, an all-time high.
More than 3.5 million pay for Times online products, so it’s no surprise that revenue from online advertising is up 19 percent to $55 million. That number, the Times said, is bolstered by its podcast business, including its highly popular “The Daily.”
The company spent $47.5 million on marketing during the first quarter, a 50 percent leap over the first quarter last year. The Times is on a big push to reach 10 million subscribers by 2025.
That number likely will have to come through digital subscriptions because the print product continues to diminish. Print advertising for the Times is down nearly 12 percent to $69.5 million and print subscription revenue fell 2.6 percent to approximately $161 million.
Reuters leader expands his role
Editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler lands new chairmanship as ‘press freedom increasingly comes under threat.’
Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler has been named chairman for the Reporters Committee to Freedom of the Press. He succeeds Temple University dean David Boardman. Margaret Low, senior VP of The Atlantic, will be vice chair.
In a statement, Adler said, “The Reporters Committee’s work providing journalists with access to legal representation and support is of critical importance as press freedom increasingly comes under threat.”
Earlier this week, two Reuters journalists — Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — were released from prison in Myanmar after 500 days for reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslim men and boys in 2017. Adler was heavily involved in that case, as well chairing the board that oversees the Columbia Journalism Review and serving on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Passings: Robert Pear
One colleague referred to him as ‘the most important reporter in Washington you have never heard of.’
Robert Pear, who covered health care and other national issues for 40 years at The New York Times, has died from complications of a stroke. He was 69. Pear’s last article was April 20 of this year. In the obit for the Times, Sam Roberts wrote:
“Mr. Pear went about his reporting meticulously and, to the wider public, inconspicuously. Appearances as a talking head reporter on cable news were not for him. Colleagues described him as an almost sphinxlike good listener, working in the Washington bureau newsroom standing up at a specially built desk that he had gotten used to after undergoing back surgery.
Yet his reporting — exacting, authoritative and closely read, particularly in Washington — spoke volumes. Allan Dodds Frank, an Emmy Award-winning business journalist, described him in an email as ‘the most important reporter in Washington you have never heard of.’”
Hot type
A curated list of great journalism and intriguing media.
- Things got a little testy when “Late Night” host Seth Meyers interviewed Meghan McCain.
- The owners of the New Orleans Times-Picayune sold their paper to a rival publication. They then sent an executive to the Times-Picayune to announce layoffs. Apparently, his announcement wasn’t a masterclass in how to gently let people go.
- Writing for Journalist’s Resource, a publication of the Shorenstein Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Chloe Reichel lists the three simple stepsto determine whether a medical study is newsworthy.
- In his latest MSNBC podcast “The Oath,” Chuck Rosenberg talks to former FBI deputy director Andy McCabe about Robert Mueller, the FBI’s hunt to catch the Boston Marathon bomber and FBI interview tactics.
- Finally, if you missed it, I encourage you to check out Mark I. Pinsky’s four-part series on Poynter.org about how Southern newspapers played a major role in racial violence and whether or not they now owe the public an apology.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
Correction: The item about an interactive map listing Latino news outlets is being assembled by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY (The City University of New York). A different university was originally listed.
Upcoming Poynter training:
- Covering the 2020 Census — Chicago (workshop). Deadline: Tomorrow!
- Writers Without Editors: How to Edit Your Own Writing (online seminar). Starts May 17.
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