The Senate condemns hate-mongering toward the press; broadcast outlets amplify editorials; Trump tweets ‘collusion’; rest in peace, Aretha
Let’s get right to it: The nationwide initiative to raise awareness of dangers to America’s free press stretched into a second day, with broadcast outlets, associations, unions, NGOs and the entire U.S. Senate chipping in.
Here are a few highlights:
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The Senate unanimously condemned attacks against the Fourth Estate and declared that "the press is not the enemy of the people." "Efforts to systematically undermine the credibility of the press," the Senate affirmed, are "an attack on our democratic institutions." “When we look back at these extraordinary times, I strongly believe that our free press will be recognized as heroes," Senator Richard Blumenthal said, "and I’m proud to stand with them today.”
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The vote came hours after President Trump, predictably, criticized the nationwide drive to raise awareness and preserve the First Amendment and the free press. He accused the participating news outlets of “collusion,” a term that has haunted him in the Robert Mueller investigation into Russian election interference. Editorial page editors have said they’ve frequently synchronized timing of editorials.
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Hundreds of broadcast outlets carried stories on the editorial drive, and dozens added editorials of their own, says the Radio Television News Directors Association.
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A count late Thursday put the number of participating news outlets at 411, Marjorie Pritchard, the Boston Globe deputy editorial editor who spearheaded the drive, told me.
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The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, recovering from the slaying of five of its employees, addressed Trump's repeated scapegoating of journalists this way: “We noted with regret the hurtful nature of his remarks last month calling most journalists dishonest, even as we attended funerals for five friends and colleagues killed in the June 28 attack on our newsroom."
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The News Guild, representing unionized journalists, said: "We have believed for some time that the president's words will result in physical attacks on journalists. … We believe this atrocious behavior has to be seen for what it is – reckless and endangering."
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The Virginian-Pilot newsroom got donuts and bagels from a couple that just subscribed. In a note, the couple wrote: “By reporting one day, each day, you’re creating a history that wouldn’t otherwise exist.” The note ended with a hashtag: #NotTheEnemy (h/t Robyn Sidersky)
Quick hits
X MARKS THE ‘BOT’: Imagine a Twitter experience where false tweets would be surrounded with factual context and bots were marked (I'd like a big red "X," but a red dot would work). Anyway, that's what CEO Jack Dorsey is experimenting with, according to Tony Romm and Elizabeth Dwoskin.
WORKING TOGETHER: Quartz approached The Texas Observer with an idea: Let’s really explore the future of the Rio Grande Valley and the effects of climate change. The result? A digital and print series enriched by each outlet’s strengths, says Observer editor Forrest Wilder. “Quartz's global reach and our deep regional expertise were a perfect match to tell a complex, multifaceted story that has regional, state and international reach,” says Wilder, who credited Quartz with bolstering his 10-member, investigative-focused staff with visual and multimedia expertise. “That's not always necessary,” he adds in an e-mail, “but the climate story begs to be told in new, engaging ways."
‘THE TRICKLE DOWN OF HATE’: What does a student reporter do when encountering enraged people who have bought into the whole “enemy of the people” thing? One student journalist, yelled at, spat at, “backed away, silently, deciding there was nothing to be done at the moment, in the face of so much anger, although she knows that the spitting was an assault — a criminal offense,” Katherine Reed writes. (h/t Kathy Kiely)
IT STARTED WITH A BABY SHOWER: How this Ohio newsroom got the community to contribute nearly $70,000 for journalism, by Poynter’s Kristen Hare.
HIRED: Continuing its expansion, The Atlantic has hired the NYT’s Prashant Rao as its new Global Editor, based in London. Rao, deputy Europe business editor for the Times and a longtime Baghdad-based reporter, begins in October and will oversee coverage of democracy, foreign policy and global conflict with a team of reporters in London, Paris and Washington.
BETTER READERS?: The Facebook Journalism Project is partnering with an educational/journalism nonprofit to expand a virtual secondary school classroom to teach pupils how to assess news and other information. The Checkology program is part of the News Literacy Project, which has done groundbreaking work in this area.
TWEET OF THE DAY: Rest in peace, Aretha Franklin.
That scene in The Blues Brothers when Aretha Franklin told us we all bettter think. #Respect pic.twitter.com/7qkr7VH1LU
— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) August 16, 2018
On Poynter.org
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What we learned about news literacy from teaching teens fact-checking. By Allison Graves and Hiwot Hailu.
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What Aretha Franklin’s singing taught me about writing. By Roy Peter Clark.
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How fake academic journalists hope to fool the public — by publishing a few "real" papers. By Daniel Funke and Alexios Mantzarlis.
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Got a tip, a link, a suggestion, a favorite Aretha Franklin song? We’re trying to make this roundup better every day. Please email me at dbeard@poynter.org or reach me @dabeard.
Have a great Friday. See you Monday morning.
