We’re used to seeing stories about how unions stick up for workers at news outlets. But now comes this provocative story about how some journalists at one of the world’s most recognizable media organizations are worried about the role of their union.

The Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell reports that dozens of staffers from The New York Times have formed a group — an “independence caucus” — to take a stance on journalistic independence out of fear that the union that represents the Times (and other outlets) may be leaning too far into advocacy.

Bruell reports the group includes high-profile journalists such as Megan Twohey, Julian Barnes and Emily Bazelon.

Bruell writes, “The creation of the new caucus, which is currently led by the Times employees but is open to staffers from rival publications, comes as tensions between the newsroom and the union — which also has advocacy groups among its members — have grown over the past year or so. Most recently, some Times staffers chafed when the NewsGuild held a virtual meeting during which some members debated the merits of issuing a statement calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. government aid to Israel, a move that they said would compromise their neutrality and put colleagues in war zones at risk.”

NewsGuild president Jon Schleuss told Bruell that the union hadn’t considered issuing a statement, and that the meeting was held to listen to union members on all sides.

There have been other flashpoints, Bruell reported, including “when the union got involved in a dispute between some Times employees and management over the New York Times’s coverage of transgender issues.”

Bruell added, “Frustrations escalated a few weeks ago when the NewsGuild held the virtual meeting during which several members — many of whom are advocacy groups, not journalistic organizations — pushed for the union to issue the statement on the Israel-Hamas conflict.”

The NewsGuild’s membership isn’t made up exclusively of media outlets. It also represents groups advocating for viewpoints in such issues as the conflict in the Middle East, civil liberties and abortion rights. In all, the NewsGuild represents 26,000 people from 468 workplaces, including 294 media organizations.

Twohey, who was a part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein, wrote in a Slack message reviewed by Bruell, “Our national union has grown by leaps and bounds, and some members do not work at media organizations. We see this caucus as, in part, a way to continue important conversations in our union about how to respect and balance the different priorities of our broad membership.”

Twohey told Bruell in an interview, “We want to articulate the standards many members are required to follow and why we think they’re important, and undermining them and compromising them for us is a problem.”

Bruell’s story has more details, including some talk of journalists breaking away from the union, so I encourage you to read it.

A personal note

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The most-read story of 2023

Each year, my colleague Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s media business analyst, looks back at Charbeat’s “most engaging” digital stories of the year. That means time spent reading on the sites of its 60,000 clients.

And Edmonds reports that the most-read story of 2023 was the Los Angeles Times story on the death of actor and “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry. The Times story was written by Richard Winton, Matt Brennan and Connor Sheets.

Edmonds noted that “It was the second time in the nine years that Chartbeat has compiled such a list that a news story combined with an obituary led the 100 ranked items. Brian Stelter’s CNN story on Anthony Bourdain’s suicide was the best read in 2018.”

B.J. Terhune, the assistant managing editor for news at the Los Angeles Times, told Edmonds in an email, “Staff Writer Richard Winton and Deputy Editor Matt Brennan are the reason the L.A. Times story was not only the first published among traditional news outlets but also the most-read. … Richard’s extensive sourcing allowed us to confirm Perry’s death long before any official statements were issued. And Matt’s exclusive one-on-one with Perry at the L.A. Times Festival of Books earlier this year provided depth and context. We also sent Staff Writer Connor Sheets to Perry’s home that night, where he was able to provide news from the scene, including interviews with neighbors, giving the story even more scope.”

Rounding out the top five on Chartbeat’s list of the most-read stories:

• Several Los Angeles Times staffers for “Authorities identify 72-year-old man as suspected gunman in Lunar New Year mass shooting.”
• CNN’s Francesca Street with “She broke up with her boyfriend and moved in with a man she’d known for 3 weeks. Here’s what happened next.”
• Fox News’ Hannah Ray Lambert with “Handyman turns the tables on squatters who took over his mother’s house.”
• ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg with “Damar Hamlin in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest; Bills-Bengals postponed.”

Edmonds has more stories that made the top of the list, and more analysis. In his piece, Edmonds wrote, “I write about these lists every year for at least two reasons. The winning stories are typically great reads I missed, and, like the Pulitzer Prizes, they provide lessons in thorough reporting as well as writing craft. I hope that more newspapers, magazines and digital-only sites will follow the examples. They have data building blocks, used for business purposes, sitting in their computers. Why not be transparent and share the information on what’s being read with readers?”

Major move

Pretty big news in the sports media and business world.

After 17 years at Sports Business Journal, John Ourand — considered among the top sports media and business reporters in the business — is leaving to join Puck News.

This is a huge get for Puck, which, with this move, is jumping into sports media/business coverage. Puck was launched in 2021, and this past August, raised more than $10 million from venture capital.

CNN’s Oliver Darcy wrote, “Through a mix of scoops and a steady burn of buzzy stories, Puck has drawn the attention of prominent industry players who often read the outlet’s reporting with great intrigue. Despite having fewer than 50 employees, Puck has seen much success with its journalism, often breaking consequential stories ahead of legacy newsrooms.”

Meanwhile, this move is a bit of a blow for SBJ. Ourand was synonymous with the site. SBJ publisher Abe Madkour said in a note, “We will all miss John’s talent, energy, professionalism, humor and unbelievable contributions that have helped SBJ reach the success it has.”

Mitchell’s milestone

NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, shown here in May. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Legendary journalist Andrea Mitchell is celebrating her 45th year at NBC News, including the past 15 as host of “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on MSNBC.

Mitchell, 77, has no plans to retire. She told Town & Country’s Emily Burack, “As long as I find this work fulfilling, and fun and challenging, I’ll continue doing it.”

Mitchell has covered every presidential election since 1980 and plans to cover the race up to next November’s 2024 election.

As far as the biggest story she ever covered, Mitchell told People’s Kyler Alvord, “Without question, the biggest story I’ve covered has been 9/11 and the ensuing ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world. Covering the worst terror attack on the American homeland, getting to the bottom of the administration’s intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, and reporting from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan were all extremely challenging.”

When asked by Alvord what advice she would give to her younger self, Mitchell said, “I would tell my younger self to be more self-confident, know my worth, demand equal pay, get more sleep and take more time off to be with my family. Former first lady Barbara Bush once told the Wellesley College graduates that at the end of their life, they would never regret not taking one more test or closing one more deal but will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.”

Series of the day

It’s always heartening when a major news outlet dedicates resources, manpower and time to covering an important and/or interesting topic.

The latest example: The Washington Post has a new project called “The Divided States of Football,” which looks at football participation in the U.S. and how race, politics and economics shape which kids continue to play and which ones don’t. Take the time to check it out.

The centerpiece is Dave Sheinin and Emily Giambalvo with “The Changing Face of America’s Favorite Sport.”

Other parts include:

• Michael Lee goes to Mississippi for “Where tackle football still reigns.”
• Sheinin with “In a Midwest football hotbed, an economic divide.”
• Sheinin also goes to Texas for “In football’s epicenter, a shifting landscape.”
• Albert Samaha with “A violent clash of football haves and have-nots.”

Media tidbits

(Courtesy: MSNBC)

• MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell will have an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that is scheduled to air on tonight’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” (10 p.m. Eastern).
• Semafor’s Max Tani with “A fight over Trump and ‘balance’ at The Messenger.”
• Wowza. You gotta see this: For a half hour, HBO’s John Oliver absolutely takes down X owner Elon Musk on his “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
• For The Washington Post, Hajar Harb, Miriam Berger and Niha Masih with “Journalist who broke story on decomposing babies in Gaza is shot, injured.”
• Washington Post theater critic Peter Marks has accepted a buyout from the paper, according to a tweet from the American Theatre, which added that if Marks is not replaced, it potentially leaves “one of the most significant U.S. theatre cities without a full-time drama critic.”
• ESPN has re-signed “SportsCenter” anchor Nicole Briscoe to a multi-year contract extension. She will continue hosting “SportsCenter,” which she has been doing since 2015, along with “Baseball Tonight” and hosting and reporting on ESPN’s Formula 1 coverage. Briscoe joined ESPN in 2008.
• The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Thomas and Joe Flint with “Amazon in Talks to Invest in Diamond Sports.”
• The “Sunday Night Football” and “Football Night in America” crew on NBC put together a nice sendoff for host Maria Taylor, who is about to step away on parental leave. NBC Sports announced that Ahmed Fareed will fill in while Taylor is out.

Hot type

• Another stunner from ProPublica about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It’s Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierjeski and Brett Murphy with “A ‘Delicate Matter’: Clarence Thomas’ Private Complaints About Money Sparked Fears He Would Resign.”
• USA Today with its pictures of the year.
• The New York Times’ Nina Siegal with “He Made a Magazine, 95 Issues, While Hiding From the Nazis in an Attic.”

More resources for journalists

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