This is a stunning development in American news media.

Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and the largest newspaper chain in the country with more than 200 outlets, announced it will stop using content provided by The Associated Press starting next week.

That was the first big shoe to drop. Then, The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson reported that McClatchy — which owns about 30 newspapers, including the Miami Herald and The Kansas City Star — will stop using some AP services next month.

Let’s start with the Gannett part of this, and that starts with money.

The AP’s David Bauder reports, “Neither company would discuss how much Gannett has been paying to receive AP content.”

But my guess is we’re talking about millions. The move will save Gannett money, and at the same time, will cost the AP money.

However, Bauder added this might not be a crushing blow to the AP, writing, “In an earlier era, when fees from U.S. newspapers provided AP with virtually all of its revenue, such a decision would have represented a financial earthquake for the news cooperative. But AP has diversified its services with the decline of newspapers and U.S. newspaper fees now constitute just over 10 percent of its annual income.”

But what will the cost in coverage be for Gannett? The company will no longer be able to access the AP’s stories, photos and video from its coverage around the country and the world. The AP has journalists in every state, as well as nearly 100 countries.

In a statement, Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón said, “This decision enables us to invest further in our newsrooms and leverage our incredible USA TODAY Network of more than 200 newsrooms across the nation as well as USA TODAY to reach and engage more readers, viewers and listeners.”

OK, let’s break down what that statement says. The intent, it appears, is that Gannett will use at least some of the money saved to put back into its own newsrooms, and then rely on those newsrooms to cover stories around the country. So, national stories of interest in one market would be reported on by USA Today or Gannett properties and then shared with the other outlets in the chain.

In theory, that could work. But will there be holes in the coverage — holes previously filled by the AP’s extensive work?

In an internal memo obtained by The Wrap, Gannett chief content officer Kristin Roberts wrote, “We create more journalism every day than the AP.”

By not paying for the AP’s content, Roberts said it “will give us the opportunity to redeploy more dollars toward our teams and build capacity where we might have gaps.”

Still, there are other questions. Will there be any snags with one local newsroom sharing big breaking news stories with the rest of the chain? How smooth will that sharing process be? Can, for example, papers on the East Coast get detailed reports from important late-breaking stories out west?

The AP also provides significant international coverage, but Roberts said Gannett has signed an agreement with Reuters “while we build our capacity” to cover global news.

Bauder wrote, “Gannett said it would continue paying for two of AP’s most visible services: its extensive election-related polling and vote-counting, and the AP Stylebook that sets guidelines for journalism practices and word usage.”

The news seemed to have caught the AP off guard.

In a statement to Poynter, Associated Press spokesperson Lauren Easton said, “We are shocked and disappointed to see this memo. Our conversations with Gannett have been productive and are ongoing. We remain hopeful Gannett will continue to support the AP beyond the end of their membership term at the end of 2024, as they have done for over a century.”

That statement indicated that Gannett’s contract with the AP goes through the end of the year. Yet, according to Mullin, who broke the story, Gannett said it will end the relationship on March 25.

Is this a negotiating tactic for a new contract? That’s possible, although Gannett sounds serious that it will move forward without the AP.

If that is the case, time will tell if that decision is a smart one, not only financially, but especially editorially.

About McClatchy …

The news that McClatchy was pulling away from the AP also was a surprise.

Kathy Vetter, McClatchy’s senior vice president of news and audience, said in an email reviewed by The New York Times, “With this decision, we will no longer pay millions for content that serves less than 1 percent of our readers. In most cases we have found replacements. However, we are still working on a universal solution for state ‘wires’ content.”

Like Gannett, McClatchy will continue using the AP’s election results data.

Could this, too, be about negotiating a new contract with the AP?

Easton told the Times in a statement that conversations with Gannett and McClatchy over contracts “have been productive and are ongoing.” Easton added, “We appreciate that these are difficult decisions to make and deeply understand the challenges the news industry faces. At the same time, this would be a disservice to news consumers across the U.S. who would no longer see fact-based journalism from The AP.”

It feels like there’s more to come in this story.

Trump sues ABC News, George Stephanopoulos

Another day, another Donald Trump court case.

But this time, it’s Trump who is doing the suing. The former president is suing ABC News and on-air personality George Stephanopoulos for defamation.

Trump is angry over Stephanopoulos’ interview with South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace on ABC’s “This Week.” Stephanopoulos questioned how Mace, a rape survivor, could endorse Trump for president after a jury in a civil trial found Trump had sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996.

It led to a contentious exchange between Stephanopoulos and Mace. During the exchange, Stephanopoulos used the word “rape” multiple times. In one question, Stephanopoulos said, “You endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony that we just saw?”

It should be noted that the Manhattan jury in the Trump-Carroll case found that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll, but checked “no” when asked if they found that Trump had raped Carroll. However, that might have been because of the language and definition in New York law.

In dismissing a Trump countersuit in that case, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled, “Based on all of the evidence at trial and the jury’s verdict as a whole, the jury’s finding that Mr. Trump ‘sexually abused’ Ms. Carroll implicity determined that he forcibly penetrated her digitally — in other words, that Mr. Trump in fact did ‘rape’ Ms. Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood in contexts outside of the New York Penal Law.”

Trump then was ordered to pay Carroll $83.3 million after he was found to have defamed her when he called her a liar for accusing him of sexual assault.

Trump’s claim against ABC News and Stephanopoulos said the show “falsely stated on several occasions that Plaintiff had been found liable by multiple juries for the rape of Ms. E. Jean Carroll. These statements were and remain false, and were made by Defendant Stephanopoulos with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth given that Defendant Stephanopoulos knows that these statements are patently and demonstrably false. Indeed, the jury expressly found that Plaintiff did not commit rape and, as demonstrated below, Defendant George Stephanopoulos was aware of the jury’s finding in this regard yet still falsely stated otherwise.”

Again, Kaplan’s ruling in the countersuit likely will help ABC News’ defense.

Meanwhile, Steve Benen, producer of “The Rachel Maddow Show,” wrote on MSNBC, “For one thing, there’s not much of an upside for a presidential candidate to effectively argue, ‘I was held liable for sexual assault, not rape, even if a judge said there’s little meaningful difference between the two given the details of the case.’”

Benen added that recent polling suggested many Republican voters are not fully aware Trump was found liable for sexual assault.

Little to see here

Former Vice President Mike Pence, shown here in October 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Last week, former Vice President Mike Pence said he would not endorse Donald Trump for president. In the history of American politics, that’s a stunning story. Pence was Trump’s VP. Pence is still a Republican. Trump is going to be the Republican presidential candidate.

And Pence is refusing to endorse him.

He told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on air that he “cannot in good conscience” endorse Trump.

Another thing to notice there: Pence made his announcement on Fox News.

Yet Fox News, which broke this big story, barely mentioned it in the days that followed.

Media Matters’ Matt Gertz notes that from the announcement last Friday through Monday, Fox News dedicated a mere four minutes to that particular story. That included a guest on Laura Ingraham’s prime-time show saying it is “loathsome” for Pence to not endorse Trump and that “every last Republican should be endorsing Trump.”

That led Ingraham to criticize Pence, saying, “Pence should just go down to the border and start welcoming people in because he might as well do that and start working directly for Biden.”

While Fox News spent just four minutes on the story, CNN devoted one hour and 19 minutes, and MSNBC devoted one hour and 14 minutes.

Veteran media journalist Brian Stelter tweeted, “​​Classic example of Fox burying news that breaks on its own network, simply because the news bums out its pro-Trump base.”

Journalist or not?

Tampa Bay Times executive editor Mark Katches wrote about Tim Burke, the Tampa man indicted last month on 14 counts of conspiracy, wiretapping and hacking. Katches writes, “The U.S. Justice Department doesn’t spell it out in the court filings, but the accusations stem from Fox News video outtakes Burke obtained of Tucker Carlson interviewing Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).”

Katches’ column is about whether or not Burke is still a quote-unquote “journalist.” Burke worked at The Daily Beast, Deadspin and Gawker — so, at least at one time, he was a journalist. But, Katches writes, “It’s not so clear now.”

Katches contends “Burke crossed the career threshold when he launched a business in 2019 that has offered his services managing political campaigns and as an expert in crisis communications and opposition research. He successfully ran his wife Lynn Hurtak’s 2023 reelection campaign to the Tampa City Council.”

Katches then added, “Those aren’t the functions of a journalist. Our code of ethics frowns upon it. We strive to objectively and fairly cover important events, people or issues to better inform the public. That mission would be compromised if we represented clients in politics or instructed businesses on messaging, even if we tried to keep separate the local stage from the national arena. It all blends into a murky soup.”

It’s murky, all right.

Can someone take off one hat and then put on another? Can Burke be a consultant one day and a journalist the next? It seems as if his work uncovering what Carlson and Ye said was informative. You could argue Burke was practicing investigative journalism.

Katches wrote, “Burke may continue to use journalistic techniques. But, in our estimation, he’s worn too many hats of late to claim the title.”

You may or may not agree with Katches, but his column is worth a few moments and presents an interesting debate.

Storm’s cancer battle

ESPN’s Hannah Storm, shown here in 2022. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

ESPN’s Hannah Storm is sharing her story.

The longtime “SportsCenter” anchor recently was diagnosed with a treatable form of breast cancer. She appeared on Tuesday’s “Good Morning America” on ABC, and wrote a lengthy piece for ESPN’s Front Row.

Storm told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts that she was “shocked” and “scared” when she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS — also known as stage 0 breast cancer. It is noninvasive, meaning the cancer has not spread to other tissues in the breast. She underwent a lumpectomy and is now considered cancer-free.

Storm wrote for ESPN that she leaned on fellow ESPN broadcaster and former tennis great Chris Evert, who also has had her battles with cancer. She also went into great detail about her diagnosis, surgery and recovery.

Storm wrote, “Everyone’s cancer journey is different, so take from this story what you will, but if there is one thing I hope you take away with, it’s always to be your best advocate regarding your health. Make screening for cancers a priority. Screening picks up cancers early and saves lives. If you have a loved one in your life who isn’t doing that, please encourage them to do so. You never know what kind of difference it might make.”

Media tidbits

• No surprise here, but ESPN has signed a six-year extension worth $7.8 billion to remain the sole TV partner for the NCAA’s College Football Playoff. ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro announced the news to Axios’ Sara Fischer at the Axios What’s Next Summitt. That means the College Football Playoff will stay with ESPN through the 2031-32 season
• Slate’s Dan Kois, Nitish Pahwa and Luke Winkie with “The Oral History of Pitchfork.”
• Also from Slate, Julie Kliegman with “Nickelodeon’s #MeToo Story Was Hiding in Plain Sight.”
• From the new LateNighter site that covers late-night TV. Editor-at-large Bill Carter with “Jimmy Fallon Talks Ten Years of Tonight, and Why Late Night TV Is Still ‘The Greatest Thing Ever.”
• In a guest essay for The New York Times, Graciela Mochkofsky, dean at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, with “One Way to Help a Journalism Industry in Crisis: Make J-School Free.”
• Want a quick tour of the office for Terry Gross, host of NPR’s “Fresh Air?” Click here.
• Variety’s Brian Steinberg with “Travis Kelce in Talks to Host ‘Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?’ Reboot at Amazon Prime Video.”
• The Markup’s Jon Keegan writes for Nieman Lab: “I used ChatGPT as a reporting assistant. It didn’t go well.”
• Axios’ Sara Fischer with “The Baltimore Banner plans expansion to broader Maryland.”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “Andy Borowitz Relaunching The Borowitz Report on Substack.”

Hot type

• New York Times Magazine contributing writer Molly Young with “The Mad Perfumer of Parma.”
• The Ringer’s Lex Pryor writes about the gentrification of Harlem in “‘The Sin Is Greed’: The Making and Unmaking of the Black American Mecca.”

More resources for journalists

• Poynter Producer Project (Seminar) (June 4-Sept. 10) — Apply by April 14.
• Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative (2024-25) (Fellowship for public media journalists) — Sept. 30, 2024-April 13, 2025. Apply by April 22.
• Reporter’s Toolkit (Seminar) (May 7-June 11) — Get equipped with the tools you need to be successful and receive one-on-one coaching. Apply by April 28.
• Get the edge on reporting on the eight hot topics of the 2024 election with Beat Academy (webinar series) — Rolling enrollment from now through September. Enroll today.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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