As we were putting the finishing touches on this newsletter Wednesday night, the disturbing news broke that there was a horrific plane crash in Washington, D.C.

A little before 9 p.m. Eastern time, an American Airlines passenger plane that departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport and then crashed into the frigid Potomac River.

Initial reports were that there were 60 passengers and four crew members on the airplane and three military members on the helicopter. Divers and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene, and television images showed hundreds of flashing lights from various law enforcement, ambulances and first responders near the crash. The number of deaths and survivors were not immediately known or reported.

In addition, video from a Kennedy Center camera showed the midair collision quickly made the rounds on social media and was repeated over and over again on news coverage.

Cable news networks immediately went to intense coverage and, as usual during a breaking news story, I found myself locked into CNN.

The network, as it always does during big stories, immediately called upon dozens of correspondents, contributors and experts to go over the grim news. Abby Phillip and then Kaitlan Collins both did a superb job anchoring the coverage — deftly moving from one interview to the next.

CNN relied heavily on Washington-based correspondent Pete Muntean, a pilot and flight instructor who covers aviation and transportation for the network. His deep knowledge of plane safety and the history of crashes made him a valuable source when the facts were still coming in. At one point, Muntean used his hands (and then later a model plane) to show viewers how the crash likely happened.

CNN’s Brian Todd and Laura Coates reported from near the scene. Correspondent Gabe Cohen reported from the airport. And then CNN called upon several experts who offered insightful analysis: David Soucie (safety analyst), Natasha Bertrand (national security correspondent), Col. Cedric Leighton (military analyst), Peter Goelz and Miles O’Brien (aviation analysts).

CNN also talked to eyewitnesses of the actual crash.

Like any breaking news story, there were long stretches of very little new information coming in, but CNN kept its coverage moving along without being gratuitous or falling into unnecessary or disrespectful speculation.

MSNBC, Fox News and NewsNation also all went to live, wall-to-wall coverage, but full transparency: I stuck with CNN because the coverage was so solid. And each time I checked, the major networks were still going with regularly scheduled programming.

Also of note, The New York Times and The Washington Post went to live blog coverage with constant updates. Writing for the Times, reporter Emily Steel wrote, “Some air traffic controllers have voiced fears that a deadly crash was inevitable as the country’s aviation safety net came under mounting stress. A New York Times investigation in 2023 found an alarming pattern of safety lapses and near misses in the skies and on the runways. The incidents often occurred at or near airports and often were the result of human error, internal F.A.A. records showed. Mistakes by air traffic controllers — stretched thin by a nationwide staffing shortage — have been one major factor.”

We’ll have more on the crash and the media coverage in the coming days. Now onto the rest of our newsletter, which was written before Wednesday night’s tragic news …

You won’t believe how many ‘new media’ applied for White House press credentials

The scene from the White House briefing room on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In her debut news conference on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced a new wrinkle. One seat in every White House press conference would be given to someone from “new media.”

Leavitt announced, “We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House. Whether you are a TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster … if you are producing legitimate news content, no matter the medium, you will be allowed to apply for press credentials to this White House. As long as you are creating news-related content of the day and you’re a legitimate independent journalist, you’re welcome to cover this White House.”

Seats in the briefing room are typically assigned not by the White House, but by the White House Correspondents’ Association. However, President Donald Trump and his communications team came up with a clever workaround to that. They are taking one seat usually reserved for a White House staff member and giving it to a new media person. The assumption is that it would be different people all the time.

After Leavitt invited people to apply for credentials, guess how many requests the White House received? More than 7,000, according to The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo.

The New York Post’s Steven Nelson wrote, “A White House official told The Post the press office is ‘excited about the interest’ — though it’s not immediately clear how staffers will sift through the mountain of requests.”

Push against Kash

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Kash Patel — Trump’s nominee for FBI director.

The Washington Post’s Liz Goodwin, Mark Berman and Jeremy Roebuck write, “To Democrats, Patel lacks the gravitas to helm the FBI and is an erratic national security risk who has spent years denigrating the 38,000-person agency he now seeks to lead. Republicans, meanwhile, say Patel only plays the provocateur in media appearances and can fix an agency they think has unfairly targeted conservatives in recent years.”

It’s not clear if Patel will be confirmed. If every Democrat votes against his nomination, Patel will be confirmed if no more than three Republicans vote no.

The nomination certainly is in jeopardy. ABC News’ Emily Chang notes Patel is facing backlash, “particularly regarding his promoting of conspiracy theories, his defense of Jan. 6 rioters and his threats to target journalists, former senior FBI and Department of Justice officials.”

Those threats against journalists have drawn the ire of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which opposes Patel’s nomination.

Caitlin Vogus, senior adviser for advocacy at FPF, said in a statement, “Kash Patel’s confirmation as FBI director would be a new low for the agency when it comes to press freedom and First Amendment rights, and that’s saying something. Senators who vote for Patel’s confirmation will be to blame if and when he supersizes the FBI’s sordid history of targeting journalists, protesters, academics, and activists. Patel’s claim that he’ll only target lawbreaking journalists is cold comfort given his potential boss’s interpretation of ‘the law.’ Every corrupt politician and authoritarian regime claims the journalists they retaliate against broke the law or aren’t really journalists. Under a Patel/Trump FBI, allegations that journalism and whistleblowing are crimes in and of themselves will likely serve as pretext to punish those who expose government secrets and hold officials to account.”

Doesn’t he have president stuff to do?

Of course President Donald Trump responded to CNN’s Jim Acosta moving on from CNN. Acosta announced Tuesday, on air, that it was his last day. During Acosta’s show, Trump, who you would think has more important things to do, couldn’t help himself, posting on Truth Social:

Wow, really good news! Jim Acosta, one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history, a major sleazebag, has been relegated by CNN Fake News to the Midnight hour, “Death Valley,” because of extraordinarily BAD RATINGS (and no talent!). Word is that he wants to QUIT, and that would be even better. Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up. Good luck Jim!

On X, Acosta retweeted Trump’s comment and wrote, “Looks like somebody has ADS: Acosta Derangement Syndrome.”

The most pathetic thing you’ll hear today

Elon Musk, shown here on inauguration day last week. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Elon Musk is the richest man on the planet. He is constantly an arm’s length away from the president of the United States — if not literally, then figuratively. You could call him this country’s chief executive.

So does he get his kicks from lying about his video game prowess?

Check out this story from The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell: “Does Elon Musk cheat at video games? An investigation.”

The accusation from online folks is that Musk is doing something called boosting, which means paying strangers to play as him on various video games. Those more talented players advance in the game and collect all the necessary weapons and gear so that when Musk returns, he has the most powerful stuff to face the most difficult challenges.

It wasn’t hard to figure out Musk wasn’t playing sometimes. One example was Musk’s character in one game being played while he was attending Trump’s inauguration. In addition, when Musk was actually playing, he was doing amateurish things that a top gamer would never do, according to those who know these things.

Harwell writes, “As scandals go, Musk’s drama isn’t exactly Watergate. But it has nevertheless baffled a community of gamers that once deified him as a celebrity geek and has raised questions among former fans about his need for online praise and domination. Why would a famous billionaire, at the peak of his real-world power, care so much about beating nobodies in a fantasy video game?”

Also check out Post columnist Gene Park with “YouTube’s top cheater hunter decodes Elon Musk’s gaming farce.”

Park talked to Karl Jobst, a 38-year-old Australian, whom Park calls “YouTube’s preeminent debunker of video game cheaters.”

Essentially, there were questions about how someone could dedicate the massive amount of time required to be elite in a particular video game while doing all the things that Musk has to do. Some top gamers play 16 hours a day or more to be successful.

Jobst told Park, “He shouldn’t lie and make these claims. Maybe him being so deluded about his own ability is why he is where he is today. He thinks he’s great at everything. It doesn’t matter if someone else helped him get his account so high. He thinks he’s such a good gamer that he doesn’t need to put in the thousands of hours.”

Musk did not comment to the Post, but PC Gamer’s Rich Stanton wrote last week, “As regards account boosting, Musk says ‘It’s impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don’t, as they do!’ OK. Asked whether he intended to take credit for having a high level hardcore character in PoE2 Musk says ‘No. Never claimed that. The top accounts in Diablo or PoE require multiple people playing the account to win a leveling race.’”

Getting settled

So this is … odd.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has agreed to pay about $25 million to settle a lawsuit that Donald Trump brought against the company for suspending his accounts following the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

The Wall Street Journal’s Annie Linskey and Rebecca Ballhaus reported, “Of that, $22 million will go toward a fund for Trump’s presidential library, with the rest going to legal fees and the other plaintiffs who signed onto the case. Meta won’t admit wrongdoing, the people said. Trump signed the settlement agreement Wednesday in the Oval Office.”

Well, isn’t this all convenient? Zuckerberg recently has become buddy-buddy with Trump, going to Mar-a-Lago and sitting in the front row behind Trump as Trump was sworn in as president last week.

Linskey and Ballhaus wrote, “Serious talks about the suit, which had seen little activity since the fall of 2023, began after Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to dine with him in November, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The dinner was one of several efforts by Zuckerberg and Meta to soften the relationship with Trump and the incoming administration. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Last year, Trump warned that Zuckerberg could go to prison if he tried to rig the election against him. Toward the end of the November dinner, Trump raised the matter of the lawsuit, the people said. The president signaled that the litigation had to be resolved before Zuckerberg could be ‘brought into the tent,’ one of the people said.”

Media tidbits

• Paul Krugman, an opinion writer at The New York Times for 25 years, has left the Times. He addressed his departure on The Contrarian Substack: “Departing the New York Times.” Krugman wrote, “Despite the encomiums issued by the Times, it was not a happy departure.” For more, check out his explanation.
• Here’s a good piece from Associated Press media reporter David Bauder: “‘Remarkably poor judgment’: Wall Street Journal takes a critical eye to start of Trump’s 2nd term.” Bauder writes, “Amid all of the enthusiasm in conservative media for President Donald Trump’s first week back in office, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has notably applied some brakes.” He then goes into detail about some of the pushback Trump is getting from the Journal.
• Gee, this community notes deal at X is working out just swell. Mediate’s Alex Griffing with “Community Note Debunking Trump White House Claim on Condoms for Gaza ‘Disappeared’ From X.”
• Also from Alex Griffing: “Fox News Scores Highest-Rated January in History of Cable News, Notches First Time Win Over ‘The View.’”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “Joe Scarborough Wants to Talk About More Than Just Politics.”
• Also from Alex Weprin: “AI Commercials Are Going to Take Over the Super Bowl This Year.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s Hannah Miller reports that prices for Super Bowl ads have risen to a record of more than $8 million. That’s up from last year’s record $7 million.
• The New York Times’ Cade Metz and Mike Isaac with “Meta Gave Away Its A.I. Crown Jewels. DeepSeek Vindicated Its Strategy.”
• Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel reports that NBC Sports will go with Hall of Famer Reggie Miller to be its lead NBA game analyst. Miller will work alongside play-by-play announcers Mike Tirico or Noah Eagle. Miller has been calling games for TNT, but TNT’s NBA contract ends after this season. Miller will move over to NBC, which is getting back the NBA for the first time since 2002.

Hot type

• The New York Times’ Andrew Keh with “The Last Flight of the Dog Pilot.”

More resources for journalists

• Gain a deeper understanding of Polarization in America and Christian Nationalism. Enroll now.
• Elevate your editing expertise with the Poynter ACES Advanced Certificate. Enroll now.
• The 2025 Poynter Journalism Prizes contest is open for entries. The early bird deadline is Jan. 31. Submit your entry today.
• Learn how to cover critical issues surrounding child protection and the foster care system. Apply by Feb. 14.

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

The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here.