Monday was the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building, attacked law enforcement and tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden as president.

On Monday, The Washington Post published an opinion piece about Jan. 6 written by Biden: “What Americans should remember about Jan. 6.”

Biden mentioned the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, and wrote, “We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault. And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year. But we should not forget. We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it. We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago.”

Yet, Biden mentioned how many on the right, including Trump himself, have downplayed what happened that day, as if we all don’t remember actually watching police officers being assaulted, locked doors being smashed in and rioters freely (and illegally) roaming the hallowed halls of the Capitol.

Biden promised that no such thing would happen this time around — and, turns out, it did not. This was the beginning of a peaceful transfer of power. Biden also wrote that he invited Trump to the White House on the morning of the Jan. 20 inauguration and plans to attend the inauguration — something Trump did not do in 2021. (Also, it should be mentioned that Kamala Harris, who lost the election to Trump, oversaw the election certification on Monday.)

“But on this day,” Biden wrote, “we cannot forget. This is what we owe those who founded this nation, those who have fought for it and died for it. And we should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year. To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed. We should never forget it is our democracy that makes everything possible — our freedoms, our rights, our liberties, our dreams. And that it falls to every generation of Americans to defend and protect it.”

CNN anchor and chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto tweeted, “Don’t accept the rewrite of the history of January 6. Believe what you saw with your own eyes and what republican and democratic lawmakers alike condemned in realtime, many of them fearing for their own safety. None of those facts have changed. Only the politics.”

CNN’s Dana Bash said the “stark contrast between now and four years ago is palpable.”

A headline on The Associated Press website put it best: “Congress certifies Trump’s 2024 win, without the Jan. 6 mob violence of four years ago.”

Speaking of Jan. 6 …

Just like four years ago, the presidential election was certified by Congress on Monday. Well, it wasn’t exactly like four years ago. Here’s the tweet of the day — from Punch Bowl News founder Jake Sherman: “Well, that was different than 2021. Joint session took roughly 30 min. Congress certified the Electoral College results without a single objection.”

Runner-up tweet of the day was from former Vice President Mike Pence, who wrote, “The peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our democracy and today, members of both parties in the House and Senate along with the vice president certified the election of our new president and vice president without controversy or objection. I welcome the return of order and civility to these historic proceedings and offer my most sincere congratulations and prayers to President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance on their election to lead this great Nation. I also commend the members of the House, Senate and the Vice President who did their duty under the Constitution of the United States, it being particularly admirable that Vice President Harris would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost. God bless our new President and Vice President and their families and may God continue to bless the United States of America.”

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Harris said, “Today was obviously a very important day, and it was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power. And today, I did what I have done my entire career, which is take seriously the oath that I have taken many times to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, which included today, performing my constitutional duty to ensure that the people of America, the voters of America, will have their votes counted, that those votes matter, and that they will determine then with the outcome of an election.”

A defamation suit involving CNN

An intriguing defamation suit is underway in Florida, where CNN is being sued by a Navy veteran who says his business was destroyed by the network’s reporting.

This goes back to November 2021, when CNN aired a five-minute segment from reporter Alexander Marquardt about, as The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr described it, “private contractors who were charging large sums of money to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee the country in the wake of the American withdrawal.”

In the CNN story, the only security contractor mentioned by name was Navy veteran Zachary Young. Barr noted, “At one point in the segment, Young’s face was shown on-screen above a graphic referencing ‘black markets’ and ‘exorbitant fees.’”

Young, who said he was falsely accused of anything illegal, is claiming his business was destroyed by the story and that he has become an “international pariah.”

Initially, Young asked for a retraction, and CNN later apologized on air, adding the network “did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young participated in a black market.”

But here they are, more than two years later, with a trial underway in Panama City, Florida, where a jury might be sympathetic to Young. As Barr wrote, “CNN faces the potential of a sizable monetary judgment from a jury that could be predisposed against it, demographically, and at a time when public regard remains low for media outlets. While most defamation lawsuits against media companies are either settled out of court or dismissed in their early stages, the Young case represents a rare example of a case actually going to trial, putting the network in the uncomfortable position of seeing its journalists, producers and executives being forced to take the stand.”

Still, the fact that CNN has not settled, as many media companies do when sued for defamation, might indicate that the network believes it can win in court. A CNN spokesperson said in a statement, “When all the facts come to light, we are confident we will have a verdict in our favor.”

NPR’s David Folkenflik reported, “The network has argued in court papers that reporters were pursuing a story that reflected Afghans’ concern that security consultants, including Young, were charging far more than they could afford to escape the country. It contends that many of the characterizations are opinions rather than factual claims. CNN also says the network has since learned more about Young that undermines his credibility.”

However, Folkenflik also reported, “As internal CNN exchanges released in court documents show, editors at the network harbored doubts about the report. In one exchange, a senior editor signaled his concerns.”

Barr wrote, “To be able to win a large sum from CNN, Young’s team will have to prove that network staffers both intended to harm him and knew the segment was false or likely false and published it anyway. They will probably cite internal messages, obtained during the discovery process and made public in court motions, showing that some CNN staffers had spoken derogatively about Young, as well as messages in which staffers expressed reservations about the story, calling it ‘a mess,’ ‘flawed,’ ‘full of holes,’ ‘incomplete’ and ‘80% emotion, 20% observed fact.’”

Then again, as Barr noted, “CNN contends that its journalists believed what they were reporting about Young to be true, rebutting the legal standard known as actual malice” and, “The CNN journalists, the network said, were ‘legitimately disgusted at what their research revealed about his conduct.’”

If this actually gets to a jury, however, anything can happen.

So, plenty to wade through in this case as jury selection began Monday. We’ll keep you up to date on the latest. For more, here’s a good rundown from Mediaite’s Isaac Schorr: “Here’s What You Need to Know About the High-Stakes Defamation Case Against CNN.” Also, check out Barr’s good breakdown.

The Athletic staff seek to join The New York Times union

For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague, Angela Fu.

Staff at the sports site The Athletic announced Monday that they want to unionize and join their colleagues in The New York Times Guild.

The Times acquired The Athletic in January 2022 for $550 million. At the time, the company had its own sports desk, but in September 2023, the Times disbanded the desk to focus on The Athletic. Though The Athletic has faced occasional setbacks — it laid off roughly 20 reporters in 2023 — it reported its first quarterly profit last year. The Athletic made $2.6 million last quarter, up from a $7.9 million loss during the same period last year.

“Over the past several months, we have organized around the principle of preserving what makes The Athletic great — our staff, our work and our loyal readership,” Athletic senior investigative writer Katie Strang said in a press release. “The work we do is union work and we believe we should be afforded the same benefits and protections as the Times Guild members under their current contract.”

The guild currently represents nearly 1,500 editorial and business workers at the Times. If The Athletic staff’s union drive is successful, the guild will grow by roughly 200 members.

Times spokesperson Jordan Cohen wrote in an emailed statement the company is reviewing The Athletic staff’s request but did not answer a question about voluntary recognition. If the company does not voluntarily recognize the union, workers at The Athletic have the option of petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for a union election.

Technology workers at the Times and staff at Wirecutter, the Times’ product recommendations site, are also unionized, though they both have their own separate bargaining units. The Times Tech Guild recently went on strike during the election season over contract negotiations; both sides eventually reached an agreement in December.

The alleged details are … something

I linked to the Front Office Sports report in Monday’s newsletter about how former Fox Sports 1 sports show host Skip Bayless was part of a lawsuit filed by a former hair stylist at the network. The plaintiff, Noushin Faraji, alleges Bayless made repeated unwanted sexual advances and offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him.

In a statement, Fox Sports said, “We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.”

There is tons more to the suit, which also includes accusations that FS1 host Joy Taylor told Faraji to “get over it” after Faraji claimed executive Charlie Dixon groped her at a party. The suit also suggests that Taylor’s rise as a media personality was due, in part, to her having relations with Dixon.

Again, these are allegations. That needs to be stressed.

But there’s a lot of stuff — both serious and gossipy-type allegations — and it certainly was the buzz of the sports media world on Monday. Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner breaks it down with “Eleven stunning accusations from the Fox Sports workplace misconduct lawsuit.” And Mediaite’s Ahmad Austin Jr. has “5 Most Stunning Allegations in the Fox Sports Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Featuring Skip Bayless and Joy Taylor.”

Not everyone believes what’s in the lawsuit. (Mediaite’s Austin Jr. has a very dubious reaction from Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy.)

Boomer Esiason, the former NFL star and CBS football analyst who co-hosts the popular “Boomer & Gio” morning drive radio show at WFAN in New York City, said on the air, “It kind of explains why Skip Bayless is no longer on TV. Somebody at Fox knew that those allegations were coming.”

Hmm. I thought Bayless was no longer on the air because he made a ton of money and few people watched his show.

Filling in

“Today” show co-host Hoda Kotb, shown here in 2022. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

This is Hoda Kotb’s final week as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show. Kotb announced last September that she was leaving as co-host to dedicate more time to her children. Craig Melvin will take over for Kotb as co-host with Savannah Guthrie for the main “Today” show.

But what’s going to happen to “Today With Hoda & Jenna” — the fourth-hour “Today” show portion co-hosted by Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager? Bush Hager will remain as co-host, and she announced Monday that she will be joined by a trio of special guest hosts. Next week, actresses Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer and Eva Longoria will all join Bush Hager, who said on air, “We love these women, we’ve said we love these women. I feel like Hoda helped me manifest this. Nobody will ever fill this chair, but the three of them sure can try.”

A new slogan?

The Washington Post’s motto is “Democracy dies in the darkness.” Well, the Muck Rack media newsletter had a clever headline Monday following The Washington Post killing an editorial cartoon that criticized tech/media owners, including Post (and Amazon) owner Jeff Bezos: “Democracy dies in broad daylight, too.”

Media tidbits

• USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page interviewed President Joe Biden on Sunday. The 55-minute interview will be published on Wednesday. USA Today says it’s the only sit-down Biden is giving a print publication as he prepares to leave office.
• Samantha Putterman of Poynter’s PolitiFact with “How a Fox News report fueled false claims about the New Orleans suspect. He was a US citizen.”
• And Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano with “What I learned from watching Fox News after the New Orleans terrorist attack.” Arellano wrote, “The Fox News I remembered was in full force: Frothing. Paranoid. Vengeful. Seeking not to inform viewers but to inflame.”
• Another Washington Post defection. Axios’ Sara Fischer reports that veteran political reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell is leaving the Post to join Puck as its chief Washington correspondent.
• Nikki Glaser is getting lots of praise for her work hosting Sunday night’s Golden Globes. The Atlantic’s Shirley Li with “Nikki Glaser Came Prepared.” And here’s Glaser’s opening monologue.
• And, in case you missed the Golden Globes, here is the complete list of winners from The Hollywood Reporter.
• The New York Times’s Stephanie Goodman weighs in with “Best and Worst Moments From the 2025 Golden Globes.”
• The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand with “How the new deal between Disney and Fubo will impact how fans consume sports TV.”

Hot type

• Catching up on this from the weekend. “CBS News Sunday Morning” and correspondent Rita Braver with “The unlikely life story of Jimmy Carter.”
• The Athletic’s Sam Blum with “Paid to lose, college basketball’s worst team takes the L’s to make ends meet.”

More resources for journalists

• Transform Local Crime Coverage in your newsroom. Application period ends Jan. 17.
• Our training for public media executives application period ends Jan. 9.
• Peak Producing: Elevate Your Newsroom, Accelerate Your Career

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

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