The Hollywood Reporter / Katie Kilkenny
CNN / Hadas Gold and Pamela Brown
CNN requested an interview with Melania Trump. Her book publisher asked for $250,000 in exchange →“Paying a public figure for an interview, especially the spouse of a political candidate, is highly frowned upon in most newsrooms, which tend to have strict guidelines against such a practice. It is also highly unusual for the request to come from a representative purportedly acting on behalf of the spouse of a presidential candidate and a former first lady -– especially with such a large price tag.”
Press Gazette / Dominic Ponsford and Bron Maher
Leading cultural figures attack Observer sale as staff pave way for strike action →“Press Gazette understands staff complained about what was seen as a failure of the Trust to protect plural liberal journalism in tough times. Some spoke about a sense of ‘betrayal’ amongst Observer journalists who have worked at the company for 30 years or more. There was also concern raised that readers who have made financial donations in order to support Observer journalism will feel misled if the title is sold.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Lauren Watson
The before and after: Meta’s Canadian news ban, as told through my small town →“The researchers also found that only 22 percent of Canadians are aware that Meta has bailed on journalism. That has turned Canadian newsgathering on social media into a game of telephone—out-of-context photos and summaries absent links to the articles from which they’ve been sourced—that few even know is being played.”
Reuters / Lucy Papachristou
Forced closure of weekly spells the end for Russia’s independent print media →“A few days after the ‘foreign agent’ designation, Sobesednik announced it was suspending publication. ‘It would be impossible to read,’ said Roldugin, who has led the paper since 2021. ‘The paper would have to be sold sealed and labelled ’18+’, like pornography. Because we did journalism instead of propaganda.'”
The Atlantic / Gal Beckerman
The journalist who cried treason →“I wondered, though, in my discussions with Unger, whether reporters like him bore some of the responsibility—whether the kind of skepticism and mistrust that marked his generation of journalists had helped create our post-truth reality. There were moments when he slipped from crusading truth teller to something closer to a conspiracy theorist willing to believe the most outlandish speculations.”
The New Yorker / Cal Newport
What kind of writer is ChatGPT? →“Old-fashioned writing requires bursts of focus that remind me of the sharp spikes of an electrocardiogram. Working with ChatGPT mellowed the experience, rounding those spikes into the smooth curves of a sine wave.”