The Latest: Georgia’s photo finish; New top editors; ‘Writing is a muscle’; Leaders manage the clock

The Latest: Covering today, informing tomorrow

January 5, 2021

■ The Senate races in Georgia as told by Vanity Fair photographer on the road with the candidates (Vanity Fair) / What New York Times photographers are seeing on the ground in Georgia (New York Times)

■ Trump’s push to undo election result divides his media allies (New York Times) / Photo: A beleaguered White House Press Corps under Trump (New York magazine)

■ In 2020, 'Americans watched 3.165 trillion minutes of national TV news per Nielsen, or roughly 160 hours per person.' (Michael Mulvilhill)

■ Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews named CBS News Washington Bureau Chief (CBS) / Olivier Knox joins The Washington Post to anchor The Daily 202 (Washington Post)

■ DC police relied on video, statement to news media in arrest of Proud Boys leader accused of burning Black Lives Matter banner (Washington Post)

■ For Black women in broadcasting, discrimination comes in many forms (Prism)

■ Why were Caliphate’s two lead journalists disciplined differently by The New York Times ? (Hot Pod)

■ TV photographer fired because he left company car unlocked, it was stolen (Bring Me The News)

■ The guy who got that photo of a rare painted bunting ? He’s the Swiss ambassador! (Washingtonian) / What does climate change look like? Twelve photographers force us to confront reality . (Washington Post) / At 69, this photographer finds that his images are putting him in the spotlight (Washington Post)

■ Johnny Depp must face ex's libel suit after his attorney declared her Washington Post op-ed a ‘hoax’ (Hollywood Reporter)

■ Exclusive: Pandemic relief aid went to media that promoted COVID misinformation (Yahoo!) / How a Florida reporter became a one-woman help desk for anxious seniors navigating the COVID-19 vaccine (Poynter) / ‘I never thought I'd be a statistic’: Reporter recalls last conversations with his mother before she died of COVID-19 (Akron Beacon Journal)

■ DeSantis berating CNN reporter over Florida vaccine rollout viewed 3 million times (Newsweek)

■ Colleen McCain Nelson named new Sacramento Bee editor (Sacramento Bee)

■ Investigative reporter is running for Detroit City Council seat (Metro Times)

We start 2021 with a COVID vaccine, but the rollout has been slower than planned and a coordinated public health communication effort is needed to convince people to get vaccinated. Public opinion research shows a number of challenges: some people are justifiably skeptical of “big Pharma” and government; others are actively working to spread disinformation about the vaccine; and many remain unconvinced of the vaccine’s safety. What is being done to overcome these challenges, how can communicators be most effective, and how can reporters best cover the vaccination story and combat the disinformation?

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the National Press Club Communicators Committee for a candid conversation on the COVID vaccine: Communication challenges for public health efforts & reporters. Registration is now open for this program, which will take place from 12-1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

The panel will feature Jesse Holland, Assistant Professor of Journalism at George Washington University, author, scholar and African American history expert; Nick Sugai, Vice President at the Ad Council, which is leading a national public education campaign to encourage vaccination; Susan Winckler, CEO of the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration, who will share public opinion research on the vaccination. The conversation will be moderated by Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, Investigations Editor at The Associated Press, and the 112th president of the National Press Club.

Writers Elizabeth Flock and Lori Gottlieb share their 2021 writing resolutions and what influenced them last year

With the help of inspiring journalists, we learned about writing in many different ways over the last year — from sharing about personal loss to evoking emotions through detail; and finding your focus to turning your memories into a memoir. As we enter the new year, we reached out to our previous writing program instructors to hear about their 2021 writing resolutions.

Names: Elizabeth Flock & Lori Gottlieb

Current jobs: Flock is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, author and documentary filmmaker; Gottlieb is a psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author

Previous program: Working through – Revising your emotional story

What are your writing resolutions for 2021?

Flock: My resolution is simple: to write every day — every morning. Writing is a muscle that you strengthen or let atrophy. Now that I’ve let it atrophy, it is very hard to get going again. Yet get going I must. The step to reach that intention is to simply do it. It’s not more complicated than that.

Gottlieb: I’m going on book leave from my weekly column and podcast!

What lesson about writing most influenced your writing during 2020? What do you hope to learn in 2021?

Flock: The lesson about writing actually came from a documentary filmmaker: She said she seeks to make films on pressing social issues that her aunt who watches Pakistani soap operas and her cousin who binges “Breaking Bad” will actually watch. I think about my writing that way as well. I seek to write on the issues most important, but with narrative propulsion, so that everyone will read it, whether they care about the issues at the beginning or not.

Gottlieb: That I need emotional space in order to create. In 2021, I will be saying no to everything and stop feeling obligated to respond to unsolicited emails.

How did your writing change during the pandemic?

Flock: I have written very little during the pandemic, and tried to be gentle with myself about that. I hope others will be gentle with themselves about it as well. Someone said to me that there is a time to take things in and there is a time to write. 2020 was a time to take things in. Now perhaps it’s time to write.

Gottlieb: It was responding to the moment — triage writing.

Leaders, don’t watch the clock. Manage it.

As a leader, managing your own time means managing others’ schedules, your team’s needs and, let’s face it, constant surprises first. Your team is watching and often will take your lead on how to manage their days. Give them positive habits to mirror: prioritizing tasks, delegating, creating “thinking space” and using the right tools for you. Your time — and your team’s energy — is in your hands.

Advice from Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity, Loyola University Chicago, Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership

Click here to read Jill’s previous posts.

Class of 2020: Where are they now? Anna Ta

The next generation of journalists graduated in 2020 into a challenging job market unlike any other. We spotlighted them last summer, shared advice from their role models, and are checking in with them to see where they are now and what they’re learning about journalism.

Name: Anna Ta

School: Rice University

Current job: Upcoming internship, NPR

Best moment in journalism: Covering the Twin Cities’ Hmong community

Where are you working right now?

Ta: I just wrapped up an internship with the Houston Press, partnered with the Google News Initiative. I committed to an internship with NPR for the spring that I’m very excited about!

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned on the job search?

Ta: The pandemic, for all the ways it’s complicated life, has also given us opportunities to respond to it in new and interesting ways in our work. Using those moments to showcase your strengths is a valuable tool in the job search!

What’s been your best moment in journalism since graduation?

Ta: I produced a video on a generational divide among the Twin Cities’ Hmong community in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death with BuzzfeedNews that I’m very proud of.

Have your journalism goals changed since graduation, and if so how?

Ta: My internships have allowed me to see different parts of journalism. I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to understand what audience engagement work is and how important it is to the mission of journalism.

How are you taking care of yourself and staying motivated right now?

Ta: Developing hobbies and finding ways to express myself creatively outside of work!

Read Ta’s original profile here .

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This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, and Julie Moos. Send us your questions and suggestions for topics to cover.

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