The Latest: ‘I am resigning — very reluctantly’; New Baltimore Sun rival; How to deal with pushback

October 14, 2021

■ A secretive hedge fund is gutting newsrooms : Inside Alden Global Capital (The Atlantic) / ‘In deep dive on Alden, the owner of & threat to some 200 papers , ⁦McKay Coppins ⁩notes its takeover of Tribune was financed by Cerebus— a private-equity firm which owned security outfit that trained Saudi operatives who helped murder Jamal Khashoggi.’ (David Folkenflik) / ‘I've read (and written) a lot about the demise of local newspapers but very little as searing as this McKay Coppins piece in The Atlantic which includes an interview with Alden's elusive villain , Heath Freeman. (Margaret Sullivan)

■ Executive who tried to buy Baltimore Sun pans rival news outlet (New York Times) / ‘Baltimore is getting a new news org: “Next year, Bainum will launch The Baltimore Banner, an all-digital, nonprofit news outlet . He told me it will begin with an annual operating budget of $15 million, unprecedented for an outfit of this kind.” ’ (T.J. Ortenzi)

■ A window of opportunity has at last opened for federal aid to support local journalism (Poynter) / ‘As much as $1 billion to subsidize local journalists' salaries is tucked inside the $3.5 trillion federal spending bill. Some of the bill's definitions remain tricky, including who qualifies as a local journalist.’ (Ren LaForme) / ‘There are so many ways this could go wrong, from government deciding who is a journalist to politicians maneuvering to yank money. It will be a nightmare .’ (Andrew Beaujon)

■ Missouri governor vows criminal prosecution of reporter who found flaw in state website (Missouri Independent)

■ How reporting on the Middle East prepared one journalist to cover Facebook (Jewish Insider)

■ Efforts to track diversity in journalism are lagging (AP)

■ Washington's most powerful women in media 2021 (Washingtonian)

■ Putin says American reporter is too ‘beautiful’ to understand his very clever point (Daily Beast)

■ Give the Detroit reporter who shredded a new skatepark during a live report on said skatepark all the Pulitzers (Golf Digest) / ’Best live news hit I've seen in awhile. Smooooooth...…’ (Rex Chapman)

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute and a distinguished panel to learn how to:

Choose voices to feature in ways that differentiate your op-eds from the noisy crowd
Clarify each op-ed’s purpose, and use persuasive strategies that are most effective
Identify specific audiences for op-eds and ways to know whether you’ve reached them

Registration is open for this program, which will now take place on October 22 at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Panelists include:

Deborah Douglas, The Emancipator co-editor-in-chief
Terry Tang, L.A. Times op-ed editor
Kate Woodsome, Washington Post senior producer of op-ed video
Moderated by: Nancy Ancrum, Miami Herald editorial page editor

The Institute is offering this program at no cost thanks to a generous grant from the Gannett Foundation.

Managers: 5 considerations when facing 'automatic pushback'

As a manager, you have the joy — and challenge — of introducing new ideas, duties, assignments and projects to your staff members. In your dreams, the response in those conversations is: “This is great! Count me in!”

In reality, the replies can be instant, less-than-enthusiastic questions about the necessity, the rationale, the process and the potential downsides. Let’s call it “automatic pushback.”

How do the best leaders deal with this challenge? 5 things to keep in mind:

People love ideas and solutions of their own creation. If your idea leaves no space for them to adapt it, they’re less likely to adopt it. Invite their input.

People may fear there’s a second agenda behind what you’re proposing to them. Is there more to the story than what you’re sharing? Always be forthcoming.

Have you taken other stakeholders into account? When asked to do something or change something, people often worry about the impact on others. That’s especially the case if you’ve developed a reputation for being quick to act without fully considering the implications.

Have people on your team undergone a lot of painful change, including mandates that didn’t produce positive results? It’s good to acknowledge rather than ignore that as you discuss the new initiative.

Are you prepared to answer questions about next steps? Resources? Timelines? What success looks like?

Read next: How to push back productively

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

Get more career advice: Read Jill's columns | Watch Manager's Minute videos

Today's the last day to purchase 2021 Fourth Estate Award Gala tickets

NBC News’ Lester Holt, whose seasoned career in journalism over four decades and role as anchor of NBC Nightly News has earned him the title as most-trusted anchor in America, will receive the National Press Club’s most esteemed prize, the Fourth Estate Award, at a gala in his honor on Oct. 20, 2021.

The evening also will honor the winners of the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Awards, Haze Fan and Danny Fenster. Fan is a Chinese citizen who has been detained in Beijing while working for Bloomberg, and Fenster is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar who has been jailed in Myanmar since May 24.

The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, will receive the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s 2021 Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism.

Get your tickets now

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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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