The Latest: Politico reporter’s COVID; Reviving obituaries; Forget work-life balance

November 17, 2021

■ ‘There are a lot of reporters and photographers on Capitol Hill, and they often will yell and chase you down, but it’s Representative Porter, not Katie … Here, they’re asking about a different sort of infrastructure — like how do you walk in those shoes and things like that.’ (Variety)

■ Personality type, as well as politics, predicts who shares fake news (Scientific American) / Nicolle Wallace shreds Chris Christie for pleading ignorance of Fox News' role in spreading conspiracy theories (The Wrap)

■ How Exxon duped New York Times ' 'The Daily' (Heated)

■ The Boston Globe needed a better family leave policy . Meet the six women who made it happen. (Poynter)

■ Photographer captures last minutes before air tanker crashes (9 News)

■ Will the Supreme Court finally declare copyright infringement as ‘theft’? A photographer hanging out of a helicopter has led to a court petition (Hollywood Reporter)

■ How obituaries got a jolt of new life in the Internet era (Washington Post) / ‘Mike Barnes, senior editor of @THR, has written about *500* advance obits over the past 10 years for all kinds of still-living Hollywood figures—actors, directors, studio heads, makeup artists, etc. Quite an archive.’ (Paul Farhi) / Earlier: Obituaries are important, worth rethinking and reviving (Poynter)

Press freedom

■ Opinion: Did the Justice Department overreach in raiding James O’Keefe’s home ? (Washington Post) / FBI raid on Project Veritas founder’s home sparks questions about press freedom (Politico)

■ ‘You don’t know how free you are until you begin to lose your freedom, or you have to ask people for your freedoms,’ Maria Ressa tells Harvard crowd (AP)

■ American journalist Danny Fenster feels 'incredibly fortunate' to be back home in suburban Detroit (UPMatters) / Richardson adds to diplomatic wins with journalist’s release (Concho Valley)

"There are a lot of places where you can find interesting stories — just looking around at your community. Maybe looking at your community as a tourist, sometimes finding different ideas that way. I use social media a lot, I've used public documents a lot, having conversations. I think the real key to finding interesting stories is to nurture your own curiosity . Ask the questions and seek answers, and it often leads to interesting stories."

-- Viktoria Sundqvist, newsroom data analyst for Hearst Connecticut Media and an investigative journalist, speaking at SPJ Region 1 Conference: Investigative Stories that Matter

Work-life harmony is the new work-life balance

Leadership is key to creating and sustaining cultures that value work-life harmony.

Achieving harmony means getting the best out of every aspect of our lives; the work as well as the play. It means never fully defining ourselves by our job titles. It means bringing our whole selves to work and taking time away from work for life’s joys and challenges, along with responsibilities — and rest.

Balance measures time. Harmony is grounded in happiness.

Watch next: I have a hard time taking time off, I worry things will fall apart, what should I do?

-- 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

Resources

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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