The Latest: ‘There is no truth’; Slain journalist’s father running for Congress; That ‘Jeopardy’ news alert

January 27, 2022

Top stories

■ ‘The Swift County Monitor-News, the tiny newspaper that’s reported the news here since 1886, is not telling the truth .’ (AP)

■ ‘There is no truth. There is no fact ,’ says Dr. Anthony Fauci (Washington Post) / Newsletter company Substack profits off misinformation , as conspiracy theorists connect with audiences on newsletters and podcasts (Washington Post)

■ Attention to COVID-19 news increased slightly amid omicron surge (Pew Research) / ‘Many people have cried in my Zoom room since March 2020, as I’ve been reporting for NPR & for my book about children and COVID’ (Anya Kamenetz)

■ Ruined lives prompted Nick Kristof's run for Oregon governor; 'At The New York Times, I had a very good toolbox to call attention to problems, but it wasn't a toolbox to fix them ' (AP via Minneapolis Star Tribune)

■ Andy Parker, father of reporter killed during live TV broadcast, to run for Congress (CBS News) / 'She's with me every step of the way': Father of slain journalist to run for Congress in Virginia’s 5th District (Daily Progress)

■ What happened at The Root? Since April, 15 of the site's 16 staffers have quit , following a trend of mass resignations at the websites owned by G/O Media (Gawker)

■ This newspaper ruined everyone’s night by sending a premature push notification about the winner of Jeopardy! (Nieman Journalism Lab) / ‘Lots of folks are sore at news organizations for tweeting and sending alerts about Amy Schneider’s demise on “Jeopardy” tonight *before* the episode aired (or finished airing) in several places, including Washington. Seems a few things are in play. More…’ (Paul Farhi)

■ Origin story: How a comics reporter uncovers marvels (New York Times)

■ ‘One hundred years ago today the world lost one of the great, daring journalists who conquered the front page and made it a place for women. This is a thread is about rebel reporter Nellie Bly and the times she was exceptionally fierce.’ (Maya Rodale)

Press freedom

■ Bay Area journalist sues Oakland Police over tear gas used during George Floyd protests (San Francisco Chronicle)

■ Gender-based online violence spikes after prominent media attacks (Brookings) / 'My hope is that more researchers can do studies like this using cold, hard, irrefutable data to prove to newsrooms that these attacks are vicious, coordinated, and real and must be taken seriously across the industry' (Taylor Lorenz)

■ Deadly clash in Syria renews debate on journalist safety (VOA)

■ Mexico offers bodyguards and bulletproof vests to vulnerable journalists . It hasn’t been enough. (Washington Post) / Anxiety and anger grip press corps in Mexico after spate of murders (CNN)

■ Taliban government stops media outlets from holding conference (Times of India) / Taliban urged to uphold media freedom after journalist presser canceled (La Prensa Latina Media)

“Good skills to acquire in order to become a photojournalist [are] to have a keen sense of history, especially in the countries one will be working in. A good historical understand[ing] ... is, in my opinion, crucial to facilitate your work . Second, to be able to mingle and easily disappear within a society that is different from the one is coming from is also a crucial aspect of our work.”

-- Interview with photojournalist Jonathan Alpeyrie via Photojournalism News

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