The Latest: Nobel prize for press freedom?; Fox News, 25 years later; Talking to the imposter in you

October 7, 2021

Top stories

■ Local news blues: The employees of small newspapers see a bleak future , this survey says (Nieman Lab) / Life at local newspapers in a turbulent era : Findings from a survey of more than 300 newsroom employees in the United States (Columbia Journalism Review)

■ ‘In 2009, I asked: What would happen if the Hartford Courant closed? The Courant newsroom is now less than 10% its size in the 1990s. Just 36 journalists to cover a poor city , a wealthy state & state gov't. The hypothetical is just about here.’ (David Folkenflik) / ‘Make no mistake: The 36 of us left are trying our absolute best to cover our communities, even under such dire conditions. But it's becoming harder and harder each day for us to do so in a way that our readers deserve.’ (Alexa Philippou)

■ Ozy Media got $5.7 million in pandemic relief loans to help pay employees, but ex-staffers say they didn't see any of it (CNBC) / Let me tell you what it was like to work at Ozy (New York Times) / In leaked emails, Ozy CEO asks employees to return (Fortune) / Exclusive: Ozy Media's deepening crisis (Axios)

■ Americans' trust in media dips to second lowest on record (Gallup)

■ ‘I sleep well at night ’: Suzanne Scott on running Fox News (Hollywood Reporter) / Watch: ‘October 7, 1996. Launch day for Fox News Channel. I stumbled on an old Betacam tape with highlights from the network's first hour . Notable: a vintage AOL commercial and a sports report introducing a golfer named Tiger Woods.' (Pat Kiernan)

■ Director of Fox News decision desk, who called Arizona for Biden , will return in 2022, 2024, report says (The Hill)

■ ‘D.C. can be tricky as journalists are close to power but far from the people .’ (ForeignPress.org)

Woody Harrelson punched photographer at Watergate; photographer charged, say DC police (NBC4 Washington)

■ Monica Lewinsky on Bill Clinton, Britney Spears and public shaming : ‘Our clicks matter, the things we read matter, the things we retweet matter.’ (Variety)

■ Facebook TV series based on New York Times reporters’ book casts Sheryl Sandberg (Variety)

■ Meet The Mini, the little puzzle that helped launch 930,000 subscriptions to New York Times Games (Poynter)

■ Steve Coll to step down as dean of Columbia’s Journalism School (Columbia Spectator) / Read Coll's memo to staff (Charlotte Klein)

■ Student newsroom culture is unsustainable , must be rethought (Daily Californian) / 'You're not supposed to know everything ': Current and former student editors share advice on leadership roles (Poynter)

■ Hell is The New York Times publishing your group chat (The Cut)

Press freedom

■ 2021 Nobel Peace Prize contenders: Climate, vaccines, press freedom and opposition activists (Washington Post)

■ ‘A happy Twitter tale : A DM on Aug. 25 led to our 31 @chicagotribune peeps getting out of Afghanistan, plus more than 750 others, all on 2 flights from Mazar to Doha. US Embassy employees, military interpreters, etc. w/ @LizSly #afghanlivesmatter’ (Kim Barker)

■ Taliban member, accused of kidnapping New York Times journalist , charged with killing 3 soldiers (NBC New York)

"My central purpose is to tell stories that resonate; that delight you or enrage you or allow you to hear the often-unheard. Usually, the narrator is the invisible guide. But even on those few occasions when I use the first person — as when I wrote about 9/11, or about adding my mother’s name to a tombstone in Ireland — I am trying to be a stand-in for all of us, trying to strike universal chords."

-- New York Times reporter Dan Barry on "finding stories , his central purpose, and how he ends the work day"

Manager's Minute: What should I tell myself when I’m feeling imposter syndrome?

Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago and Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership, on how to overcome "imposter syndrome."

Manager's Minute: What should I tell myself when I'm feeling imposter syndrome?

Read next: 7 ways to outsmart ‘Imposter Syndrome’

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

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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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