November 19, 2020

Top stories ■ BuzzFeed to acquire HuffPost (Wall Street Journal) / BuzzFeed founder first co-founded HuffPo (CNN) / BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief emails staff about what the acquisition means for the two news orgs (Max Tani) / BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti goes long (Matter)  ■ Linda Henry becomes Boston Globe CEO, owns news org with her husband (New York Times) ■ CBS taps Andrea Parquet-Taylor to run newsroom in L.A. (L.A. Times) ■ 'I don't care what you think': Cuomo lashes out at reporters at COVID briefing (Guardian) ■ Fox News producer says he left the Giuliani press conference, seemingly over COVID safety concerns (Oliver Darcy) / 'My Cousin Vinny' director responds to Giuliani press conference mention (Hollywood Reporter)  ■ In the waning days of Trump’s presidency, White House press pool reports are getting snarkier (Washington Post) ■ Trump lost. So why is the media still so fixated on his supporters? (WBUR) / Opinion: ‘Reach out to Trump supporters,’ they said. I tried. (New York Times) ■ How the pandemic made gossip essential again (MEL magazine) ■ Amid the anxiety, a photographer finds scenes of kindness, patience, hope (Boston Globe) ■ The photographer who’s reinventing the self-portrait on Instagram (The Cut) ■ Zillow surfing is the escape we all need right now (New York Times)

‘This isn't a vocation, it's a calling’: Susan Zirinsky, Ed Yong, Maria Ressa and Linda Tirado exemplify journalism excellence At a time when journalism is under threat in the U.S. and around the world — with a global pandemic bearing down — hundreds of attendees gathered virtually for the Fourth Estate Award Gala, to celebrate four incredible journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.  Here are highlights from honorees Susan Zirinsky, Ed Yong, Maria Ressa and Linda Tirado. Fourth Estate Award recipient: Susan Zirinsky, President and Senior Executive Producer of CBS News

“We’ve been living in a world where journalism has been denounced as fake news, and blamed for the deep divide we see in this country. We all know democracy — real democracy — cannot exist without a free press. A true press, objective, unbiased, not a press with a point of view. We witness and record history as it unfolds every day. This isn’t a vocation, it’s a calling.” “The nation’s divided with more 73 million people voting for the candidate not elected. In order to heal that divide, we as journalists have to report on that divide fairly. In order to understand what separates us as people, we have to understand what they’re going through, their beliefs, their guiding principles. We have to understand. We have to have empathy. To serve the American people, you have to ask the questions and get answers for all Americans. The most important thing we can do right now is get it right.”  Neil & Susan Sheehan Award for investigative journalism recipient: Ed Yong, the staff writer at The Atlantic

“I’ve likened the pandemic before to a raging torrent, a rising flood, perhaps some massive body of water swirling around us, threatening to drown us. And good journalism, I believe, can act as a platform, a rock in the middle of that — a stable piece of land on which people can stand and observe what is happening around them without being swept away in it.”  John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award international honoree: Maria Ressa, CEO and president of Rappler

“This is how democracy dies. I learned that you don’t really know who you are until you’re forced to fight for it. It’s like I spent my entire career going to the gym training for this moment. And I’m now ready for battle. Because that’s exactly what this is. It’s a battle for facts, a battle for meaning, a battle for values.” John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award domestic honoree: Linda Tirado, author and freelance photographer

“I think that we’re going to have to reckon with it as an industry: Of the risks that we are taking, of the fact that these risks keep changing, of the fact that these risks keep increasing. Because it used to be that you could go cover a story and there would be some respect for the fact that you are out there doing your job, the same as these police are out there doing their job. That line seems to be breaking.” Watch the full 2020 Fourth Estate Award Gala or download the digital program to learn more about the honorees.

Thank you to the Fourth Estate Award Gala sponsors! Gold sponsors  Al Jazeera | Amanda Bennett’s Girl Reporter Fund | Bloomberg Philanthropies | NCTA – The Internet & Television Association | POLITICO | The Washington Post  Silver sponsors   Andrea and Michael Edney | CNN | Craig Newmark Philanthropies | Discovery, Inc. | Syngenta | Toyota     Bronze sponsor   CBS   Supporting sponsors  The Associated Press | Baltimore Sun Media | Barbara and John Cochran | Brown Capital Management | Charter Communications | The Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman Foundation | Gannett / USA TODAY Network | Marvin and Madeleine Kalb | Michael and Renee Freedman | Ms. Magazine | New York Times Company

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. Get this from a friend? Subscribe, and view the archives.

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