July 21, 2021

Top stories ■ Capital Gazette gunman's sentencing set for September (Capital Gazette) / Earlier: A jury found the Capital Gazette gunman criminally responsible. What's next? (Capital Gazette)  ■ Former Sacramento journalist ordered back to prison (Sacramento Bee) ■ Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment accuser blocked from 'The View' appearance with restraining order (The Wrap)  ■ NBA analyst Maria Taylor leaves ESPN weeks after colleague’s race comment; she’s expected to join NBC Sports (L.A. Times)  ■ Why the Britney Spears conservatorship hearing was ‘heartbreaking’ to cover (Variety)  ■ Sports Illustrated editor accuses Megyn Kelly of 'bullying' Naomi Osaka (The Hill)  ■ Dallas Morning News taps 26-year veteran Katrice Hardy as its next newsroom leader; she will be the first woman and first Black journalist in the top job (Dallas Morning News)  ■ Can journalism solve urban problems? (journal-isms.com)  ■ ‘The county elections clerk tells WW that Kristof has been registered to vote as a Democrat since December 2020. That lends credibility to the idea that Kristof, who also took a leave of absence last month from the paper, has for months been laying the groundwork for a run’ (Willamette Week) / ‘Pollsters began calling Oregonians in recent days to test Kristof’s ‘viability’ (Willamette Week) / Opinion: Is a New York Times columnist seriously running for governor? (Politico)  ■ Policy-palooza: How Congress, state and local governments can stabilize local news (Trust, Media and Democracy / Medium)  ■ Twitter suspends Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over false COVID vaccine tweets (Mashable) / Instagram blocked the #VaccinesKill hashtag two years ago. Facebook only just now got around to doing it (CNN) / In an ICU, a photographer's view of a desperate COVID fight (New York Times) ■ No more invites. No more wait lists. Exclusive Clubhouse app goes public (L.A. Times) ■ Kodak deletes post by photographer who called Xinjiang an ‘Orwellian dystopia’ (New York Times) / Kaitlan Collins' missing Daily Caller bylines restored — but mystery remains (New York Post)  ■ Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos gives $100 million to CNN host (USA Today) ■ How 2020 brought about a resurgence of Guinness World Records (The Ringer)

"Readers are looking for empathy and candor. They’re asking journalists to level with them about what they know and don’t know. Almost everything becomes service journalism: How does this keep me safe? How do I stay hopeful? How do I live my life like this? Those lessons, which are really about caring for readers’ attention and humanity, apply to all sorts of stories." -- Steven Johnson, newsletter editor at the Washington Post

Many Americans lacked access to affordable housing before the coronavirus pandemic, a challenge that has disproportionately affected communities of color whether as renters or would-be home buyers. Now, the situation is reaching crisis levels across the country, with millions of renters at risk of losing their housing when a federal moratorium on evictions expires this summer. The intersection of housing with systemic racism is a coverage area in serious need of deep, nuanced journalism. Registration is open for a program on how to cover these issues, which will take place on July 23 at 11:30 a.m. ET. Participants will learn: How to navigate the obstacles & opportunities in a community-centered approach to journalism about housing & where we live How to select the housing stories that will have the strongest impact; How to balance the short-term with the long narrative arcs Whose voices are authoritative with the audiences for housing stories The Institute is offering this program at no cost thanks to a generous grant from the Gannett Foundation.

Manager's Minute: Am I at a disadvantage if I switch jobs too frequently? Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago and Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership, discusses how to switch jobs without burning bridges.

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

Numbers, like those in polling and survey audiences, population samples, and research cohorts, are not inherently objective or neutral. They are a sample of real humans and the product of myriad factors. And just because big data is big does not mean that it, or algorithms that stem from large data sets, are representative or unbiased. How do journalists fairly use numbers in reporting? What does it really mean for a sample to be representative? In what ways can reporters vet numbers quickly and reliably for potential bias? Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the National Association of Science Writers for a program that will answer these questions and leave participants with new tactics to: Detect deep bias in numbers before they use them Surface hidden traps and avoid them Accurately represent the people and lives reflected in the data Registration is open for this program, which will take place on Wednesday, August 11 at 11:30 a.m. ET. This program is free to attend; donations will support the Institute’s programs.

Resources Make design more inclusive: Defeat unconscious bias in visuals  The Michel du Cille Fellowship (Apply by Aug. 2) Asian American Writers’ Workshop Fellowship (Apply by Sept. 7)

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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