Category Archives: US press and publishing

LA Times editor resigns after owner refuses presidential endorsement

Posted on by

Mariel Garza said it was her way of ‘standing up’ after billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong quashed support

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, refused to allow the newspaper’s editorial board to endorse Kamala Harris for president, the former editor of paper’s opinion section told a media news outlet on Wednesday.

Mariel Garza, a veteran California journalist who has worked for the Times’s editorial board for nearly a decade, resigned from the paper in protest of Soon-Shiong’s decision, she told the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).

Continue reading...

Bloomberg fires reporter for ‘premature’ publication of Evan Gershkovich release – reports

Posted on by

At least one reporter appears to have been fired for a decision that would’ve been reviewed by senior editors

Bloomberg News said it had taken “disciplinary action” against a number of its editorial staff after the outlet “prematurely” published news of the historic prisoner swap between Russia and the United States last week that it said could have endangered the safety of the Americans being released.

In an email to staff on Monday, editor-in-chief John Micklethwait wrote that a number of staff members had been disciplined, although the company did not say who, how many or what their punishment had been. At least one reporter on the story appears to have been fired in a rare case where a journalist was punished for a decision to publish a major news story that would likely have been reviewed by senior editors at the outlet.

Continue reading...

‘Day of great joy’: Wall Street Journal’s crusade to free Gershkovich succeeds

Posted on by

Newspaper mounted a high-profile campaign to stress reporter’s innocence and ensure he was not forgotten

The reporter Evan Gershkovich’s release from a Russian prison on Thursday was celebrated across US and global media but perhaps most happily by journalists at his own paper, the Wall Street Journal in New York.

In an email to staff after news of Gershkovich’s release as part of a large-scale prisoner swap, Emma Tucker, the Journal editor-in-chief, said: “A few moments ago, Evan walked free from a Russian plane. He will shortly be on a flight back to the US.

Continue reading...

Russia frees Evan Gershkovich and others in biggest prisoner swap since cold war

Posted on by

Several foreigners and Russian political prisoners released as Germany frees hitman Vadim Krasikov as part of deal

The largest prisoner swap between Russia and the US since the cold war has taken place, as 16 people were freed from Russian custody including the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Several other foreign citizens held in Russia and numerous Russian political prisoners were also freed.

The exchange took place at Ankara airport on Thursday in a complicated operation in which planes arrived from and departed to multiple countries.

Continue reading...

Russian court sentences US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison

Posted on by

Reporter found guilty of spying in trial thought to have been rushed in preparation for prisoner swap

A Russian court has found the US journalist Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison, after a trial widely described as a sham.

Gershkovich, 32, denied the charges and pleaded not guilty during the secretive court proceedings in Yekaterinburg, mostly held behind closed doors. His employer, the Wall Street Journal, described the verdict as a “disgraceful, sham conviction”.

Continue reading...

Does Evan Gershkovich’s quick trial suggest a Russia-US prisoner swap is close?

Posted on by

Russian court cases often drag on for months but speed of US journalist’s trial may be sign that long-discussed exchange is in the offing

The courtroom footage of a Russian judge announcing a 16-year prison sentence for Evan Gershkovich – mumbling his way through the verdict as the US journalist looked on impassively from inside a transparent defendant’s box – will be a chilling watch for the family, friends and colleagues of the 32-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent.

But counterintuitively, the manner of the conviction and sentencing may be encouraging for Gershkovich’s supporters. In Russia’s fixed and politicised legal system, the result of the trial was never in any doubt. But Russian court cases often drag on interminably, with scattered hearings every couple of months. This one moved at lightning pace: after an initial hearing in June, the next court date was unexpectedly moved forward to this week. Evidence was heard in a few hours on Thursday afternoon, and the verdict and sentencing came on Friday.

Continue reading...

Wall Street Journal fires new chair of Hong Kong Journalists Association

Posted on by

Selina Cheng says she believes her termination is linked to her taking up the position at the embattled union

The chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association has been fired by her employer, the Wall Street Journal, weeks after being appointed as the head of the embattled union.

Selina Cheng said she was “appalled” that her first press conference as HKJA chair was to announce that she had been “fired for taking up this position in a press union”.

Continue reading...

New York Times editorial board declares Trump ‘unfit to lead’

Posted on by

Board calls Trump ‘a chilling choice against this national moment’ days before Republican national convention

The editorial board of the New York Times has declared that “Donald Trump is unfit to lead” in an urgently worded article published just ahead of the Republican convention, where Trump will once again be formally named the party’s choice for president.

Noting that the former president and convicted felon has now become the Republican nominee three times in eight years, the board said: “A once great political party now serves the interests of one man, a man as demonstrably unsuited for the office of president as any to run in the long history of the republic, a man whose values, temperament, ideas and language are directly opposed to so much of what has made this country great.”

Continue reading...

Closed-door trial of US journalist Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia

Posted on by

WSJ reporter faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on spying charges US says are politically motivated

A Russian court has begun a closed-door trial of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges that he, his employer and the US government have all described as politically motivated.

Gershkovich appeared in a courtroom in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday, his head shaven by prison authorities, after being transferred from the Moscow jail where has been held since March 2023.

Continue reading...

Jailed US reporter to be tried behind closed doors, says Russian court

Posted on by

First hearing in trial of Evan Gershkovich, who denies charges of spying, scheduled for next week in Ekaterinburg

The jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will be tried behind closed doors by a Russian court later this month in a high-profile prosecution that his employer and the US government have decried as a sham.

Gershkovich, who was arrested last March in Ekaterinburg while on a reporting trip, has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison for more than a year while Russia’s FSB security service says it has been carrying out an investigation into his case.

Continue reading...

Washington Post: Telegraph veteran to take over from Sally Buzbee as executive editor

Posted on by

First woman in the role to be replaced by Telegraph deputy editor, Robert Winnett

A veteran of the UK’s Daily Telegraph is to become executive editor of the Washington Post, replacing Sally Buzbee, who is stepping down after three years at the top of one of the US’s most respected news brands.

Buzbee, the first woman to hold the post, will be initially replaced by the former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray, until this autumn’s presidential election. Robert Winnett, currently the deputy editor of the Telegraph Media Group, will then take over the role.

Continue reading...

Putin says release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich may be possible

Posted on by

Russian president suggests detained Wall Street reporter could be freed in prisoner exchange

Vladimir Putin has said he believes “an agreement can be reached” to free the imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich, hinting he would trade him for a Russian killer serving a life sentence in Germany.

Speaking on Thursday to Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, Putin said he did not rule out the possibility of Gershkovich returning “to his motherland”.

Continue reading...

Dearborn ramps up police patrol after ‘bigoted’ WSJ op-ed as Biden condemns anti-Arab hate

Posted on by

Mayor Abdullah Hammoud increases law enforcement near places of worship after piece calls Michigan city the ‘jihad capital’ of US

The mayor of Dearborn has ordered more police officers onto the streets, ramping up law enforcement presence across places of worship and major infrastructure points this weekend following an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal that called the Michigan city the “jihad capital” of the US.

And on Sunday Joe Biden weighed in, denouncing anti-Arab hate and, without referring specifically to the newspaper, saying “it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town.”

Continue reading...

‘I just got laid off’: news startup the Messenger abruptly shutters after a year

Posted on by

Employees blindsided by news that company blew through $50m investment, will offer no severance and will cut off healthcare

The Messenger, a news startup launched last year with a $50m investment and a nonpartisan perspective, is shutting down, according to multiple news reports.

In a staff email, the publication’s founder, Jimmy Finkelstein, wrote that the company had pursued all options “over the past few weeks, literally until last night” but made the “painful” decision to shut down the site effective immediately after failing to raise “sufficient capital to reach profitability”.

Continue reading...

Vox and Condé Nast are latest to announce media layoffs

Posted on by

Vox lays off at least 20 people in second round of cuts this year while Condé Nast to reduce staff by 5% over next few months

Vox Media and Condé Nast announced sweeping cuts this week in various departments, adding to a long list of recent upheaval within media organizations around the world.

The two media powerhouses held layoffs on Thursday after losing a hard-fought battle against the declining ad market, which makes up a large portion of revenue for these companies.

Continue reading...

‘Full fascist’ Trump condemned after ‘treason’ rant against NBC and MSNBC

Posted on by

Former president vows to investigate TV networks for ‘country-threatening treason’ should he win US election next year

Donald Trump said Comcast, the owner of NBC and MSNBC, “should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason’” and promised to do so should he be re-elected president next year.

In response, one progressive group said the former US president and current overwhelming frontrunner in the Republican 2024 presidential nomination race had “gone full fascist”.

Continue reading...

Glenn Beck condemns wannabe ‘warlord’ businessman despite commercial ties

Posted on by

Rightwing broadcaster attacks Charles Haywood after Guardian exposed his sponsorship of secret society

The rightwing broadcaster Glenn Beck has attacked Charles Haywood, a shampoo magnate and would-be “warlord”, as a “false prophet” on his radio broadcast after the Guardian exposed Haywood’s sponsorship of a secretive, far-right men-only fraternal society.

Last week Beck devoted five minutes of airtime on the Blaze – in which he read the Guardian’s article aloud and interspersed his own commentary – to criticising Haywood and Haywood’s Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR).

Continue reading...

James M Cain: lost story by ‘poet of the tabloid murder’ discovered in Congress library

Posted on by

Strand Magazine will publish Blackmail, a tale of a blind Korean war veteran, found by New York editor Andrew Gulli

A New York editor and literary detective is celebrating the discovery and release of an unpublished short story by James M Cain, one of the greats of American noir, a “poet of the tabloid murder” whose works made famous on film include The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce.

“For all the work that you do,” said Andrew Gulli, editor-in-chief of the Strand Magazine, “like 2% of the time you hit the jackpot. I just feel so good. It’s worth it.”

Continue reading...

Russian court extends detention of Evan Gershkovich to August

Posted on by

Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested on espionage charges is being held in Moscow prison with no date set for trial

A Moscow court has extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges at the end of March.

During a brief hearing on Tuesday, the court ordered that Gershkovich should remain in jail until 30 August, Russian news agencies reported. His pre-trial detention had initially been scheduled to expire next week. He is being held in the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, and could face a sentence of up to 20 years if found guilty.

Continue reading...

Journalists who have worked in Moscow call for release of Evan Gershkovich

Posted on by

More than 300 journalists write to Russia that arrest sends ‘dangerous signal’ about attitude to journalism

More than 300 foreign correspondents who have worked in Moscow have written to the Russian government to call for the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter being held on espionage charges, saying his arrest sends a “disturbing and dangerous signal” about the country’s attitude to independent media.

Gershkovich, who was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg last month on spying charges that carry a possible 20-year prison sentence, is the first US journalist detained on such charges since the end of the cold war. Both the Wall Street Journal and the US government has denied that he was involved in espionage.

Continue reading...