Katie Couric

This week in PublicSource: Democratic candidates seem to be increasingly focused on defining their foes as extremists on reproductive rights. We break down claims in dueling ads in a Pittsburgh-area swing congressional district https://lnkd.in/ewCvhE6p Energy, climate: Important issues, right? In Pa., the balance of power on those and other issues hinges on a few General Assembly races, including one in Allegheny County. So why aren’t the candidates talking about fossil fuels? https://lnkd.in/eeiJGiTe Back in blue, and back pay, too? A judge said no to a former Pittsburgh police officer’s bid to return to the force after tasering Jim Rogers, who died. A PublicSource analysis found that some fired cops beat the city to the tune of 6-figure checks https://lnkd.in/eBzQudWv Wilkinsburg’s governmental future will be on the ballot Nov. 5 — but not in the manner preferred by backers of annexation with Pittsburgh. Instead, voters will decide on home rule, which means a more powerful and better-paid mayor, and more https://lnkd.in/eXRiUCvu PublicSource strives to tell stories for a better Pittsburgh that wouldn’t emerge in media controlled by big money. But we need your help to do this. If you can pitch in: https://lnkd.in/eJgWUGBF Millions for clean air in the Mon Valley: Sounds good, right? If you want to share thoughts on how it should be spent, you have three opportunities, all in October, to do so https://lnkd.in/eYQ8Fdsx Sydney is not a survivor of sexual violence, but she carried a sign and marched with those who have experienced abuse, amid the dangerous “red zone” on campuses. “This is what I have learned as an advocate for survivors of sexual and domestic violence.” https://lnkd.in/eDDTjsWv

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For crisis communications and media professionals: How do you navigate advising clients or upper management when they opt for crisis spin messaging over addressing the actual root cause of the crisis? 🤔 We've witnessed various scenarios where organizations either successfully managed this approach or faced challenges. From President Biden's health concerns to NYC Mayor Adam's scandals, and companies like Boeing, Meta, Nike, Tesla, Samsung, and the Secret Service-the importance of handling crises transparently cannot be overstated, especially if you want to maintain your credibility, brand, customers, clients and stakeholders.📰💼 #CrisisCommunications #MediaPros #PublicRelations #Transparency #CrisisManagement

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My full-length post-mortem analysis of the Question 4 campaign is still in the works, but for the time being here's my 3-tweet takeaway after a few days of reflection: The Question 4 campaign here in Massachusetts, the power players behind it, and the total failure that was Tuesday night’s election are a fascinating microcosm of the foundational ineptitude of the Democratic establishment at large. Case in point: Dewey Square Group (born in 1993) is the faux-progressive brainchild of the Clintonite/neoliberal elite… DSG is a “grass tops” consulting firm: designed to co-opt and repackage populist ideologies into watered down, corporate-friendly Uniparty drivel. Out of touch, glaringly and embarrassingly inept — and yet somehow still clinging to power due to the influence of their largely nepotistic networks and a consistently sharp-elbowed approach to dealing with outsider input. Sound familiar? PS - This is intended as a critique of the political machinations at work, not an attack on or condemnation of the character of any individuals involved.

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Capitol Times Magazine sits down with the one and only Roger Stone for an EXCLUSIVE interview you won't want to miss! Get insights, inside stories, and a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most influential political figures in America today. 👉 READ NOW and dive into the conversation with Roger Stone that everyone is talking about! 📰 #RogerStone #CapitolTimesMagazine #ExclusiveInterview #ConservativeNews #Politics #AmericaFirst #MAGA

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Ask Vivian: The One Question I Always Get (A few thoughts from my Times career advice column; on how to set yourself up for future success in your work.) https://lnkd.in/eVSC2ZFw Q: I joined The Times about a year ago. Although I’m not looking to move up yet, it would be good to know what to do to set myself up for advancement in the newsroom. What would you recommend? A: One of the best things you can do is to be your own advocate. It sounds like a cliché, but it will make an impact in a place like The Times. This is true at any stage of your career, but it’s especially important to get into the habit of doing it early in your time here. We’d all like to believe that our work speaks for itself. But that’s not always going to be the case. If you just published an interesting story or helped put together an incredible graphic, you need to make sure that your best friend isn’t the only person who knows about it. Start by thinking about who you want to showcase your skills to — is it your department head, an editor in another department, or someone on the masthead? Think about who you would want as your advocates and be cognizant about putting yourself forward whenever you interact with people who could have some influence over your career. So, say you’re in a meeting with a higher-level editor you don’t know very well, make sure you participate and contribute something during the meeting — don’t be a wallflower. However you do it, try to do it as organically and as often as you can. This is a numbers game — the more people you know (and who know you and your work), the more likely you’re going to get that next job you want. For many of us, this will feel outside of our comfort zone. I get it, and in fact, I was right there with you when I joined The Times 27 years ago. But I found a way to promote my work in a way that felt authentic and so can you. Here’s how I did it: Whenever I wanted to show my friends something great I’d accomplished, whether it was nailing an interview or getting a story published on A1, I tried to redirect some of that energy and also share it with at least one person beyond my circle. Try it out and see if this approach — which, by the way, works in any part of our organization — makes sense for you. If this still feels out of reach, that’s OK. You can start even smaller. For example, if you run into a manager who you want to connect with, you can approach them with some other topic. Maybe you want to chat about someone else’s story that impressed you that day, or a photograph that you found impactful or a graphic that blew your mind. Regardless of what you want to talk about, find a way to start the conversation. Ask good questions. Show people how you think. Remember, the next time you wrap up something you’re proud of, consider sharing it with someone you want to know, and you’ll be on your way to building a relationship that could pay dividends in the future.

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The Wall Street Journal editor Paul Beckett’s account in the Columbia Journalism Review of how the Journal mobilized to free Evan Gershkovich after 16th months as a prisoner in Russia is a tour de force and “a free press triumph” and well worth the read. Some excerpts: A phone call to a senior government official who knows this terrain provided the answer: “There are times to be quiet and there are times to be loud—and this is a time to be loud.” “Yet on days like August 1 (when he was freed), the values that underpin democracy and are the foundation of a free press triumph.” “Few countries that are not democracies could point to such care for their ordinary citizens abroad, let alone noncitizens imprisoned for their political beliefs.” “news organizations must continue to assess and calibrate the risks their reporters face when operating in dangerous terrain. Perhaps they need to make more hard-nosed choices on whether it is necessary to deploy in person to countries that target journalists or whether that terrain can effectively be covered from outside, given advances in technology and communications.” “And they could ensure that press freedom around the world—an issue so fundamental to their existence that it is often taken for granted—is a subject they cover as if their livelihoods and their liberty depended on it.” https://lnkd.in/etZTVCeB

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Part 2 of our No Wrong Choices (Podcast) conversation with Foreign Correspondent, Journalist and Media Consultant Courtney Kealy is up. The story continues with Courtney describing what is was like to be on the ground during January 6th and her views on the future of media and journalism. See comments for link. #Journalism #MediaCareers #CareerJourney #NoWrongChoices #GlobalNews #ConflictReporting #January6th #Storytelling #Podcast #FutureOfJournalism

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DOS Won't Hunt -- Recording Schedule through December   Interested panelists, please contact me directly via email, not just with comments on this post: joao-pierre.ruth@informationweek.com   Note to public relations teams: please only pitch panelists you have CONFIRMED will be available on those dates. This is a video podcast recording. Only the panelists will be in the session. Here are the topics I plan to cover on the podcast in the weeks ahead. All recordings will be on video, panel discussions, at 12 pm ET on the recording dates below.   December 6 – What Enterprise IT Predictions Actually Mattered in 2024? Every year sees prognostications about what tech will take off, evolve, and transform the enterprise world. What expectations did your organization start 2024 with and how has that played out? Did anything hold water? Did surprises in tech emerge during the year eclipse the predictions? Is it better for organizations to not chase predictive trends or does that mean giving up a competitive edge? December 13 – The Cloud You Want vs the Cloud You Need: Are enterprises able to tailor their cloud resources to fit their operational needs? How does that compare with ambitions? Cost? Usage? Are more organizations cloud-first? Are we ever going to see an all, cloud-first world where EVERYTHING exists in the cloud? Does that dream no longer seem real?   December 20 – Cyber Threats and the Holidays: Do retailers still face high levels of cyber risk in a world fraught with ransomware attacks year-round? Do bad actors focus their attention more on targets they strike when an opportunity arises, which might not have anything to do with the holiday shopping season? Or are there still Cyber Grinches out there who are making a concerted effort to strike as transactions fly faster than reindeer? December 27 – Infrastructure Resilience: Y2K 25 Years Later. What have we learned about maintaining our infrastructure, a generation after putting in the work to correct the Y2K bug? How has computer infrastructure been rethought? What “rules” and “norms” that were part of legacy tech no longer apply in the time of cloud, edge, and all else beyond we are exploring?

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A Bloomberg reporter was fired for breaking an embargo. It’s a nightmare that fuels paranoia whenever someone is working with sensitive information. What if a reporter, despite promising, file a story earlier than planned? I think what’s happened here – a dangerous, very unfortunate action that could have jeopardised an international prisoner exchange – shows us why we don’t have to worry too much. By far the most common reason to give reporters access to information early is so that they have additional time to plan and report a story. We want to make sure they have the ability to put the news in context, hopefully by speaking to someone and adding more context. Time is also a consideration – the ability to release the story at the soonest possible moment. Even though the news hopefully will be covered by others, you desperately, in this world of thousands of sites and accounts, want people to hear it there first. All of this is understandable and, at some level, benefits everyone. What doesn’t is breaking that agreement. I’ve never had a journalist knowingly break an embargo. And a couple of times, something has gone up quicker than expected, it’s usually been because there’s been confusion over a changing embargo time. (Note: don’t do this.) Moreover the vast majority of pieces of news are interesting to a specialist audience. They are noteworthy, yes, but there’s no massive fame and fortune to be made by leaking. On the contrary, the consequences of being iced out of future deals – and potentially even facing legal action are far more dire. Even in the Bloomberg case, there’s been an impassioned response from the reporter in question about how she never, ever would maliciously break a pre-agreed break time. It seems that what happened – while not acceptable – was somewhere in the process of writing and editing. So breathe easy, and let people with trusted relationships have time to review and report on forthcoming stories.

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Key takeaways from the second week of my Churchill Fellowship in Boston looking at the decline of trust in democracy. - Powerful tech media companies have so much influence over our information ecosystem that their hands-off approach is letting mis and disinformation run rampant through their systems. - Migrant communities are being targeted online with disinformation about the US elections and it’s less likely to be fact-checked because it’s not in English. - Some researchers and journalists fear there’s a real risk that America’s democracy is crumbling away and they’ll be left with an oligarchy. - Objective independent journalism is crucial to safeguarding the integrity of democracy especially as we see voters becoming more polarised. Winston Churchill Trust (Australia) #democracy #disinformation #polarisation #publicinterestjournalism Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

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TV stations outside the USA are fascinated -- fascinated, like they can hardly believe that so many Americans want Mr. Trump back -- but they also know very little about Kamala Harris. So the questions keep coming, and -- just for instance -- Benita Levin of i24News had me on, for 5 minutes of trying to explain it. Will there be a "consensus" in the USA accepting the election results? That is such a key question, in what we hope is a thriving democracy. The segment: https://lnkd.in/gFsjAEW4

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Director, Journalism and Media Ethics, Subramaniam (Subbu) Vincent contributes about how debate formats might better serve voters is his latest Forbes article, "How ABC News Could fix CNN's Mockery of the First Presidential Debate?" "If we are bringing prolific liars live on an election debate, our responsibility to truth-telling and truth-determination requires that we make a sincere attempt to vet their claims within a few minutes of them being aired... And when those claims are dubious, it is an act of ethical journalism to intervene to ask its promoters to defend with actual evidence, or call them out." ~Subbu Vincent, director, journalism and media ethics, published by Forbes. https://lnkd.in/g7s4Vy_G #Ethics, #Elections, #Biden #Trump #Debate #VotingForEthics

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These commentary on Robert Longo is my latest post on Cultural Capital-Art, Politics, and Everything Else https://lnkd.in/ezKYP5Nb

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For today's Wide Shot newsletter, we return to the question of whether streaming is a good business and, more precisely, for whom? We address cable giant John Malone's recent assessment (categorically "no") and take a look at the state of Netflix, Disney, Paramount and others who participated in the streaming war. Who's winning? Who's still losing money? What's the next stage of the streaming business? (Oh, we also get into JOKER 2's box office travesty). #entertainmentbusiness #hollywood #streaming

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Huge news developed over the weekend for news organizations in New York after the state’s governor signed the 2025 state budget which brings significant support to local journalism through the "Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Program," allocating $90 million in tax credits for news outlets. 🎉 Spearheaded by the Empire State Local News Coalition, the legislation is the largest state commitment to community news organizations in the country, offering guaranteed tax credits for three years and prioritizing smaller outlets. 💪 This news is huge for news organizations. Not only does it provide them financial assistance but creates opportunity to bolster news staffs to provide even more content to the communities they serve. 📰 This legislation isn’t only good for news organizations but it’s a great thing for communities in New York. The funding will provide citizens vital information about what is happening in their towns, hold officials accountable and help the public live a better quality of life, through the important content these news organizations create. 🏙️ There are caps on annual credits per newsroom, based on employee count, and exclusions for publicly traded corporations are included. The legislation sets a precedent for supporting local journalism nationwide. 🌐 A huge ✋ high five to Zachary (Zack) Richner, who worked around the clock to get this done! Editor & Publisher (E&P) Magazine #LocalNewsSupport #JournalismMatters #CommunityFirst #EmpireStateNews #MediaSupport #NYNews #JournalismFunding #CommunityInformation #LocalJournalism #PressFreedom

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David Gauvey Herbert for The New York Times Magazine: How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular. Varsity’s market power has made the cheer world a paranoid place. In my reporting for this story, dozens of people spoke about the company in conspiratorial tones better suited to a spy thriller. My sources were at least right that the company was paying attention. Not long after beginning my reporting for The Times, a managing director from Teneo — the high-powered public-relations firm whose clients have included Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical and Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund — contacted me. I soon found myself dealing with separate P.R. agencies representing two private-equity firms, Varsity and Jeff Webb himself, who invited me to interview him. “I don’t think I’ve done a great job marketing myself,” he told me. “I would rather let the deeds speak for themselves.” Varsity had been hit with a raft of antitrust and personal-injury lawsuits, which provided an unprecedented glimpse into Varsity’s operations: Thousands of pages of documents and emails showed how Webb, a former cheerleader himself, built a company so powerful that its market position has not been meaningfully challenged by the many lawsuits and controversies. In July, KKR, one of the largest private-equity firms in the world, bought Varsity and its affiliate companies from Bain Capital for a reported $4.75 billion, a clear bet that Varsity’s control of cheerleading will survive the current scrutiny. Since the KKR sale, a sense of foreboding hangs over the world of cheer: Is there any scandal big enough to shake Varsity’s grip on American cheerleading?

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