NPC Update-1 Podcast

The national protests following the death of George Floyd proved to be at times a hostile environment for journalists. Some reporters were arrested, while others were targeted with tear gas, shot at with rubber bullets and pepper-sprayed. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating hundreds of reports of violence against journalists covering the protests. On this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast team member Mike Hempen talks to CPJ Advocacy Director Dr. Courtney Radsch, who says she was “shocked” by what she saw. Dr. Radsch discusses the updated safety advisories CPJ issued to reporters covering the protests, and what news organizations, journalists and the public can do in response to these incidents.

Award-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist Scott Simmie knows a thing or two about back-story and his new podcast “BMO Inside Stories” provides the forum to share insightful, motivating and even surprising stories from a cross-section of North American guests. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast team co-vice chair Adam Konowe interviews Simmie about the genesis and lessons of his podcast. They also discuss recent developments in journalism and PR, from the divergent paths taken by the U.S. and Canada to cope with COVID-19 to the future of emerging technologies and how PR professionals should communicate about them to build and maintain trust.

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing healthcare and economic woes around the world, and some governments are using the global crisis as an opportunity to seize control of information flowing from and within their borders.  With press freedom increasingly under attack, many journalists find it difficult to collect and provide details about COVID-19, especially in nations that have been hot spots for the virus. In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast team member Shannon Fisher speaks with Executive Director of Reporters Without Borders (a.k.a. Reporters sans Frontières, or RSF) USA Dokhi Fassihian about the challenges journalists face during this global pandemic and the work RSF is doing to protect journalists who encounter severe interference in the course of gathering details about COVID-19.

Founded in 1933 during the Great Depression, the NewsGuild has represented reporters and other employees at news operations through good and bad times, bargaining for improved wages and working conditions and promoting honesty in journalism. Now, amid a pandemic and another extraordinary economic downturn, the NewsGuild is pushing hard for measures to aid its members as newspapers and other news media in the U.S. and Canada lay off and furlough reporters and cut their salaries to compensate for lost advertising revenue. Among the steps sought by the NewsGuild is one that is extraordinary for a union representing journalists: financial aid from the government. In this edition of Update-1, National Press Club Broadcast Podcast team member Bill Loveless talks to Jon Schleuss, the president of the NewsGuild, about this and other steps the union is taking to protect its members. “It’s a concern,” Schleuss tells Update-1. “And what we’re looking at potentially is an extinction-level event where we could lose the entire news industry.”

Timely and reliable news reporting is more important than ever now as the coronavirus pandemic spreads rapidly across the world. The challenge is a daunting one for journalists faced not only with the task of sorting through complicated and often contradictory information but also the risk of contracting COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the new virus. And even as people turn to the news media for information on the crisis, many U.S. newspapers are letting go of reporters and editors as advertising all but disappears. In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast Committee member Bill Loveless talks to Jon Allsop, who writes a newsletter called “The Media Today” produced by the Columbia Journalism Review. Jon is tracking reporting on COVID-19 in the U.S. and globally as well as the pandemic’s devastating financial impact on newsroom staffs.

Many professional communicators, including National Press Club members, learned their craft in schools of communication here in Washington and beyond. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast Committee co-vice chair Adam Konowe speaks with fellow committee member and American University School of Communications Professor Gemma Puglisi. Joining them is Jolene Levesque, an AU undergraduate majoring in public relations, to discuss AU’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and its activities for PR majors like her.

National Security is the focus of this edition of Update-1. Broadcast Podcast Committee member Lincoln Smith speaks with Dr. John Lenczowski, founder and president of the Institute of World Politics, which is dedicated to teaching the art of statecraft. They discuss some books and lectures relating to the state of today's global strategic environment, including Eric Hoffer’s book "The True Believer; Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements," and the Kuklinski Museum Discussion Series, “Poland, the U.S. and NATO: Confronting the Russian Threat." Dr. Lenczowski also comments on the state of press freedom in China.

With a field of primary candidates as large as the Democrats’ in 2020, keeping up-to-date with election news is challenging. The process is even more daunting for political journalists who gather ever-changing data from candidates, pollsters, strategists, and voters across the country. Effectively analyzing and organizing this information into an easily digestible package for the public is a skill that takes years to develop. CNN’s John King, host of Inside Politics, has spent his career covering elections from nearly every angle. King talks to NPC Broadcast/Podcast team member Shannon Fisher about capturing the of-the-moment essence of elections, finding the pulse of America, and the manner in which media coverage of general elections differs from that of crowded primaries.

On Sunday, March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day with the theme of #eachforequal, promoting that an equal world is an enabled world. New Zealand women will join millions of other women around the world participating in events marking the day. NPC Broadcast/Podcast co-vice chair Adam Konowe discusses this topic with NPC member and freelance reporter Victoria Gaither, now based in New Zealand, and Heather Hutchings, chair of the Porirua Chamber of Commerce near the capital city of Wellington. Both women address upcoming IWD events, reelection prospects for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, last year’s deadly mosque shooting and volcano eruption, and other developments.

What did you think of the media coverage of the impeachment process involving President Trump? Was it fair, or did it lean left or right? Broadcast/Podcast team member Bill Loveless discusses these topics and more with Jason Mollica, a professorial lecturer in the American University School of Communication. Mollica talks about news outlets he relied on for updates, the various perspectives different news organizations provided and how the reporting of the Trump impeachment differed from previous impeachment coverage.

Nonprofit newsrooms provide necessary services to communities across the country, and they are the focus of this edition of Update-1. NewsMatch Project Director Jason Alcorn talks to NPC Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Shannon Fisher about the role of nonprofit news and the struggle independent news organizations have funding local watchdog journalism.

How much of a factor will disinformation be in the 2020 presidential election? In this edition of Update-1, Paul Barrett, the deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, talks to Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Irv Chapman about the spread of disinformation that already has occurred, the different forms of disinformation and some examples of how it has played out. Barrett also discusses what social media companies have done and still can do to limit the impact of disinformation, and offers some advice to social media users who encounter what they consider to be questionable information.

With a broadcast journalism career spanning over 50 years, Irv Chapman has reported for Radio Press International and ABC News and now is with Bloomberg News. During his time with ABC, Irv was assigned to cover the Vietnam War. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Lincoln Smith talks to Irv about his time in Vietnam and how what he reported on might apply to a current conflict, such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. They also discuss the differences between the media coverage of Vietnam and that of current wars and whether the United States learned anything from the Vietnam War.

With fewer newspapers still in business, and constrained budgets of those that remain, foundation and donor-supported organizations are seeking to fill the gap by sponsoring reporting trips to far-away places, producing stories that even top news media welcome. On this edition of Update-1, longtime Press Club member Irv Chapman interviews the executive editor of one prominent journalism organization, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Indira Lakshmanan reported for the Boston Globe from Bosnia, China, Afghanistan and Latin America and still writes a foreign affairs column for the Globe. For eight years she was diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News. She describes the work of the Center, including its role in boosting the public trust in serious news media, and her own experiences, both at home and abroad.

Can you spell the scientific name for bedbugs? You can bet Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri (pronounced Pea’-try) can. Not only did she write a recent column taking on the persona of a bedbug incensed at being dragged into the muck of U.S. politics, she’s also a champion speller. In this edition of Update-1, National Press Club Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Viola Gienger has a fun conversation with Petri about her sense of humor, her championship last year in the NPC Press vs. Politicians Spelling Bee and her pending return this year, on Sept. 17, to defend her title. Other previous winners have included U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in 2013 and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) in 2015. Art Swift of Gallup won in 2016, and Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News orthographed his way to the championship in 2017 Bee There or Bee Square! For more information about the event and to buy tickets, see the NPC website or the Eventbrite page.