For the Record

Miami Herald Closes Printing Plant:

According to Jerry Iannelli of the Miami New Times, the Miami Herald announced last week that it will close its Doral, Fla.-based printing plant and lay off "34 full-time and 36 part-time printing press and packaging employees." The publication will instead utilize the South Florida Sun Sentinel's press in Deerfield Beach. "This was a very difficult business decision reached after thoughtful analysis and deliberation," President, Publisher and Executive Editor Mindy Marqués said. "As you know, as more readers find their news online, demand for print is declining and publishers, including our sister publications across McClatchy, are consolidating their print operations." Marqués is a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Ramshaw, Zamora Soft-Launch Nonprofit:

Pulitzer Prize Board member Emily Ramshaw and past juror Amanda Zamora have "announced the soft launch of and more details about The 19th, their previously teased national news nonprofit," according to Laura Hazard Owen of NiemanLab. The nonpartisan newsroom (whose name alludes to the 19th Amendment) will cover "the intersection of gender, politics and policy," including "free-to-consume and free-to-republish" content.

Trump Questions Existence of NPR:

President Trump questioned why National Public Radio exists on Twitter Sunday after reporter Mary Louise Kelly was involved in a confrontational off-the-record conversation with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week. Although the nonprofit news organization was established by an act of Congress and receives a mixture of public and private funding, it is not a federal agency. The newsroom has stood by Kelly's reporting.

News Literacy Project Launches Outreach Initiative:

2003 National Reporting winner and News Literacy Project President Alan Miller has announced the launch of the organization's National News Literacy Week on CNN's Reliable Sources podcast with Brian Stelter. The initiative, which will run from January 27 to 31, encompasses partnerships with several organizations, including E.W. Scripps, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press. "In this age, everybody is their own editor. Everybody can be their own publisher. We want them to play those roles in ways that are credible and responsible and empower their voices," Miller said.

White House Grants Press Credentials to Anti-Semite:

According to Michael M. Grynbaum of The New York Times, the White House provided press credentials to conservative Christian news site TruNews for President Trump's recent trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos. The site's founder, pastor Rick Wiles, has characterized Trump's impeachment as "a Jew coup" planned by "a Jewish cabal" and was one of five employees to receive credentials for the trip. The decision was formally questioned by White House Correspondents' Association President Jonathan Karl. "It’s puzzling that a known hate group would get press credentials from the same White House that revoked the credentials of a correspondent for a major television network," he said, referring to the temporary revocation of CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta's credentials in 2018.

Banks: Xinhua Should Register Under FARA:

According to a January 22 letter to Attorney General William Barr obtained by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian of Axios, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) "has asked Attorney General William Barr to examine whether Chinese state news agency Xinhua has registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)." The letter invokes a 2017 annual report from the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission which stated that "Xinhua serves some functions of an intelligence agency by gathering information and producing classified reports for the Chinese government." Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio previously "called on the Justice Department to look closely at Chinese state-funded media outlets operating in the United States" in a January 2018 letter to the Justice Department.

U.N. Calls for MBS/Bezos Spyware Investigation:

United Nations Special Rapporteurs Agnes Callamard and David Kaye said Wednesday that they was "gravely concerned" by information "suggesting that a WhatsApp account belonging to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was used to deliver spyware to the mobile phone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos" and have called for an investigation into the hack, according to Charles Riley and Shimon Prokupecz of CNN. A source told CNN that a forensics team hired to investigate the matter by Bezos had reached their conclusion with "medium to high" confidence. 

Michael Sovern (1931—2020):

Columbia University President Emeritus Michael Sovern died Monday. He was 88. A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science (1949), Columbia College (summa cum laude; 1953) and Columbia Law School (1955), he became the University's youngest tenured professor at the age of 28 in 1960. As president of Columbia from 1980 to 1993, Sovern served on the Pulitzer Prize Board, initiated the divestiture of the University's financial interests in apartheid South Africa and hosted the first public appearance of Salman Rushdie after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwā against the writer. In his academic and professional careers, he researched the effects of racial discrimination in employment and served as an arbitrator in numerous disputes. Read Sovern's remarks from the 75th Pulitzer Prize anniversary dinner here.

Brazilian Government Indicts Greenwald:

Brazilian prosecutors charged 2014 Public Service contributor Glenn Greenwald Tuesday with cybercrimes for allegedly "participat[ing] in the hacking of cell phones, the content of which was later used in his stories." Greenwald and his husband, Brazilian congressman David Miranda, have been critical of President Jair Bolsonaro's administration. In an interview with Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker, Greenwald denied the charges. "[W]hen the source first talked to me, he had already obtained all the material that he ended up providing us, making it logically impossible for me to have in any way participated in that act," he said. "And the federal police, just a few months ago, concluded that not only was there no evidence that I committed any crimes but much to the contrary, I conducted myself, in their words, with 'extreme levels of professionalism and caution,' to make sure that I didn’t get ensnared in any criminal activity." The indictment has been condemned by Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and other press freedom advocates.

Bezos, Post Draw Ire From Indian Government:

A foreign affairs official in India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party tweeted criticism of The Washington Post's coverage of the nation to Jeff Bezos after the billionaire unveiled a $1 billion investment program designed to help small businesses in the country. "Jeff Bezos doesn't tell Washington Post journalists what to write," said Eli Lopez, an opinion editor for the newspaper. "Independent journalism is not about charming governments. But there's no question the work of our correspondents and columnists fits within India's democratic traditions." The Indian government recently initiated an antitrust investiation against Amazon, while Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar have echoed the official's remarks. Bezos purchased the newspaper in 2013.