For the Record

Mother Jones Finishes Capital Campaign:

Seven years after it initiated its first fundraising campaign, Mother Jones is set to meet its $25 million benchmark from a variety of sources, including foundations and small donations from readers. "We are convinced that the traditional models of paying for high quality public service journalism have already collapsed," said Monika Bauerlein, the magazine's CEO. "Aligning both the organization and the audience around the idea that journalism is essential infrastructure for democracy and that it has to be supported by the small-d democratic public that it serves makes it all feel like it's all pulling in the same direction."

Blaze Ascends, Breitbart Declines:

A trio of conservative news organizations (including TheBlaze, Washington Examiner and The Washington Times) notched their eighth consecutive month of year-to-year traffic increases in August, according to data compiled by Comscore and aggregation site TheRighting. However, competitors such as Breitbart and Newsmax have seen steady declines in traffic, while The Federalist has flatlined since the beginning of the year. A Breitbart spokesperson told TheWrap that "the data scenario that you described with Comscore does no [sic] reflect reality."

Federal Court Upholds State Secrets Privilege Against Journalist:

According to Spencer Hsu of The Washington Post, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer has dismissed American journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem's lawsuit "challenging his alleged placement on a 'kill list' by U.S. authorities in Syria after the Trump administration invoked the 'state secrets' privilege to withhold sensitive national security information." In a recent complaint, the government asserted that Abdul Kareem sought information revealing "the existence and operational details of alleged military and intelligence activities directed at combating the terrorist threat to the United States." Collyer "also said it was not up to the courts to adopt Abdul Kareem's attorneys' proposal that people placed on the 'kill list' should have the same due-process protections as organizations designated as terrorists by the State or Treasury departments."

Vox Buys New York:

Vox Media announced Tuesday that it has acquired New York magazine in a confidential all-stock transaction. Previous owner Pamela Wasserstein will take a seat on Vox's board and continue to oversee the business operations of New York and its subsidaries (including Vulture and The Cut) as president of the combined company. Vox Chairman/CEO Jim Bankoff has confirmed that no editorial layoffs are planned: "Nothing changes editorially for any of our brands," he said.

Sulzberger Delivers Ogden Lecture:

New York Times Publisher A. G. Sulzberger delivered the Ogden Memorial Lecture on International Affairs at his alma mater, Brown University, on Monday. The address, which focused on the growing international threats to press freedom — most notably the United States government's refusal to extract reporter Declan Walsh from Egypt after that country threatened to arrest him in 2017, resulting in the successful intervention of the Irish government at the behest of The Times — was published concurrently as an op-ed in the newspaper. 

Publishing Struggles with Fact-Checking:

Although trade publishing has become increasingly dependent on revenue from popular nonfiction, recent fact-checking scandals surrounding such works as Gay Talese's "The Voyeur's Motel" and Naomi Wolf's "Outrages" have not precipitated what Alexandra Alter of The New York Times characterizes as "broad agreement on who should be paying for what is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process in the low-margin publishing industry." Morgan Entrekin, CEO of Grove Atlantic, said, "I would love to be able to fact-check every book that I publish, but it's just the reality. I don't know what the alternative is, other than to publish fewer books on a different model."

Post's Cohen Retires:

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen announced his retirement from the newspaper Monday. Cohen, who was a Commentary finalist in 1981, 1987, 1989, and 1990, reflected on decades of success: "I have written books and screenplays and will continue to do so. My girlfriend and I are going to Paris for a month and we're getting a dog. I will have time to walk it now. I will miss newspapering, but I know I had the best it ever had to offer."

Robert Boyd (1928-2019):

1973 National Reporting winner Robert Boyd died of congestive heart failure Friday at a retirement home in Philadelphia. He was 91. During his 20-year tenure as Knight Ridder's Washington bureau chief, Boyd oversaw an unprecedented expansion of the division while directing Washington coverage for such publications as The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald. Boyd and colleague Clark Hoyt received their Pulitzer for uncovering 1972 Democratic vice presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton's treatment for bipolar II disorder; after requesting comment from the campaign, presidential nominee George McGovern and Eagleton convened a press conference to announce his condition, effectively preempting their original story. Eagleton ultimately was replaced by Sargent Shriver.

Christopher Rouse (1949-2019):

1993 Music winner Christopher Rouse died Saturday of complications from kidney cancer in Towson, Md. He was 70. A lifelong resident of Baltimore's Mount Washington neighborhood, Rouse studied with Pulitzer winners George Crumb and Karel Husa before earning his doctorate from Cornell University in 1977. In a statement, Boosey & Hawkes lauded the "extreme emotional depth and colorful orchestration" in Rouse’s music, which "reflected his insatiable curiosity for music from across Western music history to popular rock."

Henig Joins BuzzFeed:

BuzzFeed News has hired New York Times audio chief Samantha Henig to serve as its executive director of strategy, the news organization announced Thursday. According to Talking Biz News, Henig, who created "The Daily" in 2017, "will be charged with building out new revenue streams and making the company’s news business 'sustainable' [...] through initiatives like podcasts, membership products and ad sales." While BuzzFeed as a whole is set to become profitable this year, the news division has lagged behind its counterparts in revenue.