For the Record

American Historical Association Surveys Public Perceptions of History:

A new National Endowment for the Humanities-funded survey ("History, the Past, and Public Culture: Results from a National Survey") conducted by the American Historical Association in conjunction with Fairleigh Dickinson University more than twenty years after the groundbreaking "Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life" (1998) "[aspires] to take America's historical pulse by assessing public perceptions of, and engagement with, the discipline of history and the past" in an effort to "help cultural organizations, K–12 and higher education institutions, state humanities councils, journalists, policymakers, and others better understand their audiences and broaden the relevance of historical work to public culture." According to the survey, most laypeople primarily view history as "an assembly of names, dates, and other facts about what happened in the past" vis-à-vis the increasing "gulf between practicing historians and the audiences the former serve," as exemplified by the former's reliance on explication of past events through descriptive questioning and analysis in addition to the multifaceted prism of causes and effects. "Political party identification likewise correlated with chosen definitions of history," the report continued. "A majority of respondents, whether self-identifying as Democrat, Republican, independent, or no preference, perceived history as defined by facts. That said, whereas Democrats, independents, and those with no preference all fell within a fairly narrow band of 58 percent to 63 percent agreement on this issue, Republicans skewed much more heavily (81 percent) toward a history-as-facts position." In its final section, the authors explored the putative link between historical interest and civics. "Those of us working in history fields want the public to be more informed about the past, and to use that knowledge responsibly for the betterment of society," they wrote. "In that vein, we hope that such knowledge translates to greater civic engagement, history-related or otherwise. Does such a link exist? Drawing such causal connections is inherently difficult, but our data lead us to believe that advanced education and some forms of interest in the past are conducive to increasing people's civic involvement."

Twitter's Social Media Dominance Endures for Publishers:

Twitter "is still the place where media publishers collectively have the largest audiences, followed by Facebook and Instagram, according to an Axios analysis of 82 major news, entertainment and sports publishers," Sara Fischer and Kerry Flynn reported Tuesday. Although TikTok has garnered an avid following among myriad social media influencers and users from the Generation Z cohort since its 2016 launch, the ByteDance-owned shortform video platform (which also operates under the alternativer moniker of Douyin in China) "yields fewer overall followers for publishers than other social platforms," Fischer and Flynn added, with roughly 25% of media outlets lacking a presence altogether on the service. However, "every publisher observed has a Twitter account," while the "vast majority" also retain YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. Although the analysis indicates that "more people follow news, sports and entertainment publishers on LinkedIn than TikTok," Fischer and Flynn cautioned that "publishers' low follower counts on TikTok could stem from many outlets choosing to not yet invest meaningfully in it" amid its overarching focus on entertainment and popular culture, with sports-oriented ESPN and Bleacher Report enjoying "outsized followings on TikTok and Instagram." Additionally, "TV-first," nationally-oriented broadcast news organizations (such as ABC News and CNN) continue to "have large YouTube and Facebook followings." Even though the analysis did not "include local news outlets, which aren't built to scale in the same way that national media companies are," Axios found that Twitter remains their most followed platform.

Condé Nast Workers Win Union Recognition:

Condé Nast employees "won union recognition Friday from their company" following at least six months of negotiations, "making workers at iconic, glossy titles such as Vogue and GQ the latest to join a wave of unionization across the media industry," according to Elahe Izadi of The Washington Post. The bargaining unit "covers more than 500 U.S.-based employees: a majority of the editorial, production and video workers at 11 publications, including Vanity Fair, Bon Appétit, Allure, Architectural Digest and Condé Nast Entertainment, the company’s in-house production studio," Izadi added, with the NewsGuild confirming that more than 80 percent of eligible employees submitted union cards Friday. The media company and the union will now begin a new round of negotiations centered around "employment conditions," including stipulated wages and benefits. "After productive conversations with the NewsGuild over the past few months, we have agreed to voluntarily recognize four new editorial and business units," a Condé Nast spokesman said in a statement. "We’re looking forward to working together on our collective bargaining agreements following successful contracts with The New Yorker, Ars Technica and Pitchfork unions and the pending contract with Wired.” Notably, the union will include "about 100 subcontractors" working in so-called "permalancer" roles that often lack the benefits offered to standard employees. "I've seen multiple times where you’ll have a co-worker you’ve worked with for a long time — maybe over a year — and then you'll find out you’re staff and they're not, and it makes no sense because they have the same roles and responsibilities," said Ben Dewey, a cameraman for Condé Nast Entertainment. "It's surprising they don't have the same protections you do." Over the past decade, "more than 200 union drives have launched at media publications" amid a "tumultuous period of layoffs, pay cuts and corporate consolidation," although some units (including a union of New York Times technology workers) have been forced to hold federally-managed elections after the newspaper refused to voluntarily recognize the union. "Condé Nast’s storied publications would be nowhere without the hard-working employees that put in the work day-in and day-out," NewsGuild of New York President Susan DeCarava said in a statement. "We are so proud to fight side-by-side with our newest members to ensure they secure the strongest possible contract."

Clark County Official Arrested on Suspicion of Murdering Las Vegas Journalist:

Clark County Administrator Robert Telles was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of murdering Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German earlier this month, according to Richard Winton and Gregory Yee of the Los Angeles Times. Although the county official "was wheeled out of his home on a stretcher after suffering an unspecified self-inflicted injury," a source was unable to provide further details to the newspaper. Telles "lost a primary election in June after German's stories exposed allegations of bullying, favoritism and an inappropriate relationship between" the administrator and a subordinate, prompting him to "publicly accused German of being a 'bully' and running a 'smear' campaign against him." A search warrant was executed "after police announced they connected a red or maroon 2007 to 2014 GMC Yukon Denali to the fatal stabbing of German, 69, outside his northwest Las Vegas home." While the journalist's body was not found until the morning of September 3, investigators believe that the murder occurred a day earlier. In a series of statements, Las Vegas Metro Police characterized the slaying as an "isolated incident" before revealing the suspect "was potentially casing the area to commit other crimes before the homicide occurred." According to the Review-Journal, German "was working on a new story about Telles the week he was stabbed to death." Executive Editor Glenn Cook "said German hadn’t communicated any concerns over his safety to the paper's leadership team," adding in a statement: "The arrest of Robert Telles is at once an enormous relief and an outrage for the Review-Journal newsroom. We are relieved Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official. Journalists can’t do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution. We thank Las Vegas police for their urgency and hard work and for immediately recognizing the terrible significance of Jeff's killing. Now, hopefully, the Review-Journal, the German family and Jeff’s many friends can begin the process of mourning and honoring a great man and a brave reporter. Godspeed, Jeff." German previously worked as a reporter and columnist for the Las Vegas Sun before joining the Review-Journal in 2010. Telles' term will end in December.

New Biography Explores Life of Former Pulitzer Board Member:

Released today by Andrews McMeel Publishing, Jane Wolfe's "Burl: Journalism Giant and Medical Trailblazer" explores the life of former Pulitzer Prize Board member Burl Osborne (1937-2012), who served on the committee from 1987 to 1995. After "being diagnosed with a fatal kidney disease as a child," according to the publisher, Osborne "pioneered home dialysis treatment and became only the 130th person to undergo a live kidney transplant in 1966—then an unproven, high-risk operation." Surmounting the difficulties of his illness, Osborne earned degrees from Marshall University and Long Island University. He began working for the Associated Press as a correspondent in Bluefield, West Virginia in 1960; following stints in Washington, Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio and Washington, D.C., he became the wire service's managing editor in 1977. In 1980, defying the "advice of his colleagues and the newspaper’s own doctors, he sought an even greater challenge: joining The Dallas Morning News to lead the fight in one of America’s last great newspaper wars," the publisher continued. "Throughout his life and career, he garnered respect from business and political leaders, reporters, editors, and publishers around the country. 'Burl' thrusts readers into the improbable and remarkable life of a man at the forefront of both medicine and a golden age of journalism." In an interview with Books Forward, Wolfe reflected on Osborne's legacy. "Burl was that rare publisher and editor for whom integrity and fairness were his guiding principles. He learned early on – as a TV news reporter at the very start of his career – that if he was neither too far left nor too far right, and if he played his stories straight down the middle, he would not only be more credible but also have more success as a journalist," she said. "It was an early lesson in fairness from a journalism teacher he respected – and he never forgot it. I was impressed by his extraordinary drive and energy, which were especially remarkable given his kidney problems."

Media Insight Project Surveys Millennials and Gen Z:

A new survey of 16- to 40-year-olds (corresponding to the "Millennial" and "Gen Z" generational cohorts) by the Media Insight Project (a collaboration between The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute) shows that younger readers and viewers "are active consumers of news and information, with nearly a third of them willing to pay for it. But their relationship with the news is complex — their trust in the press is low, many are experiencing digital fatigue, and they are worried about misinformation in both traditional and social media," according to a report released Wednesday. "News consumption among Americans ages 16 to 40 is high," the report continued. "Seventy-nine percent report getting news daily. Thirty-eight percent describe themselves as active seekers of news and information. And a third pay for news subscriptions. Millennials and Gen Z get news frequently from social media, but also use a wide range of sources — including traditional news outlets. They follow a variety of news topics every day, including so-called 'hard news.'" However, the cohorts "worry about deception and misinformation," with "fully 9 out of 10" asserting that "misinformation is a problem," while "seven in 10 feel they personally have been victims of it." Additionally, younger consumers "are as likely to blame the news media — a group that largely sees itself as fighting misinformation — as they are politicians or the social media platforms." Younger Americans' news consumption is frequently contingent on digital social media and video platforms, with "YouTube (37%), [...] Instagram (34%), TikTok (29%), Snapchat (24%) and Twitter (23%)" all serving as key sources. Less than a third (32%) of younger Americans "find the news enjoyable or entertaining, down from 53% in 2015," and "only about a quarter of 16- to 40-year-olds have a positive view of the news media generally." Conducted between May 18 and June 8, the survey "examined the attitudes of nearly 6,000 Americans" and served as a follow-up to a 2015 Media Insight Project study which refuted earlier research indicating "that younger Americans were uninterested in news because they did not gravitate in large numbers to traditional news sources." 

Sudan Journalists Unionize, Defying Military Rule:

Sudanese journalists "have formed the country's first independent union" since the last independent journalism union in the nation was dissolved after Omar al-Bashir seized power in a 1989 military coup, Zeinab Mohammed Salih of The Guardian reported Tuesday. "It's historic," said Agence France-Presse Khartoum Correspondent Abdulmoniem Abu Idrees, who will serve as the bargaining unit's inaugural president. "It will be a notable day for the unions, a day in which we exercise our democracy under a military rule and despite all the manacles that prevent[ed] us from doing so. I believe that other professions will follow suit." During the Bashir era, journalists "experienced imprisonment and torture," as exemplified by hundreds of arrests and long prison sentences "for covering stories the government didn't like," Salih added. He continued: "In 2016, an unofficial alliance of doctors, lawyers, journalists and teachers formed the Sudanese Professionals Association to campaign for rights. It played a prominent role in demonstrations that led to the ousting of Bashir in 2019 and the formation of a transitional, civilian-led government. Journalists enjoyed a margin of freedom under the new government, but since the army seized power in a coup in October 2021, journalists have been threatened and arrested, including prominent journalist Fayez Seleik. Security forces have stormed TV stations in Khartoum and suspended the licences of radio stations." (Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, pictured above, has served as de facto head of state since late 2021 by virtue of his chairmanship of the Transitional Sovereignty Council.) Additionally, two major newspapers were forced to stop printing amid the political transition. "We had to stop because it wasn't a good environment for journalism," said Mohammed Abdulaziz, a journalist at the Democratic, one of the affected publications. "We hope that, with the new union, we will be able to get our paper back and enhance the journalists' situation.” In addition to supporting free speech protections, the 1,000-member union "will seek a minimum wage and health and social insurance" alongside paid maternity leave.

Poynter, NewsGuild Track Gannett Layoffs:

Although Gannett "will not disclose how many journalists were laid off or which newspapers were affected" as part of a round of layoffs earlier this month, "the nonprofit media institute Poynter and the employee union NewsGuild have tracked at least 70 to 90 [eliminated] newsroom positions, a fraction of Gannett's total workforce of roughly 13,000," Elahe Izadi of The Washington Post reported Sunday. However, "At some papers, the journalists let go were their newsroom’s only sports editor, photojournalist, customer service representative or," in the case of the Cambridge, Ohio-based Daily Jeffersonian, its only full-time news reporter, Kristi Garabrandt. "The reality is the community paper is pretty much what holds your community together," she reflected. "When you're the paper's only reporter, you don't consider yourself nonessential." Gannett Chief Communications Officer Lark-Marie Antón "said in a statement that the company was forced to take 'swift action' in a challenging economy": "These staffing reductions are incredibly difficult, and we are grateful for the contributions of our departing colleagues," she said. "Out of deep respect for our colleagues, there is no further comment." While Gannett remains the nation's largest newspaper chain, publishing more than 200 daily newspapers alongside flagship national newspaper USA Today, "it had already been shedding jobs," Izadi added. "Its workforce decreased by 35 percent between 2019 to 2021, although it's unclear how many of those reductions hit newsrooms, and whether they were because of layoffs, attrition or other reasons. The company has also sold some papers back to local owners." During an earnings call that preceded the layoffs, CEO Michael Reed "cited a challenging economic environment and more readers dropping pricier print subscriptions. Reductions and selling off its real estate holdings, he said, were necessary for Gannett to create a more sustainable business. The company also carries $1.3 billion in debt from a 2019 merger." The publisher's unions also have "criticized a new stock buyback program; Gannett spent $3.1 million in the second quarter repurchasing stock." (Poynter Institute President Neil Brown is a co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board. USA Today Editor in Chief Nicole Carroll also is a member of the Board.)

Unusual Finnish Press Freedom Trial Begins:

Three journalists from leading Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat went on trial Thursday "charged with publishing classified defense intelligence, with the prosecutor demanding at least 18-month suspended sentences if found guilty," according to Anne Kauranen of Reuters. In what Kauranen characterizes as "an unprecedented case in a country renowned for its press freedom," the prosecution has asserted the journalists and an editor revealed national security secrets in a 2017 report on a high-level intelligence unit of the nation's defense forces shortly before the Parliament of Finland "[debated] whether to expand its powers to monitor private data in digital networks." Helsingin Sanomat Editor-in-Chief Kaius Niemi, who was initially charged alongside the other journalists before being exonerated due to a lack of evidence, maintained the reporters' innocence. "We can show for each published sentence that the information could be found on the internet or in books prior to the publication of our article," he said in an interview with Reuters. "Public information cannot be classified." Although Finland "has for years been among the top countries in a global press freedom ranking published annually by Reporters Without Borders," the country "slipped to [No. 5] this year, partly due to the court case, the journalist association's Finnish branch said." Hanne Aho, chairwoman of the Finnish Journalists' Union, also commented on the unprecedented nature of the case to Reuters: "It is completely exceptional that Finnish journalists are being accused of high treason."

ACLU Sues Over Arizona Police Filming Law:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)'s Arizona chapter and several news organizations have "filed a petition in U.S. District Court" arguing that a new state law restricting the public's ability to film police "criminalizes First Amendment freedoms," Terry Tang of the Associated Press reported Tuesday. "This law is a violation of a vital constitutional right and will severely thwart attempts to build police accountability," the nonprofit organization said in a statement. "It must be struck down before it creates irreparable community harm." Named defendants in the legal action include Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, Maricopa County Attorney General Rachel Mitchell and Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone. (Maricopa County contains roughly 62% of Arizona's population and serves as the central corridor of the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metropolitan area, the tenth-largest in the nation per 2021 Census estimates.) Signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in July, the law "makes it illegal to knowingly film police officers 8 feet (2.5 meters) or closer without an officer's permission," Tang added. "An officer can order someone to stop filming even if they are on private property recording with the owner's consent if an officer finds they're interfering or deems the area unsafe. The penalty is a misdemeanor that would likely incur a fine without jail time." The legislation was drafted by State Rep. John Kavanagh, a former law enforcement officer, who "argued officers need to be able to do their job without interference." Under the law's provisions, filming from a vantage exceeding the 8 feet limit would still be legal. "The original legislation was amended so it applies to certain types of police actions, including questioning of suspects and encounters involving mental or behavioral health issues," according to Tang. "People who are the direct subject of police interaction are also exempted. They can film as long as they're not being arrested or searched. Someone in a car stopped by police or being questioned can also film the encounter. Kavanagh said these changes were made with input from the ACLU." However, "reporters and photographers say this law will make it nearly impossible to do their job, especially at massive events like protests." News outlets serving as co-plaintiffs in the suit include Phoenix Newspapers Inc.; Gray Television; Scripps Media; KPNX-TV; Fox Television Stations; NBCUniversal Media; the Arizona Broadcasters Association; States Newsroom; the Arizona Newspapers Association; and the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). "We fear that, rather than acting as a shield to ensure 'officer safety,' this law will serve as a sword to abridge the 'clearly established' First Amendment right to video record police officers performing their official duties in public," said Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the NPPA. "Bystander cellphone videos are largely credited with revealing police misconduct — such as with the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis officers — and reshaping the conversation around police transparency," added Tang. Eyewitness Darnella Frazier received a 2021 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation "for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice."