For the Record

New York Prisons Lift 'Blood in the Water' Ban:

New York state officials have lifted a ban that had stopped state prison inmates from reading the 2017 History Prize-winning "Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy" following a First Amendment lawsuit initiated by its author, Heather Ann Thompson, according to Maysoon Khan of the Associated Press. However, the state government confirmed that it will continue to censor a map of the facility in all prison-proffered copies. Released in 2016, the book "is one of the most comprehensive accounts of the uprising, where more than 1,300 inmates took over part of a prison in upstate New York to protest years of mistreatment. It ended when state troopers and guards shot tear gas into a prison yard before firing hundreds of rounds into the smoke," Khan added. "In total, 32 inmates and 11 staff were killed, with no law enforcement officers put on trial for their role in the massacre." Notably, longtime New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller refused to meet with leaders of the uprising and later diminished the carnage in a private phone call with then-President Richard Nixon. Thompson, who serves as the Cedric J. Robinson Collegiate Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Michigan, was represented by by the Civil Rights Clinic at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and the New York Civil Liberties Union. "People have a right to read, and people have a right to history,” Thompson said in an earlier statement. "We also have a right to have our books read. It’s a shame we live in a country where we censor people and ideas."

YouTube Must Face Schneider Lawsuit:

Alphabet subsidiary YouTube "failed to persuade a California judge to toss out a lawsuit" by past Pulitzer juror and 2021 Music finalist Maria Schneider "accusing the video-sharing platform of not protecting her and other 'ordinary' creators from unlawful copying and use of their work," Malathi Nayak of Bloomberg reported Monday. In an order, U.S. District Judge James Donato characterized YouTube's assertions as "unavailing." The avant-garde jazz composer-performer's lawsuit contends that the platform's "two-tiered copyright policing system only protects 'powerful copyright owners,' such as large movie studios and record labels, while leaving small producers to essentially fend for themselves. Content ID, YouTube’s digital copyright management tool, that ferrets out unauthorized use of copyrighted material is at the heart of the case." Donato "disagreed with YouTube's argument that the alleged claims are not plausible and that the phrase 'these works as millions of other works' in Schneider's complaint are merely an attempt to allege claims for unidentified works." Although YouTube did not comment directly on the ruling, it has previously stated that it is "committed to protecting intellectual property rights and stopping privacy." Following an early affiliation with German jazz label Enja Records, most of Schneider's post-2000 oeuvre has been released through ArtistShare, often described as the first commercial crowdfunding website. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2019.

Cabot Board Calls for Immediate Release of José Rubén Zamora:

The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes Board ⁠— including Pulitzer Administrator Marjorie Miller ⁠— issued a statement Tuesday "strongly [condemning]" the arrest of venerable Guatemalan journalist and elPeriódico President José Rubén Zamora. "Zamora, 65, was detained at his home in Guatemala City on accusations of money laundering, blackmail and influence peddling, according to the prosecutor’s office, drawing protests from local media colleagues and the international human rights community," the Cabot Board said. "His office and home were raided and electronic equipment was confiscated. Before a court hearing of his case, Zamora declared a hunger strike in response to what he called 'political persecution.' ElPeriódico staff denounced the arrest as retaliation for the newspaper's reporting on President Alejandro Giammettei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras. The arrest appears to be part of a pattern of deteriorating human rights conditions in Guatemala, in this case an assault on the press for digging into government corruption. It follows similarly alarming crackdowns on a free press in neighboring El Salvador and Nicaragua. [...] During a storied professional life, Zamora suffered numerous attacks for his investigative work and corruption exposés. He was kidnapped and beaten, attackers held him and his family hostage for hours, and his car was destroyed by grenade explosions. The Cabot Board calls for Zamora's immediate release." Previously, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement Saturday imploring Guatemalan authorities to release Zamora. “Judicial persecution against journalists is a mechanism of intimidation, and authorities in Guatemala need to put an end to their campaign to intimidate and threaten the press," said New York-based CPJ Advocacy Director Gypsy Guillén Kaiser. Last May, officials "filed a criminal suit against three journalists from elPeriódico, including Zamora, under the violence against women law, as CPJ documented." According to Oscar Lopez of The New York Times, Zamora spoke to reporters outside his home following his initial detainment. "There must be a conspiracy, a persecution," he told reporters outside his home as he was being held by the police. "If that's the case, we must pay for the love of Guatemala with jail time." The arrest of Zamora follows the recent placement of such figures as Porras on a State Department list of "corrupt and undemocratic actors," while officials in the Biden administration also have "accused senior officials and politicians in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras of corruption," added Rachel Pannett of The Washington Post.

Miller Responds to McWhorter Newsletter:

In a July 28 letter to The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize Administrator Marjorie Miller responded to "Duke Ellington Deserves the 1965 Pulitzer Prize," a July 20 newsletter by Columbia University linguist and cultural critic John McWhorter. "There have been numerous instances when no Pulitzer Prize was conferred," Miller said. "In 1965, the three-person nominating jury in music unanimously agreed that none of the eligible compositions that year were worthy of the award. Instead, they proposed that a special citation be awarded to Duke Ellington for his overall contributions to American music. When the Pulitzer Board declined, there was a public controversy over what some saw as a cultural injustice rooted in racial prejudice. Up to that point, the composers who had been awarded Pulitzers did not include people of color." She added: "In 1996, George Walker became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his work 'Lilacs.' In 1999, the Pulitzer Board finally awarded a special Pulitzer citation to Ellington on the occasion of his centennial year. The award expressly honored Ellington’s 'indelible contribution to art and culture' and implicitly redressed a grave wrong. We believe that special citations are as consequential as our other awards. Ellington was indeed special, in the pantheon with such music citation awardees as Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, George Gershwin and others. As Terry Teachout, one of Ellington’s biographers, correctly observed, 'In 1999 he got his Pulitzer.'"

Meta Cuts U.S. Publisher Funding:

Facebook parent company Meta began telling its U.S. news partners Tuesday that it "no longer plans to pay publishers for their content to run on Facebook's News Tab," Sara Fischer of Axios reported Thursday. According to a July 19 Wall Street Journal report, Meta Vice President Campbell Brown "told staffers the company was shifting resources away from its news products to support more creative initiatives last week." In 2019, Facebook "brokered a slew of three-year deals with publishers" in the vicinity of $105 million while also "[hiring] journalists to help direct publisher traffic to its new tab for news." The deals ranged from a ~$3 million agreement with CNN to a ~$20 million contract with The New York Times. "A lot has changed since we signed deals three years ago to test bringing additional news links to Facebook News in the US," a Facebook spokesperson told Axios. "Most people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn't make sense to over invest in areas that don't align with user preferences." While the publishers will "remain eligible" for News Tab placement, the funding relationships will not be maintained. Fischer added that "Facebook has gone back and forth about the role news should play on its platform for years, which sometimes frustrated news partners. [...] Prior to the introduction of the News Tab in 2019, the company had made a decision to change its algorithm to prioritize content from friends over brands, including publishers." Last year, Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg " said fewer than one in every 25 posts in the News Feed contained links to a news story." However, the "regulatory pressure that prompted some of these news deals continues around the globe," with Australia and Canada both establishing Facebook-funded payment programs to publishers over the past two years.

Buffalo News Names First Black Executive Editor:

Sheila Rayam "has been named executive editor of The Buffalo News, the first Black journalist and the second woman to hold the position in The News’ 142-year history," the newspaper's Jon Harris reported Tuesday. A Rochester native, Rayam "spent three decades rising through the ranks at the Democrat & Chronicle" (including stints as copy editor, entertainment editor and community engagement editor) after graduating from Buffalo State College before serving as executive editor of Gannett's Mohawk Valley newspapers, most notably the Utica Observer-Dispatch. As the newspaper's eighth editor, she will succeed Mike Connelly, who retired in May after a decade in the role. "We are proud to have Sheila as the eighth editor of The Buffalo News," said President and Publisher Tom Wiley. "Her intelligence, warmth and integrity combined with her passion for journalism will help lead our organization into an exciting future. She brings an impressive history of innovative, audience-focused journalism leadership to The Buffalo News." In an interview with the newspaper, Rayam "said she has admired The News' work for decades and is 'excited and honored to be able to join a team filled with so many great journalists.'" She added: "The thought of being in a city that I love and working and leading a team that I respect a great deal was just an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up." Rayam also "said she's eager to engage with the community when she arrives in Buffalo," building upon a mobile newsroom strategy in underserved neighborhoods that she pioneered in Rochester. "It’s really about centering people in your journalism," she said. "It's really about talking to the community to find out what their needs are, and then working to support and provide the information that they need." She also intends to pursue digital initiatives. "If you tell great stories, people will read those stories on the platform they want," she said at a Tuesday meeting. "Every day they're looking for information – information about key decisions about their life. We're going to give them that information when they want it, where they want it."

American Journalism Project Invests $3.15 Million in Three Nonprofits:

The American Journalism Project announced Wednesday that it will invest $3.15 million "in new support for three nonprofit news organizations: Verite, a sister newsroom of Mississippi Today ​​launching this fall in New Orleans, ICT (formerly Indian Country Today) and New York City-based The City." Since 2019, the local news-oriented venture philanthropy organization "has committed nearly $37 million to 33 local nonprofit news organizations," blending grantee-driven "personalized and strategic support" with business and revenue consultancies. "The market failure in local news has left Americans in crisis — people across our country are strapped for the information they need to participate in our democracy and live healthy, thriving lives," said Sarabeth Berman, the philanthropy's chief executive. "Anyone searching for solutions to the crisis in local news should take a close look at what these organizations are doing to build trusted and sustainable news for communities." First announced in conjunction with the grant, Verite will launch this fall, joining Mississippi Today as the first two newsrooms in a "forthcoming network of mission-driven, local news organizations that serve states in the Southern U.S." The Project's funding will support a "comprehensive planning and recruitment effort." A "leading news organization covering Indigenous people and issues throughout the country," ICN previously received a 2021 grant from the Project to "plan for expansion into new local markets, including building on its current efforts in Washington, D.C. and Alaska." The new grant will fund "reporting relationships in seven communities throughout the U.S., with the ultimate goal of building local bureaus throughout the country." Intended to ameilorate the paucity of local investigative and explanatory journalism in New York City, The City will employ its grant to "build a durable, resilient and effective institution to better meet the information needs of the largest city in America." The Project's second fund, which intends to raise $60 million by 2024, will be supported by such donors and philanthropies as Laurence Baer, the Hellman Foundation, the Lubetzky Family Foundation and the Seedlings Foundation.

Former Pulitzer Administrator Leaves Simon & Schuster:

Former Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy has stepped down as publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint after two years in the role, Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter of The New York Times reported Tuesday. In a statement, the publisher said that Canedy "was leaving to write a book, a sequel to her 2008 memoir, 'A Journal for Jordan,' which was about her partner, First Sgt. Charles M. King, and the journal he wrote for their son, Jordan. [...] Mr. King was killed in combat in Iraq in 2006." The first Black woman appointed to the role, Canedy "was a journalist at The New York Times for more than 20 years" before serving as Pulitzer administrator from 2017 to 2020. "The issue when you’re 'the first' or 'the only,' is that to many, you represent an entire industry," she said. "And I embrace that. However, it made it harder to make a decision that I felt was right for me." As publisher, Canedy hired former Pulitzer Prize Board Co-Chair Aminda Marqués González as vice president and executive editor at the firm. She also acquired books by former Pulitzer Co-Chair (and 2009 Commentary winner) Eugene Robinson, former Pulitzer juror Errin Haines and Rutgers University historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar. In 2021, Canedy and Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp (who will “resume being publisher for the foreseeable future”) defended her acquisition of an autobiography by former Vice President Mike Pence "as a crucial account of the Trump presidency, and maintained that publishers should acquire books from across the political spectrum" amid an employee petition drive demanding the contract's cancellation. Canedy "said she would continue to work on titles by [...] Pence, [...] Robinson and [...] Dunbar." Canedy's memoir also was adapted into a 2021 film by Denzel Washington. "I can’t even describe what that’s like," she said. "Everything from re-enacting the memorial at Arlington Cemetery, to having real soldiers show up and watch this and weep, to having my son learn more about his father through the movie, to having to relive my love story all over again."

Report: Newsrooms Raised $619.5 Million From Donors in 2020:

According to a database furnished by the U.S.-based Media Impact Partners donor network, newsrooms across the world "raised a record $619.5m from donors in 2020," Aisha Majid of Press Gazette reported last week. She added: "The leading 16 funders continue to be U.S.-based. The list is topped by the Ford Foundation which has provided $271m to support journalism since 2009. Grantees include the Global Investigative Journalism Network and the Centre for Investigative Reporting." Additionally, a "recent member survey of some 300 independent news organizations by umbrella group Institute for Nonprofit News found that foundation and individual giving grew" in the United States between 2018 and 2021, with "more than half of outlets [reporting] increases in foundation funding during this period" amid a 53% increase in individual donations. "I would not say that developing philanthropic funding is easy," cautioned Sue Cross, chief executive officer of the Independent News Network. "It takes as much or more effort than commercial sources of revenue, and often more time, as it is rooted in relationships with the community and with donors that need to be developed." Cross continued: "We're early in the process of making Americans aware of nonprofit news as a philanthropic cause. The good and very encouraging news is that where nonprofit newsrooms are established, community and individual support is growing, so we do see the culture of philanthropic giving to news getting established and expanding over time." Ultimately, she believes that a multi-tiered approach will become prevalent. "The economic shifts that are cutting [...] support for independent news coverage are global, and so we see growing interest in these public service models developing," she said. "I believe that here and everywhere, it will take a mix of philanthropic, government support and earned revenue to sustain independent journalism. We also see increased experimentation in finding new ways to help people find news -- most news is consumed on a mobile phones, and we will see continued changes in how consumers find all kinds of information -- by text, in short video clips delivered online, even in some experimental print products. So the growth of highly innovative small newsrooms is important in continued experimentation."

New York Public Library Launches Theatre on Film and Tape Archive Exhibit:

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts "will celebrate its Theatre on Film and Tape Archive [TOFT], which launched in 1970, in a new exhibition, 'Focus Center Stage: 50 Years of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive,'" Andrew Gans of Playbill reported Monday. The exhibition (which will launch on July 14 and end on February 25, 2023) will run through two floors of the library and feature excerpts from works by a variety of Pulitzer winners, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lynn Nottage, Stephen Sondheim, Paula Vogel and Tennessee Williams. Launched in 1970, the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive consists of myriad Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions in addition to "interviews with theatre professionals" and other ephemera. "With literally thousands of productions from which to select, it was a truly daunting task to curate this exhibition," said Patrick Hoffman, TOFT's longtime director and curator. "First and foremost, we wanted to feature and demonstrate the depth and breadth of our TOFT Archive and its phenomenal collection of video recordings of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions. None of these recordings would have been possible without the incredible support of the theatre community as a whole, the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds, producers, playwrights, directors, choreographers, designers, actors, orchestra musicians, company managers, production stage managers, and stagehands, as well as the TOFT staff and talented video crews whose work makes TOFT's mission possible. Fifty years of hard work has happened behind-the-scenes to make all of this happen, and I am proud to finally raise the curtain on Focus Center Stage at the Library for the Performing Arts." The full collection "consists of over 5,000 plays, musicals, classics, experimental and avant-garde productions, and an additional 3,000 videos of interviews, dialogues, film and TV adaptations, award presentations, and other theatre-related programs." Holders of New York Public Library cards "can access recordings in the Lucille Lortel screening room on the third floor of the Library for the Performing Arts for free."