Journalists, despite being “targeted with that red hot iron of fake news,” are producing some of their best work, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour told the Committee to Protect Journalists Nov. 15.
A black-tie gathering of 1,000 attended the event at the Grand Hyatt, New York.
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Meryl Streep & Christine AmanpourCPJ, the richest group in journalism, reported $15.9 million in assets as of the end of 2015, latest year available. Seats at its annual event, attended by a who’s who of business and media, are $1,000. A “hat” is passed around that generates additional funds.
Streep Lauds “Battered” J’s
Actress Meryl Streep, making an unscheduled appearance, called journalists “intrepid, underpaid, over-extended, trolled, and un-extolled, young and old, battered, bought and sold, hyper-alert crack-caffeine fiends.”
“You’re ambitious, contrarian, fiery, dogged and determined B.S. detectives,” she added. “There has never been a more exciting, exhausting or, let’s face it, dangerous time to be an investigative journalist, especially for women.”
CPJ, tracking assaults on journalists, including imprisonment, fines, banishment, and murder, says 1,262 journalists have been killed since 1992. Most of the murders are not solved and many are not even investigated, researchers have found.
Trump’s “Fake News” Tweet Hit
Amanpour, commenting on President Trump’s recent “fake news” tweet that was directed at CNN, said, “We are providing facts, without fear or favor.”
A CPJ statement last year called Trump “an unprecedented threat to the rights of journalists.” Although usually focused on threats to journalists abroad, CPJ said it will pay more attention to U.S. affairs.
Jeff Zucker, CNN president and chair of the 2016 dinner, said the network “will hold the administration’s feet to the fire and they should respect that even if they don’t welcome it.”
David Rhodes, CBS News president and chair of the 2017 dinner, said, “Tonight we honor the work of journalists who have faced great hardships, risked their lives, and too often, lost their lives, in order to shine light on some of the darkest corners of the world.
“We are moved by their passion to find and report the stories we need to read, hear and see. They have a special kind of courage. They take risks to tell these stories, no matter the sacrifice.”
Journalists Honored
This year, the CPJ honored Pravit Rojanaphruk, Thailand; Ahmed Abba, Cameroon; Patricia Mayorga, Mexico, and Afrah Nasser, Yemen.
Recognition was given to two past recipients who were killed: Pavel Sheremet, Ukraine, and Javier Valdez Cardenas, Mexico.
Nasser told the gathering, “For me, being here is not to represent Yemeni journalists only, but all Yemenis who feel abandoned by world leaders and international media that are not covering their suffering sufficiently.”
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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