Articles Feature

One by One, the News People Said ‘Resist’

by richard0305

At Media Gathering, a ‘Hell No’ to Trump Edicts
What the News Media Are Up Against With Trump
NABJ, NAHJ, AAJA Presidents to Discuss Diversity
Accolades for Luther Keith, Journalist and Bluesman
Towns Exits as V.P. of Alabama Media, Not ‘Right Fit’
New Stephen A. Contract Worth $100 Million
Gannett Fires Opinion Editor Over Gaza Cartoon
Edye Ellis Dies at 81, Knoxville’s First Black Anchor

Short Takes: Mara Gay, Brent Staples and Farah Stockman; Baltimore Sun slide; Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela; Gustavo Arellano; LeBron James and Michael Wilbon; “Hannah Furfaro, Lauren Frohne and Ivy Ceballo; David Cho; Michael Cheers, Carol Friedman and Jason Miccolo Johnson; press freedom in Bolivia; killing of Mexican journalist; arrest of Cambodian journalist; assaults in Uganda, Kenya.

Homepage photo: Rachel Scott addresses the First Amendment Awards dinner. “She has earned a reputation as a fearless journalist, willing to ask the toughest questions of the world’s most powerful individuals,” the group said. (Credit: Richard Prince)

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“We need to support fearless reporting,” Dan Shelley, president of the RTDNF Foundation and president and CEO of the Radio Television Digital News Association. “I remember a time not very long ago when media companies were emboldened by any challenge to their editorial independence. We should not be afraid of legal battles. We should relish them as an opportunity to prove once again that the freedom of the press is not a bedrock of our American democracy, it is the law of the land.” You may watch a video of the 2 1/2-hour event here.

At Media Gathering, a ‘Hell No’ to Trump Edicts

If there were ever any doubt that the news industry feels under siege by the Trump administration, a visit to the Radio Television Digital News Association Foundation’s’ First Amendment Awards dinner Thursday would have confirmed it. But if there were any question that the industry was resolved to fight back, that same event would have put that concern to rest.

Amid the calls to arms — or at least to double down on​ the principles of a free press and the First Amendment — Dan Shelley (pictured), president of the RTDNA Foundation and president and CEO of the 1,400-member Radio Television Digital News Association, said what too many media organizations are afraid to utter out loud in today’s climate:

“We need to invest more in diverse newsrooms.”

Shelley added, “And while I firmly believe that newsrooms should actively seek to have racial and gender diversity at every level, we need to be leaders in advocating diversity of thought and ideology among the people who populate our newsrooms.”

Shelley began by setting the tone for the evening: “Things seem as if they have never been crazier in politics and journalism. Make no mistake . . . this is escalation.

“Disinformation is our new default form of communication for too much of our government. Misinformation is the virus that spreads that disinformation, allowing it to infect masses of people. The weaponization of critical government offices against the press has almost become the rule, not the exception. Governing by granting press room access to far-right conspiracy propagandists. No. Hell no. . . .”

Underscoring the point, Charles D. Tobin, journalist-turned-First Amendment lawyer and another award recipient, told the group, “Do not let the government force you to use an official vocabulary again. Your words are your own to choose. That is your American journalist birthright. Do not let the government tell you that you can’t have a public record. Pry those suckers open. And do not let the government throw you out of rooms where you’re entitled to be. Write about it.

“Blog about it, and, if you’re so inclined, let’s sue about it.”

The vocabulary reference was to the Trump administration’s barring of AP journalists from the Oval Office and Air Force One because AP did not honor President Trump’s decision to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The AP filed a lawsuit on Feb. 21 against three White House officials, saying those actions violated the First and Fifth Amendments.

Among those honored at the dinner, attended by 225 people at the symbolically significant Watergate Hotel — the name conjuring one of the press’ finest investigative moments — were Rachel Scott of ABC News (pictured, above, with Pierre Thomas, credit RTDNA) , whose tough questions included those posed to then-candidate Donald Trump at last year’s convention of the National Association of Black Journalists, and Omar Jimenez of CNN (pictured, below, credit RTDNA), the Afro-Latino reporter whom police arrested on live television in 2020 as he covered the Minneapolis protests against the police murder of George Floyd.  

“Scott’s career has been defined by her ability to hold leaders accountable,” the group said, citing her pointed questions as evidence. Jimenez was called a “one of a kind storyteller” who was shown “on the fearless front lines.”

Another Black journalist, Pierre Thomas, chief justice correspondent for ABC News, was master of ceremonies.

While Palestinians did not take the stage, Trey Yingst (pictured, below), Fox News Channel’s chief foreign correspondent and another award winner, pleaded for more attention to the number of Palestinian journalists who had been killed in Gaza.

Last September, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders held “flash protests” in 10 cities “to pay homage to the journalists killed in Gaza. Since October 7, the Israeli army has killed over 130 journalists in the Palestinian enclave, at least 32 of whom were murdered while working. With this global awareness campaign, RSF aims to alert the international public to the gravity of this crisis: the alarming rate at which these journalists are being killed is jeopardising the right to free and independent information.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists said last April, “Six months into the Israel-Gaza war, Gaza’s journalists remain almost the sole eyes and ears on the ground as foreign correspondents are effectively barred from the territory.” “The Gaza press corps has paid a heavy price for its coverage, with scores killed, injured, or arrested.”

Steve Inskeep, a host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” invited Associated Press Radio White House correspondent Sagar Meghani to the NPR table as a gesture of support for the AP, which received the RTDNA Foundation’s Citation of Courage Award for fighting back against the White House.

Harry A. Jessell wrote a more complete account of the event for TVNewser.

You may also watch a video of the 2 1/2-hour event here

For Omar Jimenez – Intro: 25:04 | Speech: 30:38
Rachel Scott – Intro: 1:19:57 | Speech: 1:56:00
Lesley Stahl, who received standing ovations that made her the star of the night – Intro: 2:11:44 | Speech: 2:19:19

“Nobel Peace Prize laureate and journalist Maria Ressa has long fought for global press freedom,” Geoff Bennett said Monday on the “PBS News Hour.” “Her book, ‘How To Stand Up To A Dictator,’ detailed her experience running the news site Rappler under the autocratic regime of President Duterte in the Philippines. Ressa joined Amna Nawaz to discuss parallels between the Philippines and the U.S. under President Trump for our series, ‘On Democracy. ‘ ” (Credit: PBS/YouTube)

What the News Media Are Up Against With Trump

In a promotional email Saturday, Jon Passantino, who has just joined the Status website as executive editor, outlined the “era of silence and fear” in which the news media find themselves.

“An era of silence, censorship, and fear is washing over America,” Passantino began.

“Since returning to power, Donald Trump and his allies have carried out a series of aggressive actions that have sent many in positions of power into silence. While Trump campaigned on promises to end ‘censorship’ and ‘bring back free speech,’ his administration has instead orchestrated a systematic campaign to silence criticism, chilling speech across the media and political landscape.

“In recent weeks, the administration has blocked The Associated Press from events and taken control of the White House pool, throwing out a century of media independence and giving the government the power to select who is allowed to cover the president.

“While some believed Trump would usher in a regulatory-friendly environment, his Federal Communications Commission chief Brendan Carr (pictured) has launched a flurry of politically motivated investigations into media outlets, opening probes into NPR and PBS and reinstating complaints about ABC, NBC, and CBS over their election coverage.

“Carr’s FCC has also opened investigations into Verizon and Comcast — the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC — over their diversity, equity and inclusion programs and threatened to go after others with the weight of the federal government. Sensing the peril, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and others preemptively announced they would end or scale back their diversity programs that Trump has derided — a clear signal designed to placate the president.

MSNBC anchors Rachel Maddow, top, left, and Nicolle Wallace, top right, were the objects of President Trump’s ire for their coverage of his speech to Congress Tuesday. During the speech, Trump celebrated 13-year-old cancer survivor Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, who was made an honorary Secret Service agent. (Credit: New York Post)

“On Thursday, Trump took it a step further, railing against MSNBC and demanding Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace resign over their coverage of his address to Congress. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Trump’s biggest financial booster and online propagandist, has fervently smeared the free press, even going as far as to demand that some journalists be fired over their reporting on the administration.

“Inside the Trump administration itself, officials are now censoring reporting from news organizations, including from The Washington Post, The New York Times, MSNBC, WIRED, and others that have reported on Musk and DOGE’s brute force efforts to dismantle the government. At the same time, Trump’s White House digital strategy team has worked to undermine the press and amplify his messages, attempting to replace journalists with right-wing media sycophants and portray him as ‘KING.’

“The disturbing moves, taking a page from the authoritarian playbook, come as long-standing news institutions are cutting staff and muzzling editorial pages from offering critical coverage or dissenting views of Trump’s moves.

“If you do not recognize [the] mass destruction of fundamental concepts of democracy and the US Constitution happening right now, you are either willfully ignorant or just plain stupid. I can’t put it any clearer than that,” TechDirt founder Mike Masnick wrote this week, announcing that the technology site would pivot to become a ‘democracy blog.’

“The multi-pronged assault has silenced those in the highest echelons of power who might offer dissenting views of a government run amok. The billionaires who control some of the world’s largest technology platforms and previously stood up to Trump — Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and others — have now publicly bowed to him in hopes of protecting their business interests. While The Associated Press refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America’ and was swiftly punished by the Trump White House, Google and Apple quickly updated their mapping services in line with Trump’s wishes. Google even went a step further and blocked reviews of the ‘Gulf of America’ after criticism from users.

“Others, including researchers and academics have quietly told journalists they are afraid to speak out for fear of retribution or being publicly singled out by Trump, Musk and their allies. And that’s the point.

“When you see important societal actors — be it university presidents, media outlets, C.E.O.s, mayors, governors — changing their behavior in order to avoid the wrath of the government, that’s a sign that we’ve crossed the line into some form of authoritarianism,” Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard, told The New York Times this week.

“Still, there are bright spots across the news media with many journalists working tirelessly to uncover the haphazard changes taking place. WIRED has devoted staff to exposing DOGE’s efforts, The New York Times reported on Trump officials pushing back against Musk, The Washington Post has charted Musk’s indiscriminate firing of federal workers, and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board has become a now-rare voice of criticism of Trump’s actions. . . .”

NABJ, NAHJ, AAJA Presidents to Discuss Diversity

The journalists-of-color associations have been relatively quiet as the movement against diversity, equity and inclusion has steamrolled, affecting the pipeline of future journalists and potentially the associations’ funding, but the presidents of three of the groups have accepted an invitation to discuss diversity March 20 at Loyola University New Orleans.

The offer came from Gregory H. Lee Jr., a visiting faculty member there and a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists.

“As the Marion M. and John S. Stokes Jr. Visiting Professor in Race and Culture in Media at Loyola University New Orleans, I host an annual community event exploring the intersection of race and media,” Lee told Journal-isms. “This year, as NABJ marks its 50th anniversary, I felt it was essential to hear directly from the leaders of these journalism associations at this critical moment in history.”

Joining Lee will be Ken Lemon of NABJ, Dunia Elvir of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Nicole Dungca of the Asian American Journalists Association. Lee said he has also invited the Indigenous Journalists Association and is working on streaming the event. “At the very least it will be recorded and will land our school YouTube page,” he said.

While the leaders have not been in the forefront of countering the attack on DEI, some Washington members of the Black and Hispanic groups have been meeting with members of Congress in their role as journalists.

“In what might be an unprecedented show of force, a powerful contingent of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) met with African American journalists inside the Democratic Whip’s Conference Room at the U.S. Capitol, laying out their battle plan against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the far-right’s dystopian blueprint known as Project 2025,” Stacy Brown reported Wednesday for the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

(If the image is not visible, please consider viewing with another browser.)

Thirty-eight NAHJ-DC members attended a Feb. 27 briefing with House Democrats and live-tweeted the session. They plan a similar meeting with House Republicans, NAHJ spokesperson Andrew Sherry said.

Meanwhile, “A 40-day boycott of Target that calls for supporters to give up shopping at the company’s stores during the Lenten period kicked off this week, to protest the discount retailer’s decision to end some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” Wyatte Grantham-Philips reported Thursday for the Associated Press.

However, Nicholas P. Brown and Arriana McLymore reported Thursday for Reuters, “Several U.S. retailers that publicly scrapped diversity, equity and inclusion programs — including Target, Amazon and Tractor Supply — are maintaining certain efforts behind the scenes.

“The three retailers, while they’ve ended DEI programs on paper, have told advocacy groups and individuals they will continue to offer financial support for some LGBTQ+ Pride and racial justice events, as well as provide internal support for resource groups for underrepresented employees.”

As Brown and McLymore noted, “Trump deemed some elements of DEI illegal and threatened possible investigations into firms that practice it. Advocates say DEI programs aren’t exclusionary policies, but are needed to redress longstanding bias, inequity and discrimination, while detractors counter people should be hired solely on merit without taking into consideration gender or race.”

Separately, Pamela N. Danzinger reported for Forbes, “Target’s online traffic dropped during The People’s Union USA Economic Blackout on Feb. 28, according to data from website analytics platform Similarweb. And while the boycott was not explicitly targeting brands that rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion policies, Costco’s uptick in online traffic on the same day, brings the conversation back to the forefront.” Costco is considered a diversity hero.

The Feb. 28 boycott was publicized in the Black press and in progressive and social media. Jaclyn Peiser and Taylor Telford reported that day for the Washington Post, “Consumers are spearheading short-lived spending embargoes against companies that retreat from DEI, or ‘buycotts,’ to reward minority-owned small businesses and brands that say they value diversity. Such efforts reflect some consumers’ heightened focus on conscientious spending, experts say, and a willingness to withhold their dollars from companies whose values clash with theirs.”

Snopes.com branded as “false” claims that Target had lost $15.7 billion in market value since dropping its DEI policies.

Sandra Ali of WWJ-TV, known as CBS Detroit, reports on the death of a Detroit icon. (Credit: YouTube)

Accolades for Luther Keith, Journalist and Bluesman

From the mayor of Detroit to fans of the blues he played to fellow journalists at the Detroit News and in the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, tributes are pouring in for Luther “Badman” Keith, who died Wednesday at 74.

“His cause of death is unknown,” his friend Darren A. Nichols wrote for the Detroit Free Press.

He “died unexpectedly, according to multiple postings by friends on Facebook Wednesday night,” wrote Allan Lengel in Deadline Detroit. “A friend tells Deadline Detroit he passed away Wednesday morning in his sleep.”

Kimberly Harry, spokesperson for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office, told Journal-isms Monday that the case had not been brought to that office..

“Keith, a beloved figure in the community known for his kindness and decency, was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 1995. He was the nephew of the late U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon Keith,” Lengel wrote.

“He began working at The Detroit News in 1972 as a general assignment reporter before covering sports the next year. During his time at the newspaper, he achieved several firsts.

“According to the Hall of Fame posting, he was the first African American sports reporter at a major Detroit daily (1973), the first African American assigned to cover the state capitol (1979), and the first African American newsroom editor at The Detroit News (1982).

“In 1985, he took a leave of absence from The Detroit News to become the founding director of Wayne State University’s Journalism Institute for Minorities [now the Journalism Institute for Media Diversity.] He eventually returned to the paper, rising to managing editor.

“In 2005, Keith retired from the Detroit News. A year later, he founded and served as executive director of ARISE Detroit!, a nonprofit coalition promoting volunteerism and community activism. He worked there until his death.

“At the same time, he continued to pursue one of his great passions — playing the blues. . . .” (Photo credit: Todd McInturf/Detroit News)

Keith played regularly at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit on the first Tuesday of every month and performed as usual the day before he died, a club employee told Journal-isms.

Mayor Mike Duggan called Keith one of the city’s “tireless champions” and said that whether it was his journalism, community commitment or music, “everything Luther did came from his soul.”

Micah Walker, Christine Ferretti and Bryce Huffman added for Bridge Detroit. “In the 1990s, Keith spearheaded a section in The News called ‘On Detroit,’ that focused on the city’s neighborhoods, churches, businesses and schools.”

Keith tapped Felecia Henderson (pictured) “to become an editor for the section. While she initially had an interest in page design, Henderson was grateful that Keith gave her a chance to become an editor and have an impact on the coverage of Detroiters. The section, she said, served as a prototype for today’s community-centered journalism.

“That came at a time when there had been a lot of negative media coverage on the city and he really wanted to make sure that people, not even outside of the state of Michigan, but for people just outside of the city of Detroit, to understand all the good things that were happening in the neighborhoods,” Henderson said. “We worked together on ‘On Detroit’ for six years.”

At the News, Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley wrote, “Luther was a beautiful person. He grew into one of the wise men of this city. He had a good life, and he made the lives of a lot of other people better. He certainly left his mark on The Detroit News.”

The News Saturday reported these funeral arrangements: “Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Kemp Funeral Home, 24585 Evergreen Road, Southfield. The program and remarks will start at 6:30 p.m.

“Family hour will be 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at Fellowship Chapel, 7707 W. Outer Drive, Detroit, with the funeral service to follow.

“The burial will be 3 to 3:30 p.m. Friday at Woodlawn Cemetery, 19975 Woodward Ave., Detroit.

“Flowers may be sent to Kemp Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be ARISE Detroit!, the nonproft Keith founded and ran for nearly 20 years. To donate, visit arisedetroit.org.“

Towns Exits as V.P. of Alabama Media, Not ‘Right Fit’

Gannett veteran Hollis R. Towns (pictured), who left that company two years ago and landed last year at Alabama Media Group, where he was vice president of content and editor in chief, announced his resignation from the Alabama company on Tuesday. He told Journal-isms, “It was clear from day one that it wasn’t the right fit.”

” Despite being a southerner, and a successful editor, I was still viewed as an outsider whose ideas, vision and strategies never quite connected,” Towns said. “At some point, I’ll share my journey in Alabama, but now is not the time.”

Alabama Media Group, which publishes AL.com, has more than 100 Alabama-based journalists located throughout the state, the company said when it hired Towns in February 2024.

“Besides AL.com — the state’s largest digital news site — AMG also includes This is Alabama, People of Alabama, the Alabama Education Lab and the digital editions of the Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Mobile Press-Register.”

Towns left Gannett, where he was vice president for local news, in 2023 after 18 years there. He then became a visiting professor and consultant at Fort Valley State University in his hometown of Fort Valley, Ga., spending “quite a bit of time working with students and helping the university to reimagine its Media Studies program,” Towns wrote on LinkedIn then.

“The resignation comes at a time when many of his initiatives were beginning to take hold,” Barnett Wright wrote Tuesday for the Birmingham Times .

“In November, Towns announced two high level promotions in the newsroom, Ben Flanagan as director of content for AL.com, overseeing breaking news, features and sports and Ruth Serven Smith as senior managing producer, leading a team to cover the Birmingham metro, the Beyond the Violence initiative, which was expected to [be] launched this week (with The Birmingham Times as a partner).”

Towns, 61, messaged that he is looking ahead and has multiple irons on the fire, including academia and consulting work. He also wants to pursue completing a children’s book along with a memoir on his experiences in corporate journalism.

“Coaching and developing leaders, being a community advocate and driving solutions-oriented journalism are core to what makes me tick.” Towns said. “I’ll never walk away from that.”

Stephen A. Smith appears Wednesday on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” addressing, among other topics, rumors that he could save the Democratic Party by running for president. (Credit: YouTube)

New Stephen A. Contract Worth $100 Million

“Stephen A. Smith has agreed to a new contract with ESPN worth at least $100 million for five years, an agreement that will result in Smith continuing to star on ‘First Take’ on ESPN while scaling back some of his other required appearances on the network, which would free him up to talk even more about politics, sources briefed on the agreement told The Athletic,” Andrew Marchand reported Thursday for the Athletic.

“Smith will remain a fixture on ‘First Take,’ his daily morning flagship show on ESPN, but will be less omnipresent on the rest of the network, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the terms of the agreement were not expected to be announced publicly.

“Smith will not be a regular on ESPN’s premiere NBA pregame show anymore, though he could still make occasional appearances on top basketball studio programs, as well as the ‘Monday Night Football’ pregame or during other big time events.

“ESPN declined to comment [but issued a news release on Friday].”

“Smith has been a fixture on ESPN’s top NBA pregame show, ‘Countdown,’ which precedes The Finals. ESPN has signed a licensing agreement with TNT for the Charles Barkley-led ‘Inside The NBA.’ Smith was supportive of the move.

“The freedom figures to allow Smith to make even more appearances on other platforms to talk politics, and it also gives him the chance to earn more money outside of ESPN.

“Smith, 57, has been very vocal about President Donald Trump, former vice president Kamala Harris and the issues of the day to the point that he is now mentioned as a potential presidential candidate. . . .”

When Tony Doris assumed the editorial page editor’s job in 2021, he wrote, “As I stamp my sensibility on these pages, though, readers will see that the values for which The Palm Beach Post stands are the same as before: to advocate for those in need; to press for social equity and progressive, efficient government; to demand of our leaders the highest integrity.”

Gannett Fires Opinion Editor Over Gaza Cartoon

Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company and the owner of The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, fired Post Editorial Page Editor Tony Doris last month after he published a cartoon about the war in Gaza, according to Doris, Benjamin Mullin reported March 2 for The New York Times.

“The cartoon set off a backlash in Palm Beach, including a rebuke from a local Jewish group that claimed the cartoon was antisemitic, resulting in a quick response from Gannett’s senior editors.

“Mr. Doris said in an interview last week that the cartoon was antiwar, not antisemitic, adding that he thought Gannett’s senior editors lacked the fortitude to stand up for their journalists.

“ ‘They’re afraid of their shadow,’ Mr. Doris (pictured) said, adding, ‘I think it speaks to a misunderstanding or failure to engage with the mission of an editorial page.’

“In a statement, Gannett said that the cartoon ‘did not meet our standards,’ adding that it ‘would not have been published if the proper protocols were followed.’ The company did not say what those protocols were or comment on Mr. Doris’s termination, citing confidentiality.

” ‘We sincerely regret the error and have taken appropriate action to prevent this from happening again,’ said Lark-Marie Antón, a spokeswoman for The Palm Beach Post.

“In late January, Mr. Doris — who said he was a Jewish supporter of Israel — selected the cartoon to run in a print issue of The Palm Beach Post. The image shows two Israeli soldiers rescuing a hostage captured by Hamas. Under the words ‘Some Israeli hostages are home after over a year of merciless war,’ one of the soldiers says, ‘Watch your step’ as he, the rescued hostage and the other soldier walk through a mass of bodies with the label ‘over 40,000 Palestinians killed.’ . . .

“The cartoonist who drew the image, Jeff Danziger, has drawn many cartoons critical of the war. In an interview on Saturday, he rejected the idea that the cartoon was antisemitic, saying it was ‘simply a case of, “this war’s gone on long enough.” ‘ Mr. Danziger, an Army veteran whose father is Jewish, also said that his service as an intelligence officer has made him critical of war.”

On its website, the Anti-Defamation League answers the question, “Is criticism of Israel always anti-Semitic?” with a “no.”

It adds, “Anti-Israel activity crosses the line to anti-Semitism when:

“All Jews are held responsible for the actions of Israel.
“Israel is denied the right to exist as a Jewish state and equal member of the global community.
“Traditional anti-Semitic symbols, images or theories are used.”

“Edye Ellis was more than just a television anchor at WBIR Channel 10,” the station said. “She was smart, stylish and creative. She broke barriers.” (Credit: YouTube)

Edye Ellis Dies at 81, Knoxville’s First Black Anchor

“Edye Ellis, a beloved Knoxville television personality and WBIR’s first African American anchor, died March 3. She was 81,” Allison Kiehl wrote Tuesday for the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel. No cause of death was reported.

“Ellis joined WBIR Channel 10 in 1982, where she first covered the World’s Fair in a program called ‘Welcome World.” Ellis was a trailblazer who spent her career at WBIR and later at the University of Tennessee communications department and the Home and Garden television network.

“Grieving Knoxville community members recognized and remembered Ellis’ life and her impact. A flood of memories and kind words poured out onto social media. . . .

“Joel Lawson, a Knoxville personality who hosts and produces Wrestle Talk Live, also shared his condolences.

” ‘Edye wasn’t just an anchor; she was a neighbor, a mentor, and a friend. Her reporting transcended headlines, weaving compassion into every piece ‒ whether covering education, justice, or the quiet triumphs of everyday Tennesseans,’ Lawson said. ‘Off-camera, she championed literacy, uplifted youth, and stood firm for equity, leaving fingerprints on countless lives.’ . . .”

Short Takes

  • The New York Times has offered some current writers on the editorial board — including journalists of color Mara Gay (pictured), Brent Staples and Farah Stockman — “new jobs elsewhere in the opinion pages and the Times’ newsroom, or buyout packages if they want to leave,” Max Tani reported Sunday for Semafor. The Times “is making major changes to its opinion section, rethinking the frequency and design of its editorials, the makeup of its editorial board, and its policy on endorsements.”
  • The Baltimore Sun has seen a significant drop in its readership since David Smith and Armstrong Williams (pictured) bought the paper a year ago, Cody Boteler reported Friday for the Baltimore Banner. “Average circulation of its Sunday paper fell by nearly half between 2023 and 2024, according to industry figures. During most months in 2024, The Sun also had fewer unique visitors to its website than in the year before. . . . At least 20 journalists have left the paper in the last year — including its best-known columnist and a beloved obituary writer — with several of them citing problems with the political slant of the stories presented under its new ownership. In particular, they pointed to The Sun’s use of stories from Fox45, a TV station owned by Smith’s right-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group. . . .”
  • The Trump administration’s previously reported decision to cancel aid that assists independent media reporting on Cuba also affects foreign aid programs to support opposition activists, political prisoners and religious groups in Nicaragua and Venezuela, Nora Gamez Torres reported Thursday for El Nuevo Herald. “Many of the contracts that were terminated focused on ‘awareness issues,’ promoting the fight against corruption, supporting independent media or helping groups in democratic countries — all goals that were ‘unpopular’ with some administration officials, one source said. Contacted earlier for comment on the pause in foreign aid, U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Miami said she had asked the Trump administration “to quickly restore programs for Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela that align with our national security interests. A free and democratic Latin America means a free and democratic United States of America.’ ”










  • “Four journalists were brutally attacked or prevented from working by police while covering demonstrations in eastern Nairobi on March 5,” Reporters Without Borders said, calling on the Kenyan police “to identify and punish those responsible, as they have promised to do. . . . At around 10 a.m., as they were preparing to return to their downtown office after covering the events, journalists from the NTV television station witnessed the violent assault of reporter Justine Ondieki, a photojournalist with the Eastleigh Voice, by police officers. As soon as NTV camerawoman Leah Wambui Kurema began filming the incident, an officer from the paramilitary branch of the Kenya Police Service (General Service Unit, GSU) forced open the passenger door of the vehicle she was in, brutally dragged her out, assaulted her and forced her to delete her footage of the assault. . . .”

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