“Even though it had already been made public that SEAL Team was coming to an end late in 2024, Brian Beneker sought at least $500,000,” Winston Cho wrote for the Hollywood reporter. (Credit: CBS)
Network Has Other Irons in Fire Under Trump
A federal judge on Monday approved a joint request from CBS Studios and former “SEAL Team” script coordinator Brian Beneker to dismiss a year-old case in which Beneker, who is white, sued in February 2024 claiming he wasn’t given a permanent gig on the series “due to his race, sex, and heterosexuality” and the “illegal policy” of diversity, equity and inclusion measures.
Although the terms were not disclosed, reports in Deadline and the Hollywood Reporter portrayed the settlement as a win for the anti-DEI forces, in that CBS, owned by Paramount, had reason to back down. The company has business before the Trump administration and its ally Brendan Carr, Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission.
“Certainly the fact that CBS lost its bid last August before Judge John F. Walter to have the case tossed put strain on the company even before Trump won the election and returned to office. More recently, as Shari Redstone aims to unload the once mighty media giant to the scion of Oracle boss Larry Ellison, Trump FCC chair Brendan Carr has been repeatedly doing his master’s bidding going after the onetime home of Walter Cronkite.”
“Even though it had already been made public that SEAL Team was coming to an end late in 2024, Beneker sought at least $500,000, as well as a court order making him a full-time producer on the series and barring the further use of discriminatory hiring practices,” Cho wrote Monday.
“It also seems that there were no rollbacks in CBS’ DEI policies as a part of the settlement,” Dominic Patten wrote for Deadline. (Credit: ViacomCBS)
“Beneker was represented by America First Legal Foundation, a conservative group founded by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. The firm, which was joined by JW Howard Attorneys, has brought federal complaints against major companies, including Starbucks, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock, arguing that corporate diversity and hiring practices run afoul of civil rights laws. It has targeted allegedly discriminatory hiring quotas at Disney, specifically a provision requiring that at least half of producer and writing staff come from underrepresented group that the company rolled back earlier this year,” Cho continued.
Patten added, “While details are confidential, it does seem there was some payout to freelance writer Beneker in the deal. That payment was not particularly large, I hear. It also seems that there were no rollbacks in CBS’ DEI policies as a part of the settlement, that being a distinct component of the thrust of the conservative activist America First Legal Foundation-backed Beneker’s action, along with snagging a full-time writing and producing slot on the now-shuttered military drama series.”
The CBS case was one of two filed in the last two years by white men against major media companies over DEI.
Editor Says Staff Complained About His Standards FAMU Among Fla. Schools Allowing ICE on Campus Charlotte Crew Caught in Shooting, Left Unharmed France Admits It Wronged Haiti; ‘Gesture’ Debated
Reuters Is Latest to Remove ‘Diversity’ From Site . . . Groups Promote Who’s Naughty, Nice on DEI Abby Phillip Connects All the Dots ‘Quiet’ Image from Gaza Is Photo of the Year Report on Migrant Smuggling Wins a Top IRE Prize Cuba Scored Over ‘Intensified Repression’ of Journalists
Short Takes: 40th anniversary of MOVE bombing; prize for fentanyl investigation; Dean Baquet; Natalie Cableses; Monica Burton; Vivyan Tran; Jesse J. Holland; attacks on press in Senegal, Ghana.
Sewell Chan, shown in 2022, wrote on social media, “I am speaking up because the accusations made against me cut against my long track record of mentoring, nurturing and empowering early-career journalists. In a precarious and declining news industry that has lost economic, political, social and even moral capital, the only thing I have as a journalist is my reputation. I intend to defend it.”
“Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, told staff members in an email on Friday that Mr. Chan was ‘no longer with’ CJR, a publication covering the media industry which the school has published since 1961.”
Chan, an Asian American who was the first person of color to edit the highly regarded journalism review, said he was fired by Cobb, the first African American dean of the journalism school, after staffers complained about several recent ‘pointed interactions,’Sean Burch reported for The Wrap.
“One of those interactions, Chan said in a statement shared with TheWrap and posted on X” and other platforms, “was with a writer who was ‘passionately devoted to the cause of the Gaza protests’ who had covered the ‘recent detention of a Palestinian graduate for an online publication he had just written about, positively’ for CJR.
“ ‘I told him there was a significant ethical problem with writing for an outlet he had just covered,’ Chan said.
“The other recent interactions that spurred his firing, Chan said, included a conversation with a reporter working on a ‘sensitive #MeToo investigation” against a ‘prominent investigative reporter.’ Chan said he reluctantly gave her more time to work on the story, which remains unpublished, after urging her to ‘move expeditiously’ towards publishing it. The third ‘pointed’ interaction was with a staffer who refused to come into the office or write at least one story per week, Chan said; that writer received several months’ paid leave to look for a new job from Columbia, he said.
“Chan said Cobb (pictured), confronted him about recent staff complaints about those interactions on Monday.
“ ‘While I disagreed with these complaints, I offered to meet with the staff members involved and requested a coach who could help me navigate a charged higher education environment. Instead I was fired,’ Chan said.
“ ‘These are normal workplace interactions and I did exactly what I was hired to do, which was to provide rigorous, fair, careful editorial oversight and raise the metabolism and impact of a publication that’s supposed to monitor the media,’ the former editor maintained.
After the firing became public Friday, Ravi Somaiya (pictured), who worked with Chan at Columbia Journalism Review as digital editor and co-founded breaker.com, posted a piece on his site titled, “Inside Sewell Chan’s brief, horrible editorship of the Columbia Journalism Review (from my perspective).” “He seemed to have two modes: rage, at anyone he felt inferior to him, and obsequiousness towards anyone he considered a superior. He seemed incapable of asking even reasonable questions nicely,” Somaiya wrote.
Robertson and Mullin added, “ ‘We are most grateful to the CJR staff for their resilience and dedication,’ Mr. Cobb said in the email, which was viewed by The New York Times.”
Cobb told Journal-isms he wished he could comment, but “it’s a personnel issue.”
Mr. Chan, a well-known figure in journalism circles, started in the top role in September, after the job was vacant for almost a year. He was a former editor in chief of The Texas Tribune and held senior roles at the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, as well as a number of board positions.”
Robertson wrote when Chan was hired last June that Cobb called Chan was “one of the smartest people I know in journalism and publishing right now.”
“We both had a sense that CJR really has to be more of a place where the problems that we’re confronting in journalism get worked on, the things that we’re trying to address,” Cobb was quoted as saying.
“We’ve needed a forum like this more — the questions that we have are beyond pressing,” he added.
Chan was formerly the editorial page editor at The Los Angeles Times and a reporter and editor at The New York Times and Washington Post.
Source: Inside Higher Ed analysis, Ashley Mowreader/Inside Higher Ed, Anika Arora Seth • Some institutions have shared publicly that students have lost visas but have yet to disclose the number of students impacted. These are documented on the map, but the number is unknown.(Inside Higher Ed)
Other HBCUs so affected have been Southern University at New Orleans, where two international students had their student visa status terminated, and Southern University at Baton Rouge, where seven international students were affected, Marie Fazio reported Tuesday for NOLA.com, along with Annie Ma, Makiya Seminera and Christopher L. Keller of the Associated Press.
“The actions by the federal government to terminate students’ legal status have left hundreds of scholars at risk of detention and deportation. Their schools range from private universities like Harvard and Stanford to large public institutions like the University of Maryland and Ohio State University to some small liberal arts colleges.”
Some legislators are fighting back. Molly Gibbs reported Wednesday for the Bay Area News Group, “The Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Santa Clara County Board of Education are co-sponsoring a California bill that would establish school campuses as safe havens from immigration enforcement activity, as fears around deportations and arrests ramp up in Bay Area communities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on noncitizens.
“Introduced by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat who represents Torrance, AB 49 — the California Safe Haven Schools Act — would prohibit school employees from allowing immigration officers on campuses without a warrant or approval from school officials. The bill would also require immigration officers who are allowed on school campuses to be restricted to areas where students are not present.”
In Florida, Inside Higher Ed said it “requested public records from all 12 State University System of Florida institutions related to their agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Based on the results, it is clear that at least 10 have signed deals with ICE: Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, New College of Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida and the University of West Florida. Florida State University and Florida Polytechnic University are in the process of signing the paperwork, according to a spokesperson at each institution.
Queen City News reporter and photojournalist recall the moment gunfire erupted at Chester County Fairgrounds in North Carolina. (Credit: YouTube)
Charlotte Crew Caught in Shooting, Left Unharmed
A WJZY reporter and photojournalist were caught in the middle of a shooting Wednesday while covering an unrelated story,” Paul Greeley reported Friday for the subscription-only News Blues site.
“WJZY is Nexstar’s Fox affiliate in Charlotte branded as Queen City News.
“ ‘Bullets just started going off,’ said Queen City News photojournalist Donald Fountain.
“ ‘It sounded like firecrackers going on,’ said Queen City News reporter Jen Cardone.
“Fountain (pictured) says his adrenaline is still rushing. They were at a park on Brendale Road in Chester, covering a story about water runoff issues in a local neighborhood, when gunfire erupted in front of them, right at the Chester County Fairgrounds.
“Chester County dispatchers announced that about 14 shots went off in that area, and multiple people with guns were near the football field.
“Cardone says they were feet away from where the shooting took place.
“They say it took a while for them to understand what was happening. Until they heard a loud bang near them, shaking the car. A bullet hit the passenger door of the news vehicle where Cardone was sitting — leaving a large dent.
“ ‘If I had been leaning forward and not sitting back to edit and work on the story, or if that bullet just came down a few inches, I’d probably be dead right now, not talking to you,’ she said.
“Cardone and Fountain also reported seeing a victim on the ground and watching as several men carried that individual into a vehicle and drove away.
“Fountain says he’s always been on the other side of incidents like these, often interviewing trauma victims in similar situations.
“Now, he knows the feeling.
“ ‘I just froze. And then I saw one of the other guys come behind our car, and it was like, call 911. So I’m calling 911, and all just so many things are just going through my mind at that point. And it’s just, I’m just thinking like, please don’t turn that gun on us because we were the only ones who saw it.’
“Thankfully, both were unharmed and called 911 to report what they had just seen.
“At this time, the location and condition of the shooting victim remain unknown. Chester officials have not yet announced whether a suspect has been located or arrested.”
France 24 asks: ” ‘A step forward’: France recognises historic injustice against Haiti, ‘will Americans do the same’?” (Credit; YouTube)
“Macron also announced the creation of a joint French-Haitian historical commission to ’examine our shared past’ and assess relations, but did not directly address longstanding Haitian demands for reparations,” they continued.
“On the bicentennial of the French royal ordinance of April 17, 1825, which recognized the independence of the former French colony of Saint-Domingue, Emmanuel Macron said that the decision, included in the ordinance, to compel the young Republic of Haiti to pay an exorbitant sum as an indemnity for its emancipation had ‘put a price on the freedom of a young nation,’ thereby subjecting it to the ‘unjust force of history.’ This declaration, made on behalf of France, was an important gesture.”
However, Le Monde also published an op-ed Tuesday from a group of Haitian intellectuals and writers who wanted more than gestures. They called for reparations.
“He issued an ordinance on April 17, 1825, stipulating that Haiti was to pay the colossal sum of 150 million gold francs to the French state, ‘intended to compensate former colonists’ who had maintained a colonialist, slave-holding and racist system for over two centuries, contributing to France’s wealth.
“Haiti was recovering from a grueling and heroic war of liberation (1791-1801) against this system, achieving in 1804 what historian Michel-Rolph Trouillot (1949-2012) described as ‘unthinkable’ for the time. Since then, Haiti has been kept in economic and political isolation by France with the support of the imperial powers of that era.”
Haitian writer Monique Clesca told Le Monde that France is losing power in the world, especially in Africa, where former colonies are turning away. She said Macron could help change this by admitting the injustice of the debt.
Writing Thursday for the state-owned television network France 24, Benjamin Dodman was likewise clear-eyed.
“Rewriting the history of Haiti has long been standard practice in Saint-Domingue’s former colonial power., he wrote, using Haiti’s former name. “As late as March 2000, former French president Jacques Chirac argued that, ‘Haiti was not, strictly speaking, a French colony.’
“Saint-Domingue wasn’t just any French colony. Dubbed the ‘pearl of the Antilles’, it was the richest French possession in the Caribbean, its exports of sugar and coffee generating fabulous wealth for France’s slave owners and merchants.
“ ‘It was also France’s cruelest colony, where the French forcibly transported more captive Africans than in any of their other possessions in the Caribbean,’ says Marlene Daut, a professor of French and African American studies at Yale University, who has written extensively about the Haitian Revolution and its legacy.
” ‘Conditions were so ghastly that the colony’s estimated population when the independence struggle began was just over half the total number of people France forcibly transported there in the first place.’ . . .
“Daut, who previously taught in France, says the ransom imposed on Haiti was largely omitted from history books and classes.
“ ‘I teach a class called Black France, and I get students from Martinique and Guadeloupe who tell me that it’s widely known that if you want to learn about slavery and France’s colonial history, you go to the United States because it’s actually taught there,’ said the Yale professor, citing Caribbean islands that have remained French.
“She noted that the US had done no better at teaching its own history of economic plunder of Haiti and its brutal military occupation of the country between 1915 and 1934, which was also tied to the Haitian debt that US lenders eventually took over from the French.
“In exchange for the payment of this indemnity, France would recognize the independence of the former colony and end this isolation. This exorbitant sum, representing about 15% of France’s budget and three years of that of the young Haitian nation, amounts to an economic and social fraud. . . .”
The AP reporters continued, “Experts have said Haiti’s current situation can be traced back to its past,” but added, “Over the years, French governments have acknowledged the historic wrong of slavery in Haiti and other former colonies but like other former colonial powers have resisted calls for reparations.”
scoop: The parent company of @Reuters is dropping “diversity” in favor of “belonging” in response to Trump E.O. “to ensure ongoing compliance,” per confidential memo I just received. pic.twitter.com/tML9PYcTi9
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Reuters Is Latest to Remove ‘Diversity’ From Site
“Last week, Nieman Lab reported that Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain, had removed references to ‘diversity’ ‘from its corporate site and would stop publishing diversity information for its newsrooms,” Sarah Scire wrote Tuesday for Nieman Lab.
Both Gannett and Thomson Reuters cited an executive order from the White House when announcing the changes.
“According to the email posted by Mullin, Thomson Reuters states that ‘as a U.S. federal government contractor,’ it is ‘especially important’ the company ‘continues to comply with any applicable federal, state, and local laws, as well as rules, regulations, and EOs.’ Thomson Reuters has provided the federal government with software and information services via Thomson Reuters Special Services for decades. (The news agency Reuters is also owned by Thomson Reuters but is a separate legal entity from TRSS.) One such contract was recently ‘misleadingly depicted’ by Elon Musk.
“As part of the changes, Thomson Reuters will replace ‘diversity’ with ‘belonging’ and provide additional ‘guidance’ to managers who will ‘articulate and implement [hiring] programs and practices.’ . . . ”
“The executive order does not fully define ‘illegal DEI’ but legal analysis has indicated that the ‘riskiest policies’ likely include making employment-related decisions on protected characteristics such as race, diverse interview policies, and basing compensation or performance reviews on achieving diversity targets.
“ ‘Less likely to draw the same level of scrutiny would be sponsoring employee resource groups that are open to all, or encouraging wider interview pools to include diversity of background, thought, and experience,’ according to analysis from Cleary Gottlieb.”
At the same time, the NAACP and other groups stepped up circulation of their spending guide for African Americans, intended to boost spending at companies that support DEI and spurn those that do not.
“These actions are part of a broader effort to reverse gains made in civil rights and social justice. We urge Black consumers to remain vigilant, informed, and intentional in their economic decisions, using their collective power to demand accountability from corporations and institutions. Together, we can push for meaningful progress and ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are prioritized and expanded.”
Groups such as the Transformative Justice Coalition announced support for an “Economic Blackout Tour” from Midnight on April 21 til Midnight on April 28
“WHAT NOT TO DO
“Do not make any purchases
“Do not shop online, or in-store
“No Amazon, No Walmart, No Best Buy, Nowhere!
“Do not spend money on: Fast Food, Gas, Major Retailers
“Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for nonessential spending
D’Innocenzio also reported, “Sharpton called the meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell ‘very constructive and candid,’ according to an update from his National Action Network. Two other NAN representatives, National Board Chair Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson and Senior Advisor Carra Wallace, also attended the meeting at the organization’s New York headquarters.
“I am going to inform our allies, including Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, of our discussion, what my feelings are, and we will go from there,” Sharpton said in a statement.
Bryant, an Atlanta area pastor, organized a website called targetfast.org to recruit Christians for a 40-day Target boycott. Other faith leaders endorsed the protest, which started with the beginning of Lent on March 5.
D’Innocenzio also wrote, “The National Action Network said Sharpton met on Tuesday with PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta and Steven Williams, the CEO of PepsiCo North America, to “get clarity on its stance on DEI, whether they were shutting down their commitments due to pressure from Trump and right-wing activists, and the path moving forward.”
“Some of the best journalism right now comes in two distinct sizes,” Brian Stelter wrote Friday for his “Reliable Sources” column for CNN. “There are skinny must-read scoops about President Trump and his government’s norm-shattering actions in very specific ways. (Examples: Recent stories about the IRS by CNN, The AP and The New York Times.) Then there are XXL-sized stories, columns and segments that connect all the dots. . . .
” ‘The president who complained about the government being weaponized against him’ is turning the government ‘into ammo to help his allies and punish his perceived enemies,’ CNN’s Abby Phillip said at the top of last night’s NewsNight. (video)
“Her segment connected the dots between Trump’s pardons, his demands for DOJ investigations of critics, his administration’s targeting of Harvard, and the looming funding threats against PBS and NPR, to name a few.
“The haunting image of Ajjour was taken by Elouf while she was on assignment for The New York Times. The portrait was done in Doha, Qatar, where Ajjour was evacuated from Gaza and where Elouf lives as well.
“Ajjour was severely injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza City in March 2024. After he turned back to urge his family onward, an explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other. The family was evacuated to Qatar where, after medical treatment, Mahmoud is learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet. Ajjour now wants prosthetics and to live his life the same as most children.
“ ‘This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations. Looking at our archive, in the 70th year of World Press Photo, I am confronted by too many images like this one,’ says Executive Director of World Press Photo Joumana El Zein Khoury. . . .”
A “riveting and penetrating multimedia investigation” into migrant smuggling has won a top award from Investigative Reporters & Editors — the Tom Renner Medal for Outstanding Crime Reporting, IRE announced Wednesday.
The honor went to “Tráileres, Trampa para Migrantes” (Cargo Trucks: A Trap for Migrants) — Noticias Telemundo, Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Bellingcat, Pie de Página, Chiapas Paralelo, En un 2×3 Tamaulipas, Plaza Pública and Contracorriente
The judges said the project “takes an issue we’ve heard about in headlines — cargo trucks that smuggle migrants across Mexico to the U.S. border, often with deadly consequences — and brings breathtaking new insight to an opaque underworld.
“The team built a shareable database of more than 170 cases of trucks that were involved in traffic accidents, detained or abandoned between 2018 and 2023, to better understand how and why smugglers are able to operate.
“Interviews — with migrants who have risked their lives on these cargo trucks, family members who’d lost loved ones in truck-related deaths, and even a truck driver who had smuggled migrants himself — all revealed important aspects of how these dangerous operations work and the geopolitical forces driving them. The stories humanize and illuminate the issue, and hold governments on both sides of the border accountable for creating a ‘circle of impunity” that allows this deadly human smuggling trade to exist. Powerful work.”
Cuba Scored Over ‘Intensified Repression’ of Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday it was alarmed by the arrest and prolonged pre-trial detention of Cuban freelance reporters Yadiel Hernández and José Gabriel Barrenechea, who both write for the online newspaper 14ymedio, and called on Cuban authorities to release them immediately.
“The Cuban government continues to engage in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the country’s non-state media in an apparent effort to force them into silence or exile,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator, from Washington, D.C.
“Hernández, 33, was arrested January 24 while reporting on drug trafficking in a school in the city of Matanzas, according to 14yMedio. He is currently being held at the Combinado del Sur prison, accused of ‘propaganda against the constitutional order’.
“ “Barrenechea, 53, (pictured) has been detained for five months awaiting trial on a ‘public disorder’ charge after he participated in a protest on November 8, [2024], in Encrucijada, Villa Clara, after power blackouts caused by Hurricane Rafael. He faces a potential sentence of three to eight years in prison. His family is concerned about his deteriorating health.
“Cuba has intensified repression against journalists under a new Law of Social Communication, which came into force on October 4, 2024. virtually outlawing the practice of journalism outside the official state media. The new law was promulgated after anti-government demonstrations swept the island in July 2021, resulting in the prosecution of people who reported or shared videos of the events online.
“In recent months, Cuban state security agents have questioned at least eight journalists and media workers from non-state media outlets, many in connection with alleged crimes against the state, leading several to flee the country. El Toque reported that between 2022 and 2024, at least 150 Cuban journalists went into exile due to harassment by state security agents.
“Several journalists told CPJ that officers warned them to stop working as journalists outside of official state media, and told them it was a crime to participate in foreign-funded training and support programs, or to receive grants from foreign governments. . . .”
The corner of 62nd and Larchwood on May 13, 1985, as smoke pours out over the 6200 block of Osage Avenue after police dropped a bomb on MOVE headquarters. (Credit: Tom Gralish/Philadelphia Inquirer)
“On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on a rowhouse occupied by MOVE, a Black radical organization that had been in a long-standing conflict with the city. The explosion ignited a fire that killed 11 people — including five children — and destroyed an entire city block,” the Philadelphia. Inquirer recalls. “Four decades later, we still search for answers. What have we learned, and what questions remain? In a new six-episode podcast series, MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy, Temple University’s Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting will examine the events leading up to the bombing, its devastating aftermath, and its lasting impact on Philadelphia. Episode 1 premieres April 22.”
“ A team of three reporters from The Seattle Times has won the 2025 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics for their work showing the barriers preventing young people from accessing treatment for opioid addiction in Washington, reports the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Hannah Furfaro, Lauren Frohne and Ivy Ceballo (pictured) uncovered how systems are failing teens in Washington, a state in which emergency responses to youth overdoses have quadrupled since 2019. For this work, the team built relationships with vulnerable teenagers while taking painstaking steps to ensure they weren’t further endangering the teens’ safety. The result is a compelling series that shows the heartbreaking impacts of flawed policy making and foregrounds the crucial voices of those most affected by this crisis.” The awards were presented April 9 in Washington, D.C.
“Dean Baquet(pictured), the former executive editor of The New York Times and an innovative force in American journalism, will be honored as the 2025 recipient of the Radio Television Digital News Association’s Paul White Award,” RTDNA announced Wednesday. “The Paul White Award, named for the first news director of CBS, is RTDNA’s highest honor, presented annually to recognize a lifetime of achievement and service to the profession of journalism. “ ‘Dean Baquet will go down in journalism history as a transformative leader helping to bring the “Gray Lady” into the 21st century by ensuring it now reaches news consumers wherever they are,’ said RTDNA President and CEO Dan Shelley. ‘Even more important, he upheld the highest standards of ethical, responsible reporting, never shying away from holding those in power accountable to the public they served. ‘ ”
“Natalie Cabieses (pictured) has been named news director at KCCI-TV, the Hearst-owned CBS affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, Veronica Villafane reported for her Media Moves column. “She becomes the fifth news director in the station’s 70-year history. Cabieses served as assistant news director at KCCI from February 2024 to March 2025 before her promotion. Prior to KCCI, she worked as executive producer at WISN-TV in Milwaukee from June 2021 to January 2024, where she oversaw the Kyle Rittenhouse trial coverage. . . .”
Monica Burton(pictured), “an experienced and creative editor, is joining the Real Estate desk as deputy,” Nikita Stewart, the Times’ real estate editor, announced April 9. the appointment puts Black women in the top two positions on that desk. “Monica brings to the desk a deep background in lifestyle and service journalism. She has spent the last eight years at Eater, where she was most recently the deputy editor on Eater’s national site,” Stewart wrote.
Vivyan Tran (pictured) has been named director of content strategy at The Wall Street Journal, Chris Roush reported for Talking Biz News. “She has been deputy director. Tran returned to The Journal in April 2022 as deputy enterprise editor for audience and innovation. Tran helped launch tech news site Protocol in 2020 and helped build it into a 45-person newsroom as head of digital, which means she did most of the work herself. Before that, she was the Journal’s deputy audience editor. She also worked at National Journal. . . .”
The Committee to Protect Journalists Wednesday called on Senegalese authorities “to stop the legal harassment of journalists and to deliver on President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye’s promise to decriminalize press offenses. A Dakar court judge charged Zik Fm editor-in-chief Simon Pierre Faye with spreading false news on April 14 and released him under judicial control. On the same day, the Dakar gendarmerie questioned for several hours online broadcaster Source A TV’s journalists Omar Ndiaye and Fatima Coulibaly, and freelance news commentator Abdou Nguer, over their comments on the death of a local official. . . .”
Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms+owner@groups.io
“Chan said Cobb (pictured), confronted him about recent staff complaints about those interactions on Monday.
After the firing became public Friday, Ravi Somaiya (pictured), who worked with Chan at Columbia Journalism Review as digital editor and co-founded breaker.com, posted a piece on his site titled, “Inside Sewell Chan’s brief, horrible editorship of the Columbia Journalism Review (from my perspective).” “He seemed to have two modes: rage, at anyone he felt inferior to him, and obsequiousness towards anyone he considered a superior. He seemed incapable of asking even reasonable questions nicely,” Somaiya wrote.
Overall, “more than 1,000 international students have had their visas or legal status revoked in recent weeks, and several have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the U.S.,” Ma reported Friday for the AP. (Photo credit: Florida A&M University) 
“Fountain (pictured) says his adrenaline is still rushing. They were at a park on Brendale Road in Chester, covering a story about water runoff issues in a local neighborhood, when gunfire erupted in front of them, right at the Chester County Fairgrounds.
“Barrenechea, 53, (pictured) has been detained for five months awaiting trial on a ‘public disorder’ charge after he participated in a protest on November 8, [2024], in Encrucijada, Villa Clara, after power blackouts caused by Hurricane Rafael. He faces a potential sentence of three to eight years in prison. His family is concerned about his deteriorating health.
A team of three reporters from The Seattle Times has won the 2025 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics for their work showing the barriers preventing young people from accessing treatment for opioid addiction in Washington, reports the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Hannah Furfaro, Lauren Frohne and Ivy Ceballo (pictured) uncovered how systems are failing teens in Washington, a state in which emergency responses to youth overdoses have quadrupled since 2019. For this work, the team built relationships with vulnerable teenagers while taking painstaking steps to ensure they weren’t further endangering the teens’ safety. The result is a compelling series that shows the heartbreaking impacts of flawed policy making and foregrounds the crucial voices of those most affected by this crisis.” The awards were presented April 9 in Washington, D.C.
“Dean Baquet (pictured), the former executive editor of The New York Times and an innovative force in American journalism, will be honored as the 2025 recipient of the Radio Television Digital News Association’s Paul White Award,” RTDNA announced Wednesday. “The Paul White Award, named for the first news director of CBS, is RTDNA’s highest honor, presented annually to recognize a lifetime of achievement and service to the profession of journalism. “ ‘Dean Baquet will go down in journalism history as a transformative leader helping to bring the “Gray Lady” into the 21st century by ensuring it now reaches news consumers wherever they are,’ said RTDNA President and CEO Dan Shelley. ‘Even more important, he upheld the highest standards of ethical, responsible reporting, never shying away from holding those in power accountable to the public they served. ‘ ”
Monica Burton (pictured), “an experienced and creative editor, is joining the Real Estate desk as deputy,” Nikita Stewart, the Times’ real estate editor, announced April 9. the appointment puts Black women in the top two positions on that desk. “Monica brings to the desk a deep background in lifestyle and service journalism. She has spent the last eight years at Eater, where she was most recently the deputy editor on Eater’s national site,” Stewart wrote.
Vivyan Tran (pictured) has been named director of content strategy at The Wall Street Journal, Chris Roush reported for Talking Biz News. “She has been deputy director. Tran returned to The Journal in April 2022 as deputy enterprise editor for audience and innovation. Tran helped launch tech news site Protocol in 2020 and helped build it into a 45-person newsroom as head of digital, which means she did most of the work herself. Before that, she was the Journal’s deputy audience editor. She also worked at National Journal. . . .”
Jesse J. Holland (pictured), author, faculty member at the School of Media & Public Affairs at George Washington University, C-SPAN host and more, is adding another descriptor: This summer, Holland and his family will be among the few Black owners in the nation to own a running-shoe store. They say on their website, “Haraka — pronounced /hah ra kah/ and meaning ‘speed’ or ‘quick’ in Swahili — is more than just a place to buy running shoes — it’s a celebration of Black excellence in motion. Located in Prince George’s County [Md.], we’re a premium athletic retail destination that understands and elevates the unique needs of our diverse running community.” There is an accompanying video.