Here’s (some of) what happened this past week in media news…
News
This week in New Voices:
Legislators in Missouri and Washington state are, once again, seeking to join the “I-Beat-Hazelwood” club by proposing New Voices legislation in their states. Missouri’s Cronkite New Voices Act, tweaked and revamped from an unsuccessful run in 2016, looks to rid the state of Hazelwood’s burden by incorporating elements from an unlikely source: one-time Civil War rival Kansas. In Washington State, proponents of the New Voices of Washington bill hope to take advantage of a longer session to get the legislation signed into law. Last year, a short session squeezed the Act out of contention.
Nieman Lab: When it comes to legal issues, journalism schools leave students unprepared, a new study argues
The Nieman Lab reports on a study conducted by Columbia fellow Jeff John Roberts, arguing that journalism schools’ media law courses are becoming obsolete in the face of high-profile lawsuits against digital outlets, like those against Gawker and Mother Jones. Roberts says topics like encryption, social media and the “right to be forgotten” should become a main component of media law curricula.
Views
CJR: Trump berated a CNN reporter, and fellow journalists missed an opportunity
President-elect Donald Trump’s clash with CNN Washington correspondent Jim Acosta made big waves in the journalism community. The Columbia Journalism Review’s Pete Vernon argues that reporters covering the Presidency should put aside their competition for the story and prepare to act in solidarity when it comes to covering an administration that shows “a willingness to retaliate, bully, and ban journalists whose questions he doesn’t want to answer.”
Looking Ahead
The Washington Post:Cellphone carriers are bracing for massive data usage during the inauguration
Student journalists planning out a trip to the District for Trump’s inauguration need not worry about the availability of cell service, the Washington Post says. AT&T and Verizon have placed big, thick, ugly temporary cell towers around the National Mall. They’re designed to increase mobile capacity by more than 400 percent. This is in stark contrast to Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, when only a third of Americans had a smartphone.
New York Daily News:Women’s March on Washington could well outdraw the inauguration of President-elect Trump
Anyone in town covering inauguration might want to stick around for the next day, with 200,000 indicating their intent to participate in the Women’s March on Washington. The New York Daily News reports 1,200 bus parking permits for the Women’s March as opposed to 200 for the Inauguration. While the numbers don’t necessarily guarantee a larger turnout, it’s a situation worth watching as out-of-town journalists make their travel plans.