For the Record

Potential Press Freedom Crackdown in Burkina Faso:

The government of Burkina Faso, currently the fifth-freest African country for media according to the World Press Freedom Index, has proposed legislation that would criminalize the public "demoralization" of its military and the publication of information that could "undermine" public order and national security. "It's a law that specifically targets journalists," said Guezouma Sanogo, president of the national journalists' association. "We find the procedure through which this law has been adopted very contemptuous."

Poynter's McBride Derides "Stranger Things":

Poynter Senior Vice President Kelly McBride has disputed the portrayal of a small-town 1980s newspaper in the latest season of the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things." "Instead of tapping into [a] zeitgeist" that included new opportunities in journalism for women and people of color, McBride said, the show "portrayed local journalism of the 1980s as led by men who were arrogant, uninterested in the plight of regular citizens and more invested in preserving the status quo than holding the powerful accountable."

Buttigieg Article Fallout:

According to CNN, the League of Conservation Voters had withdrawn from a forum on climate change co-sponsored by The New Republic after the magazine published an "offensive" article about Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Editor in Chief Win McCormack tweeted an apology to Buttigieg and readers Saturday, saying that the article was "inappropriate."

Climate Reporting Network Gains Traction:

Since its debut in June, the Florida Climate Reporting Network — a collaboration between the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post and WLRN Public Media — has attracted interest from media outlets across the country. "We're trying to pull together as many resources as we can to do dedicated reporting on the climate crisis in Florida," said Julie Anderson, editor-in-chief of the Sun Sentinel and a 2019 Public Service contributor.

U.K. Forms Journalism Safety Committee:

British Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Jeremy Wright announced the formation of the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists Thursday. According to Wright, the organization "will be asked to devise a National Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and ensure that those who threaten journalists are held to account."

Miss. Gubernatorial Candidate Denies Access to Female Reporter:

Mississippi Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster denied a female reporter's request to shadow him for a day on the campaign trail unless she was accompanied by a male colleague. "There really wasn't any wiggle room, there was no getting around it," said Larrison Campbell, who writes for Mississippi Today. Foster, a state representative, defended his decision on Twitter: "As I anticipated, the liberal left lost their minds over the fact I choose not to be alone with another woman."

Duran Case Reopened by DOJ:

The Department of Justice's Board of Immigration Appeals has reopened the case of undocumented Salvadoran journalist Manuel Duran, paving the way for an asylum claim and his potential release on bond. Duran was arrested while covering an April 2018 rally in Memphis and has been detained indefinitely by ICE because of a pending deportation order from 2007.

CALmatters Grows:

Since its founding four years ago, the California public policy news nonprofit CALmatters has emerged from its startup stage, retaining The News Project for backend technology work and hiring former Bay Area News Group executive Neil Chase as its CEO. "We’re not anybody’s competitor," said Chase. "We're in a good place to do good and raise money statewide and use that money for improving journalism."

Podcasting's Insurgency Continues:

According to data from Edison Research's Infinite Dial, podcasting has become increasingly entrenched in the American media landscape, with 90 million U.S. listeners now following at least one program monthly. Nicholas Quah of NiemanLab believes that "long-tail news pegs" are uniquely suited to the form: "'Newsiness' as an editorial strategy tends to be associated with the bleeding edge, the infinite present: what’s happening right now, what happened in the last 24 hours, here’s what you need to know today. The Big One [...] suggests that strategy could be reinterpreted as a series of forward-facing investments."

Yahoo Reports Russian Intelligence Orchestrated 2016 Conspiracy Theory:

According to Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News, a conspiracy theory implicating Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the July 2016 murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich was promulgated by Russia's foreign intelligence service, while the identity of an anonymous "federal investigator" who served as a source on the story to Fox News could not be verified. Former colleague Pablo Manriquez also confirmed to Isikoff that Rich did not endorse Bernie Sanders and was not privy to Clinton campaign emails.