"Hard-Hitting":
Former New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy died Monday at home on Long Island. He was 81. A confidante of Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born Dunleavy accompanied the publisher to America following his acquisition of the newspaper and helped foster its style. "Steve Dunleavy was one of the greatest reporters of all time," said Murdoch.
"No Better Person":
Stephanie Grisham will replace Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary on July 1, First Lady Melania Trump announced Tuesday. Grisham, who currently serves as press secretary and communications director for the Office of the First Lady, will double as White House communications director.
Teens Investigate:
Student journalist Spencer Cliche has exposed the use of prison labor use at Amherst Regional High School in Massachusetts. "I'm not the one doing this [using prison labor], I'm just presenting the facts," Cliche told the Marshall Project.
Fallen Journalists:
The publisher of the Capital Gazette, where five journalists were killed in a newsroom shooting last year, has called for a national monument to fallen journalists. The paper received a Special Citation from the Pulitzer Prizes in 2019, along with $100,000 to continue their journalistic work.
"This Whole Pillar":
Following its acquisition by a group of investors four years ago, The Berkshire Eagle and its sister publications "are waging an all-out campaign to revitalize local journalism in the Berkshires and southern Vermont." The flagship western Massachusetts newspaper has expanded its investigative team and assembled an advisory board that includes 2015 General Nonfiction winner Elizabeth Kolbert and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. "I want our newspaper to love its readers. And I want its readers to love the newspapers back," Executive Editor Kevin Moran told the Associated Press. "Because if they don't have an emotional connection to the newspaper, they are not going to cry when you are gone."
"Dead-Bolted":
2016 General Nonfiction finalist Ta-Nehisi Coates testified at a House hearing on H.R. 40 Wednesday. The legislation would "establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans." "The Case for Reparations," an article by Coates, spurred national discussion about the subject following its publication in 2014.
"Threats into Action":
New York Times Publisher A. G. Sulzberger wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal decrying President Trump's "escalating attacks" on the newspaper Thursday. According to CNN, Sulzberger proposed the piece to Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot, a former chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, following the president's Twitter fusillade last weekend.
"More Functional":
According to Vanity Fair's Joe Pompeo, Office of the First Lady Communications Director Stephanie Grisham has emerged as a leading candidate to replace White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who will leave the post on June 30. The last White House press briefing was held on March 11.
"Fringe":
A former Republican operative with ties to the white nationalist movement has emerged as an opinion contributor for several national publications, BuzzFeed News reported Monday. Marcus Epstein, who entered an Alford plea in a case involving his alleged assault of an African-American woman and founded a "nativist political club" with Richard Spencer, "has written more than a dozen opinion pieces for [The Wall Street] Journal, The Hill, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, and the National Review over the past two years." A Hill spokesperson maintained that the news site "would never knowingly post material from a racist writer."
"Deadlocked":
Following stalled union negotiations, BuzzFeed News employees staged a walkout Monday at its bureaus in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. More than 100 staffers participated. Grant Glickson, president of the NewsGuild of New York, said: "The BuzzFeed newsroom has the full support of the entire NewsGuild membership, and we are with them every step of the way." According to union representatives, the media company offered the proposed bargaining unit "an unacceptable take-it-or-leave-it deal" before "walk[ing] away from the negotiating table."
