Tough love

Happy New Year and welcome back!

This week we’re pondering the notion of loving your country, or your community, while also holding those in power accountable. As most journalists will tell you, these are not mutually exclusive acts; scrutiny of powerful institutions is aimed at making them better serve the place you love.

But a new conversation has evolved around this topic with the release of the five principles that will guide CBS Evening News under its new anchor, Tony Dokoupil, and the network’s new editor in chief, Bari Weiss. One of the principles is “We love America.” Writing in The New Republic, Perry Bacon says this attempt to frame “center-right, pro-Trump journalism as pro-America and patriotic is telling — and alarming.”

“Patriotism and loving America, whether in journalism or politics, does not mean ignoring some of this country’s biggest problems, from racism to income inequality to an authoritarian president,” Bacon writes.

Margaret Sullivan in her American Crisis newsletter makes a similar point: “Journalists and their news organizations can show their patriotism by doing their jobs of seeking the truth, no matter who it offends.”

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> Here’s how many of Project 2025’s media proposals were implemented in 2025 (Poynter)

Angela Fu has a rundown of President Trump’s media actions so far this term, many of which were reflected in Project 2025, as well as a look ahead to further actions this year.

>> New York Times case against Pentagon will move quickly (The New York Times) 

Erik Wemple explains why The Times’ suit against the Defense Department is on a fast track. Oral arguments are set for March 6.

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Culture & Inclusion

>> API in the News: Local newsrooms will play more (Nieman Lab)

API senior vice president Samantha Ragland offered this for her Nieman Lab prediction for journalism in 2026: Newsrooms will find ways to play — to make joy a journalistic priority.  “Embedded into daily culture, play becomes a buffer against burnout, a catalyst for creativity and a bridge back to public trust,” she writes.

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> New from API: Collective Wisdom: Engaging neighborhoods

Neighborhoods are about more than just geography or shapes on a map. They represent a living history and shared social fabric that newsrooms can tap into. We asked five leaders with community engagement experience outside of news about the opportunities they see for local media to build trust or belonging within neighborhoods. These insights come from people connected to API’s recent Local News Summits, which explored ideas how news organizations can create deeper connections within their communities.

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Revenue & Resilience

>> Corporation for Public Broadcasting, gutted of federal funds, votes to dissolve (Washington Post) 

The decision, writes Scott Nover, formalizes a process that began last year when Congress cut funding at the president’s request. CPB leaders, he writes, “said they chose dissolution over maintaining a dormant organization that could become manipulated by new stewards acting without public media’s best interest at heart.”

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What else you need to know

🤐 Trump administration thanks the media for keeping quiet before the strike that captured Maduro (Associated Press)

🧐 AI-generated content spreads after Maduro’s removal — blurring fact and fiction (CNBC)

🌴 Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper war in L.A. will begin this month (The Hollywood Reporter)

 ↔️ Can two Detroit papers survive a split? (CJR)