Two women, one touching the other's face. Both are in dark outfits, one blonde, smiling, other with long hair.

Wednesday, Sept. 17

Molly Jong-Fast will make you

laugh, cry—and RSVP

We’re thrilled to invite you to a special luncheon featuring journalist, author, and outstanding cultural commentator Molly Jong-Fast, who will speak candidly about her memoir, How to Lose Your Mother, which chronicles her unconventional upbringing as the daughter of literary icon Erica Jong, and her journey through privilege, rebellion and loss.

Joyce Wadler, former NY Times reporter who wrote the humor column “I Was Mistaken” and won a Silurians award for her clever current Substack, will converse with Molly.
Join us on Wednesday, Sept.17, 11:30 a.m-2 p.m. to hear Molly talk about her book, her singular life and today's wild political scene.

[MORE]

News Media News

A person's hand operates a control panel with lit buttons; monitors with a live feed are in the background.

After Trump’s Cuts, ‘Crippled’ NPR and PBS Stations Must Transform

Radio and TV stations, facing enormous budget holes, are pleading with NPR and PBS to lower fees as they weigh dropping national programming altogether.

Read NY Times story [paywall]

Man in a suit giving a presentation, gesturing with his hands, beside text on a screen.

The German Owner of Politico Wants Another US Media Outlet

After taking full control of publisher Axel Springer, Mathias Döpfner has a pile of cash and the desire to grow.

Read Business Week Story [paywall]

Line drawing of a woman's torso with handwritten messages, including a signature from Donald J. Trump.

Trump Threatens to Sue The Times Over Reporting on Epstein Drawing

The president has denied that he created and signed a sexually suggestive note that was included in a 2003 birthday gift for Jeffrey Epstein.

Read NYTimes story [paywall]

Paramount Picks Kenneth R. Weinstein, Former Head Of Right-Leaning Think Tank, As Ombudsman For CBS News

Skydance committed to hiring an ombudsman as it sought FCC regulatory approval of its acquisition of Paramount.

Read Story in Deadline

CBS changes ‘Face the Nation’ interview policy after Noem backlash

“FACE THE NATION will now only broadcast live or live-to-tape interviews (subject to national security or legal restrictions),” CBS said.

Read story on The Hill

PBS says it has cut about 100 jobs because of federal funding cuts

PBS said it notified 34 staff members Thursdaythey are losing jobs. Congress cut $1 billion+ from PBS and NPR in July.

Read Story on NBC

Inside Trump’s war on the press: 75,000 posts, 3,500 direct attacks

Freedom of the Press Foundation catalogues thousands of posts by target — journalists, news outlets or “the media” — and type of attack .

Read Story in Editor & Publisher

After Trump’s Cuts, ‘Crippled’ NPR and PBS Stations Must Transform

Radio and TV stations, facing enormous budget holes, are pleading with NPR and PBS to lower fees as they weigh dropping national programming altogether.

Read NY Times story [paywall]

The German Owner of Politico Wants Another US Media Outlet

After taking full control of publisher Axel Springer, Mathias Döpfner has a pile of cash and the desire to grow.

Read Business Week Story [paywall]

Journalism and AI

Love it or fear it, Artificial Intelligence is rapidly being integrated in newsrooms around the world in a variety of ways, even as the technology upends and challenges online news business models. Here you will find links to articles, clips and videos that will be updated from time to time to help better understand this accelerating trend.

Rolling Stone Publisher Sues Google Over AI Summaries

Read WSJ article [paywall]

Judge skewers $1.5B Anthropic settlement with authors in pirated books case over AI training

Read AP Story

The AI Doomers Are Losing the Argument

"Weekend Essay on Bloomberg [paywall]

A Complete List of Publishers and Their AI Licensing Deals (as of Sept. 1, 2025)

Read FutureWeek Story

‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model

Read The Guardian Story

Can AI help local journalists cover 169 towns? A Connecticut out is working to find out

Read Poynter Report

Amazon to Pay New York Times at Least $20 Million a Year in AI Deal

Read WSJ Story paywall

SHORT VIDEO: How the New York Times uses AI in its investigations | AI and the Future of News 2025

CLICK to view video

AI startup Perplexity Is Launching a New Revenue-Share Model for news articles used in its search results.

Read story in WS Journal paywall

SHORT VIDEO: AI news videos blur line between real and fake reports

CLICK to view video

The good, the bad, and the completely made-up: Newsrooms on wrestling accurate answers out of AI

Read Nieman Lab Study

AI-powered search tools threaten the survival of the online news industry

Read story on TechEDT

[CLICK] Journalism & AI Archive

And The Awards Go To...

Silurians Excellence in Journalism Awards Honor Local Reporting On Crime, Sex Trafficking, Migrants, Brain Surgery and More

The 80th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards was celebrated with a festive dinner on June 18 at the historic National Arts Club in New York City, honoring outstanding work across 16 categories spanning print, broadcast, and online journalism. The event showcased the enduring strength and diversity of New York-area journalism.

[CLCIK]for Main Awards Page & Links to Winning Entries

A group of people holding up t-shirts with a globe on them

Silurians Scholarship Program

Prepare To Be Inspired

Kennedy Sessions-Black woman in white sweater

Kennedy Sessions, Dennis Duggan Award

Sessions, 26, specializes in Local Accountability Reporting and Data Journalism at the CUNY Newmark J-school..

See Sessions Acceptance

A woman is standing at a podium in front of a microphone.

Marina Samuels, 2025 Local Reporting Scholarship

Samuel, 24, CUNY Newmark J-school. "Work that we do should...reflect the struggles, amplify the voices of the community.

See Samuels Acceptance

A woman with long curly hair is smiling for the camera

Anna Oakes, Columbia Journalism School

"The importance of reporting with sensativity, thoroughness and persistence."

Anna Oaks Acceptance

A man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a microphone.

Garrett Owen

“Adherence to the hard truths and standards of integrity must always be followed and respected. We get to do that; We have the honor and privilege to do that. It’s a good kind of pressure.”

Garrett Own's Acceptance

Silurians Scholarship Program

Prepare To Be Inspired

Kennedy Sessions, 2025 Dennis Duggan Award Recipient

Sessions, 26, specializes in Local Accountability Reporting and Data Journalism at the CUNY Newmark J-school.. Interested in covering how elected officials' decisions and policies impact lives of constituents.

See Sessions Acceptance

Marina Samuels, 2025 Local Reporting Scholarship

Samuel, 24, specializes in Local Accountability Reporting and Data Journalism at the CUNY Newmark J-School, . "Work that we do should...reflect the struggles, amplify the voices of the community, and fights for its needs.

See Samuels Acceptance

Anna Oakes, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

Anna Oakes spent the last two years reporting on immigration, social movements, and healthcare.Will work as a summer fellow in local accountability journalism at The City.

Recent Guests/Speakers

Mike Kandel at 95: Unfiltered and Unforgettable

By Mel Laytner

The Silurians Press Club is no stranger to legendary journalists, but few can hold a room with the charm, wit, and sheer force of intellect that is Myron “Mike” Kandel.

Her Worst Day, Best Day, and Weed Bearing Her Name: A Very Connie Story

By Mel Laytner

Perhaps the worst day of Connie Chung’s life was being fired from her dream job, sitting in “half of Walter Cronkite’s seat,” co-anchoring the CBS Evening News. With karmic irony, two days later was one of her best: Chung and husband Maury Povich learned that their long-pursued adoption had come through.

Press Under Siege: Media Experts Assess the Impact of Trump’s Attacks

By Mel Laytner

In an afternoon of lively give-and-take, two leading observers of the national news media offered bleak and contrasting assessments of the challenges confronting the press today, from relentless attacks by President Donald Trump to collapsing business models.

They offered reasons for despair and some rays of hope. Brian Stelter, chief media analyst for CNN, and Oliver Darcy, publisher of the highly regarded Status newsletter, spoke before a rapt Silurians luncheon on March 19.

[More] Silurians Speaker/Event Videos