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On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched a main joint assault on Iran. Getting info from Iran initially was extraordinarily tough as a result of there have been no Western journalists within the nation.
But that modified with NCS’s Frederik Pleitgen.
Literally moments after the assaults started, Pleitgen started engaged on a plan to get into the nation to cowl the war. He had been going to Iran for almost a dozen years with producer and photojournalist Claudia Otto. They have been there greater than 40 occasions.
But this time, it was completely different. This time, it was war. Within days of the beginning of the war, he and Otto traveled greater than 24 hours, together with a half day inside the nation from the border to Tehran. They had no escort. They weren’t absolutely conscious of what they had been driving into.
They simply knew they needed to get there to file this second in time.
Pleitgen recounted his expertise protecting the early days of the war in Iran within the newest episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast.”
We discuss having no warning for when the assaults would occur, in addition to always trying to find a good place to run to as soon as the assaults started. He talked about how you can report a story underneath fixed remark by these in command of the nation, whereas venturing into pro-government rallies as a foreigner.
Did he sleep? Did he eat? How did he get these tales out with web entry severely restricted?
And, most significantly, how do you do your job when you’re in fixed hazard? Pleitgen stated it’s not like any war he has ever covered. They’re all completely different, he advised me, however this one was particularly completely different in comparison with, say, Ukraine.
“Ukraine is very intense. But Ukraine is also one of those places where it’s intense when you’re at the front line,” Pleitgen stated. “If you get behind the front lines, you know, by 20 or 30 miles … you’re usually pretty safe. You know if you take precautions … you can get away from it. There’s quiet. You can relax a little bit. You couldn’t do that here. You know that the bombings are targeted. You know they’re all GPS drop bombs or whatever — Tomahawk missiles, whatever they have. But if you’re in the vicinity of something that gets hit, the likelihood of you getting badly hurt or even killed is high.”
I feel you’ll discover Pleitgen’s account fascinating, informative and straightforward to hearken to due to his matter-of-fact, but amiable demeanor and supply.
Aside from YouTube, you can even discover the present on Apple, Spotify, and most locations the place you discover podcasts.
A federal decide in Washington dominated Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s government order barring federal funding of NPR and PBS violated the First Amendment.
In May 2025, Trump signed an government order reducing off federal funding for public media, citing what he referred to as liberal bias of their protection.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, wrote in his opinion on Tuesday, “The message is clear. NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news.”
But in the long run, it’s attainable the decide’s ruling, which the administration may attraction, won’t quantity to a lot.
The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote, “Two months after the executive order, Congress voted to claw back roughly $500 million in annual funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the organization that distributes federal money to NPR and PBS. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has since shut down, and public radio and TV stations across the country have sought alternate forms of revenue.”
“But,” Mullin added, “the ruling could have implications for any future money Congress decides to allocate to public media, removing a hurdle that could have prevented lawmakers from restoring funding for NPR and PBS.”
In a assertion, Katherine Maher, president and CEO of NPR, stated, “Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations, and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide. The court made clear that the government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom. Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official. NPR and our Member Stations will continue delivering independent, fact-based, high-quality reporting to communities across the United States, regardless of the administration of the day. “
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., a partner at Gibson Dunn representing NPR, said in a statement, “Today’s ruling is a significant victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press. The district court’s decision bars the government from enforcing its unconstitutional Executive Order targeting NPR and PBS because the President dislikes their news reporting and other programming. As the court expressly recognized, the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others. The Executive Order crossed that line.”
The Washington Post’s Scott Nover reported that White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote in a assertion that Tuesday’s choice was “a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law.”
American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday, in response to Iraq’s inside ministry.
In a social media submit, the ministry stated, “The Ministry of the Interior announces that, in the evening of this day, a foreign journalist encountered an incident of kidnapping by unknown people, and immediately the specialized security forces dispatched their duties to pursue the criminals, according to accurate intelligence information and an intensive field effort to track the path of the kidnappers.”
According to reviews, one suspect is in custody, however Kittleson’s whereabouts stay unknown. Other reviews say she could also be in a lodge in downtown Baghdad. Al Jazeera producer Saad Abedine posted that Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad by “unidentified perpetrators affiliated with Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militias.”
The New York Times’ Erika Solomon, Falih Hassan and Pranav Baskar reported, “The Iraqi ministry said that security forces had pursued the kidnappers as they fled, managing to arrest one suspect and seizing a vehicle that had been used in the abduction. The suspect is a member of the Iran-allied Kataib Hezbollah, the two senior Iraqi security officials said. Kataib Hezbollah is one of Iraq’s most powerful militant groups and the same militia that held Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli Russian doctoral student at Princeton University, hostage for more than two years, torturing her while in captivity. The Iraqi authorities were now working under the assumption that the same group was behind the abduction on Tuesday, one of the security officials said.
Al-Monitor, an independent news outlet based in Washington that covers the Middle East, wrote, “Kittleson, an American citizen who has spent years in Italy and is currently based in Rome, is known for her courageous reporting from war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Kittleson has no known agenda and has contributed to numerous publications, including Al-Monitor. Trump administration sources confirmed to Al-Monitor that they were aware of the threat against her and had advised against travel to Iraq.”
Kittleson additionally has written for Politico and the BBC.
In a statement, Al-Monitor stated, “We are deeply alarmed by the kidnapping of Al-Monitor contributor Shelly Kittleson in Iraq on Tuesday. We call for her safe and immediate release. We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.”
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark wrote a visitor essay for The New York Times: “Craigslist Made Me Rich. Giving the Money Away Is Easy.” I’ll point out right here that the Newmark Ethics Center at Poynter was made attainable by a grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
In his essay, Newmark writes in regards to the Giving Pledge, which was based by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. The level is for super-rich folks to offer away most of their cash to charitable causes earlier than they die, or by way of their wills.
Newmark writes, “It’s bizarre to me that the pledge has now come under attack by some tech billionaires who say we’re giving our money away foolishly, or complain that the money is going to left-wing nonprofits. The truth is that pledge signers can give their money to whichever charitable causes they want. I don’t understand the critics’ logic, but politics and that sort of criticism have never really made much sense to me. I really am a nerd.”
Newmark provides, “Patriotism has always been important to me, in the founding father sort of way. We owe a lot to those who keep us safe. I give my money to organizations that help veterans and military families — people like my dad and others who served. I fund a public service campaign to help people avoid online scams because those really tick me off. I support independent, trustworthy journalism, the kind that holds leaders on both sides accountable and protects our democracy. I also donate to pigeon protection groups, because I like pigeons.”
There’s extra to Newmark’s sensible essay, so you’ll want to test it out.
Vice President JD Vance, proven right here on the White House final week. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Vice President JD Vance is popping out with a new memoir that may dive into his Christian religion and his conversion to Catholicism.
The e book — titled “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” — is being printed by HarperCollins Publishers and is because of come out June 16.
In a information launch, Vance stated, “I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true. But I didn’t always think that, and by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”
The New York Times’ Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias wrote, “The announcement comes as many Republican strategists, officials and voters look to Mr. Vance as the early front-runner in the 2028 Republican primary race to succeed President Trump. While Mr. Vance has said ‘it feels so premature’ to discuss the contest, he has been taking steps to demonstrate his support of the president’s MAGA base.”
They added, “His book is an effort to position Mr. Vance as a political leader — and potential next Republican presidential nominee — but also supports a larger effort by socially conservative leaders, activists and politicians to strengthen the power of conservative Christianity in American life.”
This will likely be Vance’s second memoir. His first, 2016’s “Hillbilly Elegy,” centered on overcoming his tough upbringing. It was became a 2020 movie directed by Ron Howard and starring Gabriel Basso as Vance. It additionally starred Amy Adams and Glenn Close, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
What is it with the Trump administration and pictures? Earlier this month, The Washington Post’s Scott Nover reported that photographers had been briefly banned from Pentagon briefings as a result of they printed what Pentagon officers thought had been unflattering pictures of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Now right here’s one other instance of their thin-skinned habits. Status’ Oliver Darcy reports that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was upset about a picture of her taken round Thanksgiving by AFP. In the picture, Leavitt is holding her toddler son whereas they stand subsequent to a turkey. Apparently, she thought it was an unflattering picture, though actually, it appears unlikely anybody would give it a second thought if the White House had by no means complained. What’s extra, Status reported they might discover just one outlet that truly printed the picture on-line — a information outlet in Switzerland.
AFP and Getty Images have eliminated the picture from their wire picture libraries.
In an e mail to Darcy, Grégoire Lemarchand, AFP’s director of brand name and communications, stated his company was made conscious of the White House complaints, however that these complaints had nothing to do with pulling the picture from their archives.
Lemarchand advised Darcy, “During high-volume events like White House briefings, our desk often receives a large influx of photos directly from the photographer’s camera, which are moved quickly by the editor on duty to ensure timely delivery. Upon a subsequent review of the day’s production, our editor-in-chief determined that this specific image did not meet our editorial standards. The angle was poor and, more importantly, we already had a selection of superior images from the same event available on the wire. While we were made aware that White House staff found the photo unflattering, we want to be clear that there was no formal request to remove it, nor was there any external pressure involved.”
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Have suggestions or a tip? Email Poynter senior media author Tom Jones at [email protected].
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