The dual purpose of Trump’s insults
The story of President Trump lashing out at Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey on Air Force One — telling her “Quiet, piggy” — does not appear to be going away. While Trump’s history of disparaging women is well known, writes the Arizona Republic’s Bill Goodykoontz, “this particular childish insult seems to have struck a nerve.” It generated more outrage than usual, writes Rachel Leingang in The Guardian.
Trump added to the outrage by berating ABC reporter Mary Bruce this week, as recounted by Michael M. Grynbaum in The New York Times. And it’s not just the reporter he went after — he threatened the network as well. Then the White House issued a press release that included a litany of complaints about ABC.
This is all part of the point — it’s a larger strategy by the president to gain deference not just from journalists but also from the media companies they work for, NPR’s David Folkenflik explained on Morning Edition Thursday. Even as White House reporters ask the president tough questions, Folkenflik says, Trump is essentially “asking their bosses a question of his own — with so much at stake, is it worth it?”
- Related: US broadcast regulator reviews network-affiliate relationships after Trump attack on ABC (Reuters)
- Plus: Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks (The Guardian)
News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.
Civic Discourse & Democracy
>> Forget Joe Rogan. The next big podcast bro is in the Senate (Politico)
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast gives him a bigger platform than most politicians have, and a potential head start if he runs for president in 2028, writes Ben Jacobs.
- Plus: YouTube’s right-wing stars fuel boom in politically charged ads (Bloomberg News)
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Culture & Inclusion
>> College journalism exposes the rot of ‘grown-ups’ (Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer)
When emails from the late Jeffrey Epstein were released and showed his communications with Harvard’s ex-president Larry Summers, the Harvard Crimson “produced the most in-depth takedown of any media outlet, anywhere,” writes Will Bunch. The Crimson’s reporting was another example of how students have filled a void left by mainstream journalism, he writes.
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Community Engagement & Trust
>> New from API: The 5 most popular Better News articles and case studies of 2025
API’s director of journalism strategy, Emily Ristow, collected the most popular stories in 2025 from Better News, which features lessons and successes from newsrooms across the country — and a few from around the world. We hope you’ll take these ideas, steal them and adapt them for your news organization.
- Plus: How can API help you? Take our needs and impact survey
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Revenue & Resilience
>> Financial Times launches first Substack newsletter to target younger readers (Press Gazette)
The Financial Times is putting its FT Alphaville newsletter on Substack as part of an effort to win over younger readers, writes Alice Brooker. Sarah Ebner, Financial Times’ director of editorial growth and engagement, told Brooker that Alphaville “strongly resonates” with younger readers, many of whom are already on the Substack platform.
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What else you need to know
👀 For conservative media, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani quickly becomes attack target (Associated Press)
🧐 Elon Musk’s Grokipedia cites a neo-Nazi website 42 times, researchers say (NBC News)
📸 Journalists’ cameras become targets at Oregon protests (Freedom of the Press Foundation)
💵 AP Fund for Journalism secures over $30 million to bring AP content to local U.S. newsrooms (APFJ)
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Weekend reads
+ Watch: Tina Brown and the disrespect of journalism’s ‘digital barons’ (The New York Times)
+ When Americans say they get news from TV, what do they mean? (Pew Research Center)
+ A writers club for older adults soothed my grief as we’ve ‘ranted, raved and wrangled’ with aging (Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
+ AI is a bubble. Maybe that’s OK. (The New York Times)
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