Words aren’t enough

The Muck Rack Weekly newsletter includes some of the most talked about stories in the journalism and public relations communities over the past week, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial opinion of Muck Rack.

Media statistic of the week

Wonder How Americans view Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg? According to a Pew Research Center survey, 54% of Americans say they have an unfavorable view of Elon Musk, and 67% have an unfavorable view of Mark Zuckerberg.

Even if they aren’t well-liked, both figures are well known. “Fewer than one-in-ten say they’ve never heard of Musk (3%) or Zuckerberg (6%),” Pew Research Center reports. The survey also broke down the differences by political party, age and more. You can read the final topline here.?

This past week in the media industry?

The verdict is…

Judge rejects immediately restoring AP’s access to White House but urges government to reconsider, reports Matt Sedensky for Associated Press (AP).?

“A federal judge on Monday refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not demonstrated it had suffered any irreparable harm,” he writes “But he urged the Trump administration to reconsider its two-week-old ban, saying that case law ‘is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.’”

“AP spokesperson Lauren Easton had this to say after the hearing: ‘We look forward to our next hearing on March 20 where we will continue to stand for the right of the press and the public to speak freely without government retaliation. This is a fundamental American freedom.’”

Yet as of right now, it doesn’t look like President Trump will be reconsidering. To start, as Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO, Trump personally decided to limit Associated Press’ access to White House. And, as David Bauder reports for AP, Trump says AP will be curtailed at the White House until it changes its style to Gulf of America.?

Ron Fournier posted on X that the media needs to reclaim power. “Trump doubled down on his cancel-culture, state-speech attack on @AP— and the rest of the media remained cowed. Their morbidity is profound: He will come for them, too. Words aren’t enough: Boycott the briefings, deny the WH a platform for its lies.”

Nicholas Kristof also shares some perspective on X as this story continues to unfold. “It boggles the mind that Trump can complain about censorship and then block the @ap from access to the Oval Office unless the journalists use language he prefers. But AP reporters have stood up to dictators worldwide, even endured prison; they're tougher than Trump,” he writes.

Adrienne La France writes about this for The Atlantic on the topic of free speech: Intimidating Americans Will Not Work. “Trump is punishing Americans who don’t say the words he likes best,” she writes. “That’s not how it works in America.”

While the Oval Office is kicking the media out, the Pentagon is welcoming them in. For Axios, Sara Fischer has this story: Scoop: Conservative radio hosts invited to broadcast from Pentagon.

Make it fair

Major UK newspapers made a united statement this week as their front covers all featured the same campaign. Jess Weatherbed has this story for Verge: UK newspapers blanket their covers to protest loss of AI protections.?

“Creative and media industries have teamed up on this ‘Make It Fair’ initiative, calling for readers to help protect British creative industries,” she writes. “The campaign was created to fight government proposals that would allow artificial intelligence companies to train their models on copyright-protected work without permission.”

You can check out the Make It Fair website for more information from the News Media Association here.?

In U.S. newspaper news, WSJ Sees Subscription Growth as Wall Gets a Door, reports Christiana Sciaudone for A Media Operator. “The campaign drove incremental site traffic in nine out of the 10 markets where it ran,” she writes. “The ‘out-of-home’ campaigns drove a 19% uplift in people recommending the publication, and over half of those exposed to the campaign would be somewhat or very likely to recommend WSJ to a friend/family member. The campaign also saw an uptick in a user’s likelihood to subscribe.”

Plus, Gretel Kahn has this story for Reuters Institute: These five newspapers prove journalism can thrive without billionaire owners.?

Network breakups and shake ups

Lester Holt is stepping down as anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' after a decade, writes Daniel Arkin for NBC News. “Holt will continue to be a fixture at the network with a full-time role at “Dateline,” where he has been the principal anchor for almost 15 years, according to a memo shared with network staff Monday.”

Max Tani posted the memo he wrote to staff here. “It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to work with each of you every day, keeping journalism as our true north and our viewers at the center of everything we do,” Holt writes.?

Plus, this change as reported by Alana Wise for NPR: Joy Reid fired from MSNBC amid network shakeup. With that, MSNBC’s New Chief Plots First Moves, Poised to Expand Screen Time for Jen Psaki, ‘Weekend’ Trio, writes Brian Steinberg for Variety.?

Last, it seems it’s the end of the game for these two: ESPN and MLB to end their decades-long relationship after 2025 season, writes Kyle Feldscher for CNN.?

“The network first aired MLB games in 1990, but the league said in a statement that it is dismayed at how ESPN has pared back its baseball coverage,” he writes.?

“Given that MLB provides strong viewership, valuable demographics, and the exclusive right to cover unique events like the Home Run Derby, ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable. As a result, we have mutually agreed to terminate our agreement,” the league said in a statement.

More notable media stories

• Steven Pond and Missy Schwartz have the SAG recap for The Wrap: Conclave’ Claims Ensemble Prize at SAG Awards as Oscar Race Tightens.
• Reporters launch new TikTok-like news platform, reports Max Tani for Semafor. “Noosphere is a mobile-first platform for news that will charge less than $20 a month to users in exchange for unlimited access to content produced by independent journalists.”?
• Bluesky adds a ‘followers only’ reply option, writes Sarah Perez for TechCrunch.?
• An important story from Reporters Without Borders: Three years into Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearly 150 journalists attacked.
• Rebecca Falconer recaps for Axios the Key takeaways from Trump and Musk's "Hannity" interview.
• Brian Steinberg reports for Variety that NBC, Macy’s Strike 10-Year Deal to Keep Thanksgiving Parade Marching.

From the Muck Rack Team

Headed to SXSW? Muck Rack's annual dinner and drinks event “Off The Record”, the premiere event during SXSW exclusively for PR professionals, returns to Austin on Saturday March 8. Come join your industry colleagues for good vibes, great eats, and no deadlines. This event is expected to fill up quickly. Be sure to request your spot on the guest list today!