Email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser ([link removed]) .
[link removed]
[link removed]


** OPINION
------------------------------------------------------------


** New book excerpts reveal bombshells about Biden’s health and the toll it took on his campaign
------------------------------------------------------------
Former President Joe Biden, shown here on Jan. 19 — his last full day as president. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

For weeks, we’ve eagerly wondered what kind of revelations would be revealed in a new book about former President Joe Biden.

The title of the soon-to-be-released book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson — “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” ([link removed]) — suggested an explosive and disturbing portrait of the latter days of Biden’s presidency and how it impacted not only the election, but the future of the country.

The book isn’t even out yet — it’s set to be released on May 20 — but Politico called it, “The book Biden allies fear the most.”

Now excerpts are being released, and it paints a rather sad and alarming picture of Biden, his declining health, his decision to stay in the presidential race as long as he did and, ultimately, the tug-of-war between those who tried to protect him and those who desperately wanted him to drop out of the race because they were disturbed by his condition.

The New Yorker ran this excerpt Tuesday: “How Joe Biden handed the presidency to Donald Trump.” ([link removed])

A big part of this excerpt is how Biden’s health changed rapidly over time, and how he fluctuated between having good and bad days.

Tapper and Thompson wrote, “The real issue wasn’t his age, per se. It was the clear limitations of his abilities, which got worse throughout his Presidency. What the public saw of his functioning was concerning. What was going on in private was worse. While Biden on a day-in, day-out basis could certainly make decisions and assert wisdom and act as President, there were several significant issues that complicated his Presidency: a limit to the hours in which he could reliably function and an increasing number of moments when he seemed to freeze up, lose his train of thought, forget the names of top aides, or momentarily not remember friends he’d known for decades. Not to mention impairments to his ability to communicate — ones unrelated to his lifelong stutter.”

They continued, “It wasn’t a straight line of decline; he had good days and bad. But, until the last day of his Presidency, Biden and those closest to him refused to admit the reality that his energy, cognitive skills, and communication capacity had faltered considerably. Even worse, through various means, they tried to hide it.”

But no one could hide Biden’s disastrous debate performance that ultimately drove him out of the presidential race — albeit more than three weeks later. By then, it might have already been too late. In the book, David Plouffe, who helped run Kamala Harris’ campaign, says, “We got so screwed by Biden, as a party.”

The excerpt, as well as excerpts in other outlets, also dropped some more alarming surprises. For example, Tapper and Thompson claim that Biden didn’t immediately recognize actor George Clooney at a fundraiser before the debate. The authors wrote, “Clooney was shaken to his core. The President hadn’t recognized him, a man he had known for years.”

Biden also insisted the day after Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris that he would have beaten Trump — that polls told him so. Tapper and Thompson, however, write, “His pollsters told us that no such polls existed. There was no credible data, they said, to support the notion that he would have won.”

And there’s even more. Check out Mediaite’s Joe DePaolo with “5 Most Shocking Revelations On Biden’s Decline from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Explosive New Book Excerpts.” ([link removed])

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
[link removed]


** TONIGHT: Celebrating 50 years: NABJ, Poynter look ahead in special webinar
------------------------------------------------------------

The National Association of Black Journalists and the Poynter Institute are each turning 50 in 2025. As we celebrate decades of impact, we’re also looking ahead.

This evening, join us for a special webinar ([link removed]) featuring influential leaders in news, education and media strategy as they tackle the real issues shaping journalism today.

Register now. ([link removed])


** A review
------------------------------------------------------------

The New York Times’ Jennifer Szalai reviewed the Tapper-Thompson book about Biden: “A Damning Portrait of an Enfeebled Biden Protected by His Inner Circle.” ([link removed])

Szalai writes, “The result is a damning, step-by-step account of how the people closest to a stubborn, aging president enabled his quixotic resolve to run for a second term. The authors trace the deluge of trouble that flowed from Biden’s original sin: the sidelining of Vice President Kamala Harris; the attacks on journalists (like Thompson) who deigned to report on worries about Biden’s apparent fatigue and mental state; an American public lacking clear communication from the president and left to twist in the wind. ‘It was an abomination,’ one source told the authors. ‘He stole an election from the Democratic Party; he stole it from the American people.’”


** Shut out on Air Force One
------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s another example of President Donald Trump and his administration thumbing their noses at the press and, in a way, the American people.

Trump traveled to the Middle East, but none of the wire services — The Associated Press, Reuters or Bloomberg — were permitted on Air Force One, where Trump often answers questions from the small traveling group of pool reporters.

In a statement, the White House Correspondents’ Association said, “The White House pool was created to be representative of the different types of media outlets that serve different readers. Leaving out the wires is a disservice to Americans who need news about their president, especially on foreign trips where anything could happen and the consequences can impact the entire world. If you have read or watched the news, you’ve relied on the words written and transmitted immediately by wire reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg or Reuters. Their reports are distributed quickly to thousands of news outlets and millions of readers throughout the world every day, so all have equal access to coverage of the presidency. This change is a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”

The WHCA says it's the first time since the White House press corps started traveling with American presidents abroad that no wire service reporter was aboard Air Force One.

Trump has been feuding with the AP for weeks because he is upset that the AP is calling the body of water between Florida and Texas the “Gulf of Mexico” instead of what he wants it called — the “Gulf of America.”

Last month, a federal judge ruled in favor of the AP, saying Trump could not punish a news organization for the content of its speech. So, as a way to get around that while they appealed, the White House changed its media policy. Instead of letting the WHCA choose which outlets are in the small pool, the White House overtook those responsibilities. Typically, the WHCA made sure at least one wire service was in the pool because wire services reach the most people. But under the White House’s news policy, wire services might be left out of the pool — as they were this week.

The WHCA said in their statement, “The WHCA is disturbed by this new restriction on who can cover this White House and continued retaliation for independent editorial decisions. The WHCA is advocating for the wire service journalists to return to their seats on Air Force One where they have reliably covered every president for decades, not for us but for the millions of Americans who depend on their reporting every day.”


** Speaking out for a free press
------------------------------------------------------------

The New York Times published an essay from publisher A.G. Sulzberger on Tuesday evening that was originally a talk at the Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies: “A Free People Need a Free Press.” ([link removed])

It’s difficult to summarize the piece in just a few sentences, but it’s an important essay and I encourage you to read it.

Sulzberger writes about a need for a strong press, adding, “A subservient press, meanwhile, makes it easier for leaders to keep secrets, to rewrite reality, to undermine political rivals, to put self-interest above public interest and ultimately to consolidate and cement their power. In the words of the political director for Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister often cited as a model for President Trump: ‘Whoever controls a country’s media controls that country’s mind-set and, through that, the country itself.’”

He continued by writing, “Let me pause to say plainly that as a champion of independent journalism, I believe our job is to cover political debates, not to join them. We’re not the resistance. We are nobody’s opposition. We’re also nobody’s cheerleader. Our loyalty is to the truth and to a public that deserves to know it. That is the distinct role that independent news organizations like The Times play in our democracy. That means we will cover the Trump administration fully and fairly, regardless of what attacks it sends our way. We will continue to provide unmatched coverage of its abuses and failures. We will also cover its successes and achievements and explore its support across a large and diverse swath of the country.”

He then adds, “Holding fast to our independence in the face of intimidation is not appeasement or acquiescence, as some would suggest. It’s certainly not a form of complicity. It’s a refusal to allow ourselves to be pressured by anyone into distorting our mission to follow the facts and bring the public the full story. However, as the steward of a leading news organization, I also have a responsibility to speak out about any efforts by the government to undermine the public’s right to know.”


** Naming their name and price
------------------------------------------------------------

ESPN unveiled the name and price for its new direct-to-consumer product, and it’s what everyone thought it would be.

The name will be called — hold onto something — ESPN. And it will be offered for $29.99 per month without the need for a cable or satellite subscription. Most figured the price point would be between $25 and $30 a month.

We don’t know its official launch date, but it’s expected to be in the fall.

At a press conference in New York City, ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro said, “It’s going to redefine our business.”

People will still be able to get ESPN the way they always have — through traditional cable and satellite services, as well as certain platforms such as YouTube TV and Fubo. But with the direct-to-consumer ESPN, you won’t need any of those to get ESPN programming, as well as ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, ESPN’s college league networks, ESPN+ and any games on ABC.

ESPN announced that there will also be bundling opportunities for the ESPN unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu, including a special offer at launch for $29.99 a month for the first 12 months.

The $29.99 monthly price is for an unlimited package. There will be a select option for $11.99 a month. In a statement, ESPN said, “The select plan will provide subscribers with access to all content available on ESPN+, including more than 32,000 live sports events annually, a robust library of exclusive studio shows, on-demand replays, acclaimed original content, and more.”

This direct-to-consumer product is meant to help ESPN deal with the changing cable environment. As The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand wrote ([link removed]) that “in the digital age, with competitors like Netflix, Amazon Prime and others, subscribers — especially those uninterested in sports — have either cut the cord or, in the case of a younger generation, have never even considered adding cable or a cable-like system. In the old setup, which had benefits for big and small channels, ESPN reigned supreme, as it was on the basic tier, meaning anyone with cable was paying for ESPN even if they never watched it. At the end of last year, Nielsen reported that ESPN had 65.3 million subscribers.”

It most definitely is, pardon the pun, a game-changer.

Washington Post sports media columnist Ben Strauss wrote ([link removed]) , “It will mark the first time the entire network’s menu of live sports, including the College Football Playoff and NBA Finals, will be accessible without a cable subscription, a major shift for the company and the cable bundle that once defined entertainment and sports viewing.”


** The pope’s post
------------------------------------------------------------

Pope Leo XIV leaves the Augustinian General House in Rome after a visit on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Leo XIV used social media on Tuesday for the first time since becoming pope last week, posting on Instagram in several languages ([link removed]) , “Peace be with you all! This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world.” The post also included several photos of him in his first few days as pope.

Leo used social media on his personal account before becoming pope, usually linking to various articles. Now he will use the official accounts. The Vatican News ([link removed]) reports the @Pontifex accounts on X and Instagram have about 52 million followers across nine languages.

The Dicastery for Communication (the parent organization of the Vatican News) says Leo will “maintain an active social media presence through the official papal accounts on X and Instagram.”


** The impact of ‘Serial’
------------------------------------------------------------

The latest installment of The Poynter 50 ([link removed]) — a series reflecting on 50 moments and people that shaped journalism over the past half-century — looks at how the podcast, “Serial,” helped rewrite the playbook on audio reporting. My colleague, Nicole Slaughter Graham, has a terrific story: “Serial’s runaway success launched podcasts into the mainstream.” ([link removed])

Slaughter Graham writes, “‘Serial’ would become a cultural phenomenon, one that would push long-form narrative journalism and the true crime genre into the audio mainstream. It would also kick off a booming podcast ecosystem driven by strong journalistic storytelling like ‘The Daily’ from The New York Times. But it also redefined who could take up space in audio storytelling — and who showed up to listen — which led to personality-driven shows like ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ that would eventually blur the lines between journalism, commentary and entertainment.”

Be sure to check out the story to learn more about how the podcast came together and how it changed the game of audio reporting.

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
[link removed]


** Media tidbits
------------------------------------------------------------
* Seems like there’s a gossipy Bill Belichick story every day. The latest is a good one from The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore, Jesse Dougherty and Ben Strauss: “Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson and the making of a PR disaster.” ([link removed])
* Also from the Post, media critic Erik Wemple with “MSNBC in five words: ‘I could not agree more.’” ([link removed])
* ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that the NFL will air a game exclusively on YouTube for the first time this season. He tweeted ([link removed]) , “YouTube will exclusively stream the Friday night Week 1 game of the 2025 NFL season in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sept. 5 to a worldwide audience on YouTube and YouTube TV. This marks the first exclusive NFL game to be streamed live and for free in its entirety on YouTube.”
* In a guest essay for The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse — who reported on the Supreme Court for the Times from 1978 to 2008 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998 — with “Should Reporters Identify Judges by the President Who Nominated Them?” ([link removed])
* CNN is launching a weather app, according to Axios’ Sara Fischer ([link removed]) . She wrote, “CNN Weather will combine expertise from CNN's meteorology and climate teams in a mobile-first app that will provide targeted local weather forecasts and 24/7 coverage of major regional and national weather events, CNN's EVP of digital products and services Alex MacCallum told employees in a town hall Tuesday.”
* For the Columbia Journalism Review, Laura Preston with “Study Guide Supremacy. Getting my news from ChatGPT.” ([link removed])
* The Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio with “The network evening news is in flux: Why an American TV institution is under pressure.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
------------------------------------------------------------
* Vulture’s Rachel Handler and Alison Willmore with “14 Movies We Can’t Wait to See at This Year’s Cannes Film Festival.” ([link removed])
* The National Football League schedule for next season will be officially announced today. Check out The Athletic’s Jayna Bardahl with “Meet the man behind the NFL schedule, on the verge of his retirement.” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
------------------------------------------------------------
* New reporters: Get essential reporting techniques, effective storytelling methods, and newsroom navigation skills. Register today ([link removed]) .
* Master trauma-informed interviewing and craft nuanced stories that portray mental health challenges with accuracy and dignity. Register for our webinar ([link removed]) .
* Learn how to “lead your leaders” in this virtual intensive for journalism managers handling big responsibilities without direct reports. Apply today ([link removed]) .
* Gain essential skills that protect your mental health while producing nuanced coverage that serves vulnerable communities. Enroll now ([link removed]) .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
[link removed]
Help Poynter strengthen journalism, truth and democracy. ([link removed])
GIVE NOW ([link removed])

ADVERTISE ([link removed]) // DONATE ([link removed]) // LEARN ([link removed]) // JOBS ([link removed])
Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here. ([link removed])
[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed] mailto:[email protected]?subject=Feedback%20for%20Poynter
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
© All rights reserved Poynter Institute 2025
801 Third Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
If you don't want to receive email updates from Poynter, we understand.
You can change your subscription preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe from all Poynter emails ([link removed]) .