Before we get started today, one last note as we wrap up Poynter’s 50th anniversary week. 

For half a century, The Poynter Institute has stood for independent, fact-based journalism. The Poynter Report carries that mission forward every day. If you’ve found value in that work, this is a great moment to show your support.

Support The Poynter Report

Why news outlets are treading carefully on the Trump–Epstein story

The connection between President Donald Trump and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein seems like a big story.

How big?

That’s not an easy answer.

We really don’t know how big the story is because we don’t know how strong the connection was between Trump and Epstein. Emails released this week appear to indicate that Trump might have been aware of something. Beyond that, we just don’t know.

One email from Epstein to himself in February 2019 read that Trump knew about the sexual abuse of underage girls, but never participated.

Epstein wrote, “Trump knew of it. and came to my house many times during that period. He never got a massage.”

In an email to author Michael Wolff in January 2019, Epstein wrote, “Of course (Trump) knew about the girls.”

But again, news organizations have to be cautious when talking about Epstein and Trump.

CNN, for example, was super careful. In one example, a host said, “We want to be clear. President Trump did not receive or send any of the messages, which largely predated his time as president. He has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or (Epstein’s partner Ghislaine) Maxwell.”

So, a couple of thoughts on that. For one, that’s all true at the moment. And, two, Trump has shown no hesitation to sue whenever he feels he has been slighted or mistreated by the media. So news outlets are going to be careful and responsible, as they should be.

That doesn’t mean CNN or most serious news organizations are backing off on the story. 

The Washington Post played this analysis from Karen Tumulty prominently on its website: “Epstein is the one issue that persistently splits Trump from his base.” At one point Thursday, The New York Times homepage had four stories related to Epstein.

CNN’s website had analysis from Aaron Blake: “The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump.” Blake wrote, “If President Donald Trump has nothing to hide vis-à-vis Jeffrey Epstein, he sure has a weird way of showing it. Trump hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the convicted sex offender, but he’s doing a great job of looking suspicious.”

Politico displayed two stories prominently on its website: “Latest Epstein files knock White House on its heels” and “The 9 most shocking revelations in the Epstein docs.”

And The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait mocked the White House with “Wait, Are the Epstein Files Real Now?”

And on and on.

Don’t expect this story to slow down or disappear or quickly be replaced by the next thing in the news cycle. This story has legs.

But news organizations are going to be careful with exactly what they write and say.

A NOTE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Grow as a leader and strengthen journalism’s future

Through all the deadlines and chaos of constant change, you’ve probably been behaving as a leader without realizing it. The JSK Fellowships help journalists turn that experience into leadership that’s intentional and deeply rooted in purpose. Apply now to invest in your growth and your role in journalism’s future.

Apply now

BBC apologizes

The BBC officially apologized to President Donald Trump on Thursday, but the British public broadcaster is refusing to compensate him after he threatened a lawsuit earlier this week.

Last weekend, two top leaders at BBC News resigned, in part because of the way Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech was edited for a documentary that aired on the BBC a week before the 2024 presidential election. The documentary showed Trump’s speech on the day many of his supporters attacked the Capitol, but the speech was edited to show him saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol … and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

There was about a 50-minute gap between the first half of that quote and the second half.

After the resignations of BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness last weekend, Trump threatened to sue for $1 billion unless the BBC retracted the story, apologized and agreed to pay him an unspecified amount of money. The letter from a Trump representative threatening to sue the BBC said the BBC had until today to respond.

On Thursday, in the “Corrections and Clarifications” portion of its website, the BBC wrote that it accepts “that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for that error of judgement.”

The BBC added that the documentary would never air again on any of its platforms.

In addition, a BBC spokesperson said, “BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president's speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.”

However, the BBC said it would not pay Trump any money, as he requested in his threat of a lawsuit.

The BBC, through a spokesperson, said, “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER

Win a stay in Tuscany, or some Doonesbury history!

Anyone can bid on auction items to be awarded at Poynter’s Bowtie Ball on Nov. 15. No need to be present. For $100, you’re entered to win a seven-night stay at a Tuscan villa. Or you can bid on two historic Doonesbury collections signed by creator Garry Trudeau himself. Enter by Saturday!

Bid today

Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review

• For CNN subscribers, MJ Lee with “Unlimited toilet paper and special privileges: Inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s life in prison.”
• HuffPost’s David Moye with “Megyn Kelly Questions If Jeffrey Epstein Was A Pedophile Because 'He Wasn't Into, Like, 8-Year-Olds.’” And here’s Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher with “Megyn Kelly Spends 2 Solid Minutes On Whether Jeffrey Epstein Meets the Definition of ‘An Actual Pedophile.’”
• The New York Times’ ​​David A. Fahrenthold and Ken Bensinger with “Under Fire for Tucker Carlson Remarks, Think Tank Chief Pleads Ignorance.”
• The Washington Post’s Jeremy B. Merrill, Szu Yu Chen and Emma Kumer with “What are the clues that ChatGPT wrote something? We analyzed its style.”
• The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint reports that NBCUniversal will launch a new cable sports channel called NBCSN. Flint wrote, “The network will carry mostly sports that are also streamed on NBCU’s Peacock service, including National Basketball Association games, Big Ten college football, golf and Premier League soccer.” Flint added, “The service will also carry sports talk programming that currently runs on Peacock, including ‘The Dan Patrick Show,’ a three-hour daily radio and streaming program.”
• Nieman Lab’s Joshua Benton with “A bipartisan group of former FCC commissioners wants to take away Brendan Carr’s biggest weapon against journalism.” And here’s The Washington Post’s Scott Nover with “Brendan Carr should ditch speech-chilling policy, former FCC chairs say.”
• Larry Brooks, longtime hockey writer for the New York Post, has died. He was 75. I got to know Larry during my time, years ago, covering the National Hockey League. No one was more plugged in and fearless on the hockey beat. The Post’s Mike Vaccaro has a wonderful tribute to the man we all called “Brooksie.”
• The Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio with “Jim Avila, journalist for NBC, ABC and KNBC, dies at 70.” Avila covered the O.J. Simpson trial for Los Angeles’ KNBC.
• Finally, yeesh, it has been another rough week, hasn’t it? Let’s close on something a little more upbeat and useful. The Washington Post’s Olga Massov with “These Thanksgiving recipes have stood the test of time. We made them even better.”

More resources for journalists

• Join 650+ women leaders transformed by this leadership program since 2015. Apply today.
• Stop wasting hours on repetitive tasks — automate them instead. Learn how.
• Access a list of mental health reporting resources on funding, source-building and more.
• Experienced managers: Develop the must-have skills journalists need to lead media organizations of the future. Apply now.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

The Poynter Report is your daily dive into the world of media, packed with the latest news and insights. Get it delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday by signing up here. And don’t forget to tune into our biweekly podcast for even more.