Media

NPR photographer dies in Afghanistan, more media notes

By Kevin Roderick | June 5, 2016 11:55 PM

gilkey-tamanna-npr.jpgDavid Gilkey, a much-awarded photojournalist on assignment for NPR in Afghanistan, was killed when the unit he was traveling with came under attack. Gilkey was 50. NPR's Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna, 38, also died. The photo here is by Monika Evstatieva/NPR.

From NPR's story:

David was considered one of the best photojournalists in the world — honored with a raft of awards including a George Polk in 2010, an Emmy in 2007 and dozens of distinctions from the White House News Photographers Association.


It is fair to say that David witnessed some of humanity's most challenging moments: He covered wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He covered the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He covered the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa. He covered the devastating earthquake in Haiti, famine in Somalia and most recently the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.

His images were haunting — amid the rubble, he found beauty; amid war, he found humanity.

And noted: CBS LA managing editor Pete Wilgoren writes about finding out Friday that he was out of a job. From his post at his blog Dadmissions:

I’ve gone through a lot of emotions in the past couple of days: shock, anger, sadness. You see, when I went to work Friday, I didn’t know it would be my last day at work after 16 years with the company. But it was. And it’s over. And it’s just a part of the changing business I chose. Nothing is forever.

Media notes

Far worse than the name and punctuational idiosyncrasies is the direction in which Ferro is pushing the company. The vision calls for perhaps the most concentrated mess of buzzwords that digital publishing has ever seen, and that’s some feat.
  • Also: The rookie digital journalism titans at Tronc neglected to secure the Twitter handle @tronc before they went public. They apparently have it now. Wash Post
  • And this:
  • Russ Mitchell, the former technology editor at the LA Times before leaving to be managing editor at California Healthline, is returning to the LAT on June 13 in a new role. Based in the Bay Area, Mitchell will be covering automobiles, the future of mobility and the strengthening relationship between Silicon Valley and the auto industry. Via release

  • The LA Times did not have a front page mention of Muhammad Ali's passing due to the paper's unusually early deadlines — and readers noticed. The LAT came back with a big Sunday package. Co-bylines on the A-1 obituary of Muhammad Ali were Thomas Curwen, who is a staff writer now, and J. Michael Kennedy, who has had several jobs since leaving the Times I don't know when. LAT

  • And this from the former LA Times reporter and editor of the opinion pages, now at UCLA:


  • Paul Waldman, a senior writer at The American Prospect and contributor to the Washington Post's Plum Line blog, argues that "it’s possible that when we look back over the sweep of this most unusual campaign, we’ll mark this week as a significant turning point: the time when journalists finally figured out how to cover Donald Trump."
  • The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the watchdog group that reported the Panama Papers, is being forced to cut costs. NYT

  • Los Angeles Magazine editor and writer Amy Wallace was married over the weekend to Dale Harvey.

  • There is at least one new thing about the Orange County Register under new ownership: its formerly libertarian editorial pages have endorsed Rep. Loretta Sanchez for the first time, and surprised followers with an endorsement for the school board.

  • Next week the most gripping news for the music industry may come out of a federal courtroom in Los Angeles. There, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin will be defending themselves against a lawsuit claiming that parts of “Stairway to Heaven” were copied from “Taurus,” an instrumental tune by the lesser-known group Spirit. NYT

  • Hollywood's New Problem: Sequels Moviegoers Don't Want. THR

  • Zocalo columnist Joe Mathews finds the four-hour commute from Pasadena to Santa Monica via the Expo Line way too slow and hard on his body. Don't believe the LA transit hype


  • The Coalition to Preserve LA, which kicked off signature gathering in hopes of qualifying a measure for the 2017 city ballot, is run by former LA Weekly managing editor Jill Stewart. The group's communications director is John Schwada, the former Fox 11 and LA Times reporter.

  • Former LA Times TV and media critic Howard Rosenberg has a two-part piece of fiction now running at Nikki Finke's Hollywood Dementia website.

  • Another editor and reporter have left the flailing Las Vegas Review-Journal. Politico

  • The Center for Investigative Reporting added ESPN's Rob King to its board of directors.


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