Hello, and happy Friday!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t start this correspondence by acknowledging the scoop of the century (okay, perhaps just the year) from my former colleagues at The Atlantic. For those who somehow missed it: On Monday, the magazine published a bonkers story detailing how Trump aides inadvertently invited the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat where highly sensitive information about a military strike was being shared, emojis and all. The Atlantic refrained from publishing the texts with exact details of the military operation on the grounds that doing so could possibly jeopardize the lives of U.S. personnel. But after a full day of Trump administration officials insisting no classified material was ever shared in the Signal group, The Atlantic reasoned there was a clear public interest in disclosing the purportedly insignificant texts. Those dropped on Wednesday.
Plenty will be said about The Atlantic in the coming days, not least by the president himself. Trump has a long history of deriding it as “a failed magazine.” The truth, however, is that the 167-year-old publication is doing very well. It became profitable last year after surpassing one million subscribers — a figure that has no doubt grown, especially after this week.
In an era where media access is being rolled back and where the First Amendment is coming under fresh attack, a free and independent press of the kind that can deliver essential information from the halls (and group chats) of power is vital. You can help ensure this kind of journalism exists by becoming a subscriber. I’m a little biased, but I think Reuters and The Atlantic offer great value for money.
In other media news: Kari Lake, Trump’s special advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media, has withdrawn the cancelation of Radio Free Europe’s grant, which I wrote about in our last correspondence. Small victories.
What I’ve worked on
I’ve loved working with Reuters colleagues around the world on our City Memo series, which offers readers an inside view on what to do in some of the world’s most interesting places. Here are some of our latest:
Rio de Janeiro like a local (video)
You’ll find dozens more in our archive.
What I’ve read
This NYT piece on the resurgence of English cuisine (no, not that piece):
“British food is gentle and so simply [made],” she says. But “simple is not easy.”
This story on the Arab American voters who backed Trump, and now feel betrayed:
Mr. Ibadat, 19, voted for Mr. Trump, partly because he believed the president would help stop war in the Middle East and “that there would not be any more killings.”
But disappointed by Mr. Trump’s foreign policy and his seemingly haphazard approach to domestic affairs, Mr. Ibadat said he would approach the ballot box differently today.
“After all these things going on,” he said, “honestly, I would probably vote undecided.”
This long read about how China’s war on dissidents has come to Britain:
Lau is one of thousands who fled Hong Kong to Britain once the protests started—and particularly since June 2020, when China passed a national-security law that led to often-violent suppression. I’ve spoken with more than 30 activists like Lau who have come to the United Kingdom, where the harassment and surveillance they tried to escape has followed them. Assailants have stalked them in public and smeared them online. Letters have shown up at their neighbors’ doors promising a reward for turning over dissidents to the Chinese embassy. Back home, government authorities have suspended their retirement savings and interrogated their families. Some have been attacked.
What I’m thinking about
I joined Goodreads! Drop me a follow me if you fancy it (unless you’re not too keen on books in the Israel-Palestine category, in which case maybe hold off for now).
Until next time,
Yasmeen