The News Committee sets the agenda for EBU’s news operations and facilitates dialogue, exchange of best practices and innovation in how member news organisations deliver their mission. It also supports the development and implementation of new technologies for news production and distribution.
This year’s annual News Assembly was held in Portland, Oregon from October 24 to 26. The assembly brings together journalists, editors-in-chief and deputy editors from across the world to discuss improving coverage, reducing costs and implementing new technology. It is the only meeting of its kind that brings together all sectors of the media industry and the news teams of public service broadcasters.
Congress is getting ready to vote on whether Rep. Ilhan Omar should be removed from her House committee after she made controversial comments about the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a mass shooting in California. Several Republicans — including Speaker McCarthy — oppose the move, but it could happen if enough Democrats back it.
Congressional leaders will unveil a proposal next week to protect members of Congress from having their tax-deductible donations from foreign sources, a major change that would require a majority vote in both parties. It comes amid widespread criticism that the tax exemption is a slush fund for wealthy donors.
A select committee is taking aim at the Trump campaign for allegedly using fake slates of electors to try to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2016 presidential election. Two potential witnesses are expected to tell the committee they were involved in a conspiracy to fund protests against the result and communicated with top aides to President Trump about them. The committee is also considering referring the matter to the Department of Justice for consideration of charges that these people violated a constitutional provision saying anyone who “aids or encourages an insurrection” may be disqualified from holding office.
The panel’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, has vowed to expose the truth, even if it angers some in the Republican Party. He says it’s obvious now that the Trump campaign knew they had lost based on testimony and documentary evidence. The committee has heard from officials who worked with Trump’s closest advisers and members of his own family. It has shown never-before-seen video of members calling Pence, the Defense Department and governors of Virginia and Maryland to ask them to bring in the National Guard to stop the rioters. The committee has not ruled out subpoenaing former Vice President Mike Pence to testify. The committee is also seeking information from lawyers who were consulted about the efforts to overturn the results of the election. They include Katrina Pierson, who was a liaison between the organizers of the Jan. 6 demonstration and the White House. She has not responded to requests for comment. The committee is also seeking to interview Roger Stone, a longtime informal adviser to Trump. He has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.