Save the Date - Wednesday, May 21

Myron Kandel Reveals All

closeup of myron (mike) Kandel

At 95, Myron (Mike) Kandel  has been a  living legend of financial journalism for a half  century—and an active Silurian for  even longer.


Join us for a very special afternoon as Mike spills the beans on 50 years behind the scenes of print and broadcast news—and 60 years of Silurians lore.


From a NY Times copy boy to a co-founder of CNN,  hear Mike's inside scoop on a remarkable career in journalism at our May 21 luncheon at the National Arts Club.

News Media News

White House to Ask Congress to Claw Back Funding From NPR and PBS


Trump administration wants legislators to rescind $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides some support for public media.

Read NY Times Story (paywall)
A close up of a stopwatch on a red background that says `` 60 minutes ''.

ANALYSIS: ‘60 Minutes’ Staffers Warn Shari Redstone to Back Off


Unique pressures on Paramount Global have set its controlling shareholder and the managers of one of the company's most valuable properties at odds with one another.

Read Analysis in Variety

New York Times prevails in First Amendment case against Palin defamation claims

A federal jury in New York federal court cleared The New York Times of liability for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s claims the newspaper defamed her in a 2017 editorial. The jury deliberated for just under two hours before returning the verdict


Read Story in Courthouse News Service

Repeal of fairness doctrine accelerated polarization of US media


Decision to repeal the Fairness Doctrine, the decades-old rule that had governed how Americans received the news, inadvertently laid the groundwork for a landscape in which partisan media thrived. While liberal media benefited, conservative talk radio surged. 

Read Article in Poynter

Judge declines to further enforce order restoring AP access to White House


Judge says new White House polict eliminating wire service seats does not, on its face, discriminate against the AP.  However, if AP continues to get “second class treatment...there would be serious consequences”

Read Story on The Hill

Federal judge orders Trump admin to restore VOA


A federal judge ruled VOA workers placed on leave or fired should return to work and the Trump administration must restore funding to the VOA and other U.S. government-funded news outlets,

Read Axios Story

White House to Ask Congress to Claw Back Funding From NPR and PBS


Trump administration wants legislators to rescind $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides some support for public media.

Read NY Times Story (paywall)

ANALYSIS: ‘60 Minutes’ Staffers Warn Shari Redstone to Back Off


Unique pressures on Paramount Global have set its controlling shareholder and the managers of one of the company's most valuable properties at odds with one another.

Read Analysis in Variety
A coin logo from the society of the silurians in new york

 Lifetime Achievement Award

Wednesday, April 23 (registration period expired)

Connie Chung, Celebrating a Lifetime of Achievement

The Silurians Press Club is proud to honor Connie Chung, a brave pioneer in broadcast journalism and outstanding talent as its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.


Connie was the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any news program on CBS, NBC or ABC—both milestones in TV history.


In her best selling new book,  “Connie: A Memoir,” which she will speak about, she details her struggles in a largely patriarchal industry—struggles many women journalists have experienced—and still are.

A photo of Connie Chung next to a book called connie

She's won three Emmy Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, among others.

Conference Invitation:

"Reporting in Turbulent Times"

We invite our members to join colleagues at the Deadline Club  by registering now for the 2025 Society of Professional Journalists Region 1 Conference at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in Times Square.

A poster for the society of professional journalists regional conferences

Sponsored by The Society of Professional Journalists Region 1 Conference – NYC

Judge Orders Mississippi Newspaper to Remove Editorial

Owner of The Clarksdale Press Register plans to challenge judge’s order against an editorial that criticized city officials.


Click for NY Times Story (paywall)
The logo for the ap is black and red on a white background.

AP sues Trump administration, citing freedom of speech

The AP says case about an unconstitutional effort to control speech — in this case not changing its style from the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America."

Click for AP Story

Many Americans don’t trust the media to cover Trump: Survey

YouGov poll (2/21) found 67% of U.S. respondents said that they don’t have “very much” or any trust that news outlets can state facts fairly, accurately and fully while covering Trump’s second term.

Click for The Hill Article

Fla. Appeals Court Rules Trump Can Pursue Suit Against Pulitzer Board

Dispute rooted in Pulitzer Prize to NY Times and Wash Post for reporting about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.


Read Miami Herald Story

Judge Orders Mississippi Newspaper to Remove Editorial

Owner of The Clarksdale Press Register plans to challenge judge’s order against an editorial that criticized city officials.


Click for NY Times Story (paywall)

AP sues Trump administration, citing freedom of speech

The AP says case about an unconstitutional effort to control speech — in this case not changing its style from the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America."

Click for AP Story

Recent Guests/Speakers

Press Under Siege: Media Experts Assess the Impact of Trump’s Attacks

By Mel Laytner


In an afternoon of lively give-and-take, two leading observers of the national news media offered bleak and contrasting assessments of the challenges confronting the press today, from relentless attacks by President Donald Trump to collapsing business models.


They offered reasons for despair and some rays of hope. Brian Stelter, chief media analyst for CNN, and Oliver Darcy, publisher of the highly regarded Status newsletter, spoke before a rapt Silurians luncheon on March 19.  

Bianca Bosker talks about "Get the Picture," her hilareous expose of the contemporary art scene.

By Mel Laytner


What is art?

Journalist Bianca Bosker tackled this question head-on, or more accurately, head-first, diving deep and emerging with Get the Picture , a rollicking expose of New York’s contemporary art scene.


Offering sharp humor and sharper insights, Bosker shared her experiences in a wide-ranging conversation with Silurians own Betsy Ashton, herself a successful artist, at the club’s Feb. 19 luncheon  catered, perhaps ironically, by the National Art Club.

NY Times Publisher Outlines Possible Threats to Press Freedom Under Trump

By Mel Laytner


AG Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, issued a stark warning about the dangers that the incoming Trump administration could pose to press independence, describing methods used by authoritarian leaders worldwide to illustrate the risks.
[More] Silurians Speaker/Event Videos

Recent Guests/Speakers

Press Under Siege: Media Experts Assess the Impact of Trump’s Attacks

By Mel Laytner


In an afternoon of lively give-and-take, two leading observers of the national news media offered bleak and contrasting assessments of the challenges confronting the press today, from relentless attacks by President Donald Trump to collapsing business models.


They offered reasons for despair and some rays of hope. Brian Stelter, chief media analyst for CNN, and Oliver Darcy, publisher of the highly regarded Status newsletter, spoke before a rapt Silurians luncheon on March 19.  

Bianca Bosker talks about "Get the Picture," her hilareous expose of the contemporary art scene.

By Mel Laytner


What is art?

Journalist Bianca Bosker tackled this question head-on, or more accurately, head-first, diving deep and emerging with Get the Picture , a rollicking expose of New York’s contemporary art scene.


Offering sharp humor and sharper insights, Bosker shared her experiences in a wide-ranging conversation with Silurians own Betsy Ashton, herself a successful artist, at the club’s Feb. 19 luncheon  catered, perhaps ironically, by the National Art Club.

NY Times Publisher Outlines Possible Threats to Press Freedom Under Trump

By Mel Laytner


AG Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, issued a stark warning about the dangers that the incoming Trump administration could pose to press independence, describing methods used by authoritarian leaders worldwide to illustrate the risks.

A Silurian at the Met Museum of Art: Chester Higgins, Jr.

Award winning photographer's fascination with Egypt

By Roberta Hershenson

One of the hottest art shows  in town this winter was “Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876—Now,” which closed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Feb. 17. Critic Jason Farago, writing in the New York Times, called the show “winningly eclectic” and “beautifully designed,” while referring to Ancient Egypt as “an inspiration but also a lost dream” for the Black diaspora.

Read [More]
A man is standing in front of two framed pictures on a wall.

Photo by Betsy Kissam

Chester Higgins, Jr., flanked by his two pieces in the Met’s “Flight Into Egypt” exhibit: “My two images help celebrate the African presence in the ancient Egyptian civilization.”