 Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty ImagesThe Guardian’s internal civil war over how to cover and write about gender and issues related to trans people continues to simmer. Earlier this year, Semafor reported on the ongoing tensions within the liberal newspaper between self-described “gender critical” feminists who view advancement of trans rights as an attack on women’s rights and trans advocates over coverage of trans people and political issues. Several weeks after the piece was published, the paper’s newly created Sex, Equality, and Equity employee group held an internal meeting for staff titled “Untangling Sex and Gender” to pitch their view of rights based on sex rather than gender. In a recording of the hour-long meeting seen by Semafor, the group heard from several journalists, including writers Sonia Sodha and Susanna Rustin, who argued for separating trans women from other women in specific spaces and fields. The chief sports reporter laid out what he said were the advantages trans women athletes had competing in women’s sports leagues and competitions. Four gender-critical speakers also used the meeting as a place to discuss alleged harassment from trans activists over their views. The acting deputy editor of the Guardian Weekly made the case that staff who had tried to hold meetings to discuss differences between trans women and “biological women” had found those spaces “difficult to secure, and involved efforts to loudly, even violently, protest or stop the meetings taking place.” “I’ve had attempts to try and get me kicked off charitable boards, for example, I’ve been doxxed online by people who disagree with me on this issue. I’ve had my home address published online,” Sohda said. “So it’s just an example of how toxic and polarized this debate is, how it affects people on all sides of the debate.” No one was brought on to speak on behalf of the trans community or to rebut the arguments. While organizers said 150 people signed up to attend and listen in to the various speakers, not everyone at the paper was thrilled. A source told Semafor that many employees in the newsroom were furious about the tenor of the meeting and the fact that it was held during the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion week, which they felt was insulting to trans people on staff. Organizers, too, had some complaints: The group said that the paper’s management declined their requests to invite outside speakers to address the paper’s journalists. Lawyer wanted: Last week, we reported that Fox Corp tapped Bill Burck, a board member and Quinn Emmanuel partner, to lead the search to replace the company’s powerful chief legal officer, Viet Dinh, after the company’s Dominion disaster. A source familiar with the process confirmed that Dinh has lobbied to give the job to his deputy Jeff Taylor, but waved us off Solicitors General Noel Francisco and Paul Clement as candidates. Overexposed: The ubiquitous Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy claimed to have a CNN town hall on the books. Nope, says CNN, as Semafor first reported last week. News: Press start: On Monday, the New York Times is moving up its print deadline to 5 p.m. from 8 p.m. for the paper’s first edition, producing internal grumbles. The shift is prompted by a broad decline of the printing industry that affects publishers all over the country. Due to shutdowns of a printing plant in LA, both the New York Times and the LA Times have been forced to relocate print operations for the LA area to a plant in Las Vegas, forcing the East coast paper to get the first edition of its paper in hours ahead of time in order to print for an early-morning California delivery time. Similarly, the Times will now print its papers distributed in the Buffalo-Toronto area in Canton, Ohio, adding an additional three hours of delivery time. Some on staff worry the news will sometimes be out of date by the time it reaches readers, and good luck with the late sports scores! In a statement, Times communications EVP Danielle Rhoades Ha said that the changes would affect the first edition, but the national print edition and city edition would publish later. In a memo to staff in June, managing editor Marc Lacey and associate masthead editor Tom Jolly said that recent workflow changes should help mitigate the bumped-up deadlines. “It’s a moment to remember that while our print subscribers place great value in the newspaper, they are just like the rest of us: They turn to the digital report to get up-to-the-minute news developments,” they said. Unwelcome news: A Myanmar court sentenced photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in jail, escalating the regime’s persecution of journalists. Doha calling: The Daily Mail is raising money in Qatar for a bid to buy The Telegraph. Local news: The MacArthur Foundation and allies promise an eye-popping $500 million for U.S. local news, though the relationship between these grants and building sustainable news businesses remains hazy. Hollywood: Off the picket line: Influencers miss out on the stability that comes from the powerful actors’ union — but the strike has allowed them “to keep working when other entertainers cannot,” the Los Angeles Times notes, with specific examples. Rotten: Rotten Tomatoes is vital to the movie industry, but also, Vulture finds, relatively easy to corrupt. Tech: Edit button: Twitter “CEO” Linda Yaccarino has to revise her Shabbos tweet opposing anti-semitism four times. Publishing: Amazon will start requiring the disclosure of AI-generated content, responding to complaints from the Authors Guild. Crypto is a good business, actually: Apple paid $5 million for the rights to Michael Lewis’ SBF book. Marketing: Brave, confusing new world: The National Football League is demanding DirecTV end a campaign in which Chiefs star Travis Kelce says viewers are “watching football wrong” because DirecTV “gives you access to every game” — when in fact you need YouTubeTV on top of DirecTV to watch the NFL. | 
