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Tuesday, October 18, 2016
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A changing of the guard at nonprofit MinnPost, a bright spot in sustainable, online local newsAfter nine years, Joel Kramer reflects on the state of the site he cofounded with his wife Laurie and looks forward to its next era under new leadership. By Shan Wang. |
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Hot Pod: Is podcasting about food the new dancing about architecture?Plus: Gimlet ends Sampler, Science Friday expands, and a new resource makes it easier to discover podcasts by people of color. By Nicholas Quah. |
When are comments sections of news sites worth keeping alive? What are some options for taming them?
What We’re Reading
Digiday / Jessica Davies
BuzzFeed's shift to video is taking hold in its U.K. operations, with two new studios to focus on sponsored video →
"We'll no longer be relying on LA or New York to produce the content, so we'll have new capabilities to leverage for brands. That'll lower overall costs and speed up the production timeline, which is what everyone is asking for."
Recode / Peter Kafka
Donald Trump can launch a TV network, but that doesn't mean he can keep one afloat →
“In order for Trump to get his hands on a TV network, he would have to find someone to sell him one, find the cash to buy it and then convince pay-TV distributors to carry it….In the meantime, Trump could easily launch a digital network, fueled by subscription sales. But running a network isn't the same as showing up on a network, and Trump is going to learn the difference.”
The Next Web / Napier Lopez
Facebook will now let Pages schedule live video →
When you schedule a live video, Facebook will create an announcement post for your followers' feed with a time for the broadcast (previously, you could just announce to your followers separately you were planning to go live at a given time).
Univision
Univision is bringing factcheckers from Latin American news organizations to factcheck Wednesday’s presidential debate →
The initiative brings together journalists from Plaza Pública (Guatemala), Agencia Lupa (Brasil), The New York Times en español (EEUU), Colombiacheck (Colombia), Ojo Público (Perú), Animal Político (México), El Objetivo del canal La Sexta (España), Semanario Universidad (Costa Rica), La Nación (Argentina) y UYCheck (Uruguay).
Politico / Joe Pompeo
Jim Rich out as New York Daily News editor; Arthur Browne is new EIC →
“During his brief editorship, Rich pushed the News into the national conversation with strong, crusading front pages on divisive issues like gun control and the presidential campaigns. But the paper continues to struggle with print circulation and revenue declines that have prompted significant downsizings over the past several years.”
CNNMoney / Ivana Kottasova
A third of pro-Trump tweets are generated by bots →
“University researchers who track political activity on Twitter have found that traffic on pro-Trump hashtags was twice as high as pro-Clinton hashtags during the first presidential debate. But the team of academics, led by Oxford University professor Philip Howard, also found that 33% of pro-Trump traffic was driven by bots and highly automated accounts, compared to 22% for Clinton.”
Scripting News / Dave Winer
Online journalism remains unexplored →
“As with everything, the net offers the opportunity to disintermediate. But journalism has instead approached the Internet as the electronic equivalent of the paper distribution system. Nothing more than that. So why should we be surprised if it fails to achieve the potential promised by the hype?”