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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
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The forces that drove this election’s media failure are likely to get worseSegregated social universes, an industry moving from red states to the coasts, and mass media’s revenue decline: The disconnect between two realities shows no sign of abating. By Joshua Benton. |
What We’re Reading
the Guardian / Roy Greenslade
Making Google and Facebook pay for public service reporting? →
“The Media Reform Coalition and National Union of Journalists are hoping to make Google and Facebook fund public service reporting in Britain. They are seeking to persuade politicians to include a new amendment to the digital economy bill, which is currently going through parliament. It will propose a 1 percent levy on the operations of the digital giants in order to pay for independent and nonprofit journalism.”
The New York Times / Jim Rutenberg
A 'Dewey Defeats Truman' lesson for the digital age →
“[T]he problem that surfaced on Tuesday night was much bigger than polling. It was clear that something was fundamentally broken in journalism, which has been unable to keep up with the anti-establishment mood that is turning the world upside down.”
Techdirt / Mike Masnick
If you’re blaming Facebook for the election results, you’re an idiot →
“People are angry because the system has failed them in many, many ways, and it’s not because they’re idiots who believed all the fake news Facebook pushed on them (even if some of them did believe it).”
Talking Biz News / Chris Roush
Business Insider drops comments from articles →
Another comments section bites on the dust: “Over time the value of our comments section has diminished, with a small but outspoken group increasingly resorting to name-calling and worse. Meanwhile the emergence of social media provides a place for conversations about our stories, and we feel comfortable that readers are able to share their thoughts on social platforms.”
The Associated Press
Mark Cuban, citing concerns over automated content, revoked credentials of two ESPN writers who cover the Dallas Mavericks →
Puzzling logic: Cuban said he banned the ESPN reporters (ESPN uses wire copy from The Associated Press) from Mavericks home games to bring attention to the issue of companies using automation in sports coverage. (The AP, in a partnership with Automated Insights, produces automated stories on minor league baseball but does not use the technology for most of its sports coverage.)
Digiday / Lucia Moses
Publishers adopt Facebook Live, but struggle with monetization and discovery →
Facebook is running a small test whereby publishers can insert an ad break in their live videos; it's expected to expand the test to more publishers in the coming months. But for publishers like the Wall Street Journal, the monetization limits are "something we're always thinking about," Carla Zanoni, WSJ executive emerging media editor, said. "That's really why we're cautious as we experiment with this format."