Thursday, January 26, 2017
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Journalists and publishers need to breathe new life into the social contract with readers: The audience holds the media accountable, the media holds the powerful accountable. By Ken Doctor. |
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From preferential tax treatment for Canadian publishers to a more focused CBC, “The Shattered Mirror” aims to support journalism in a country where the news industry is on its heels. By Joseph Lichterman. |
NPR Training / Alison MacAdam
What makes a good pitch? NPR editors weigh in →“Every one of us has gotten excited about an idea, prepped it, pitched it … and been shot down. It's disappointing and, sometimes, demoralizing. Of course, no journalist has a 100 percent pitch acceptance rate. But there are ways you can approach pitching that will increase the likelihood of getting a ‘yes.’ For this post, we cast a wide net in the NPR newsroom, asking editors what they look for (and what annoys them) in a pitch.”
Digiday / Lucia Moses
Confessions of a millennial newspaper reporter →“There's that term, feeding the beast. You have to put out a print newspaper every day. I've seen reporters leave and companies be very slow or unable to replace them. I'm doing three beats right now. I'm barely scratching the surface on these. It's an injustice to readers.”
The New York Times / Jessica Yellin
How to save CNN From itself →“I believe that as a condition of Time Warner's bid to merge with AT&T, CNN should be sold to a new independent entity. This sale would also include CNN international, Headline News and its digital and related properties. Though AT&T has dismissed talk of a sale, one could be compelled by regulators. A consortium of concerned Americans — philanthropists, foundations, small-dollar donors — could fund a trust to operate an independent CNN dedicated to news in the public interest. Subscription fees from cable and other service providers, along with ad revenue, would allow the network to support itself.”
Poynter / Kelly Hinchcliffe
Digiday / Lucinda Southern
Scale and agility: Inside Scandinavian publisher Schibsted’s 250-person product team →“This gives it the benefit of scale — a bigger team can work on larger products — as well as agility. ‘Each brand on its own can't be that agile if they are working on maintaining a full technology stack,’ said Espen Sundve, vp of product management at the media group. ‘As media houses, we're stronger together working toward a common mission: to create the best destination for news and a sustainable business model for digital publishers.'”
The Atlantic / Rosie Gray
Breitbart News is trying to go mainstream →“The challenge for Breitbart is that the more it becomes part of the mainstream, the more its outsider cred is threatened. Already, some former Breitbart staffers have splintered off to form an even more ideologically pure group, arguing that Breitbart has become "boring" by hiring journalists like Carney. And it would be hard for any news organization to maintain an identity as an iconoclastic truth-teller if its main mission is to amplify the president's message, as Breitbart's critics allege is now the case.”
Medium / Knight Foundation
A new report from the Knight Foundation examines its investments in podcasts →“While this report's primary basis is a particular set of grants, the inquiry into grantee experiences quickly blossomed into larger conversations about podcasting and digital audio writ large, and in particular the ways that journalism and public information producers are more and less equipped to interact successfully with the new digital listening audience.”
Politico / Josh Dawsey and Hadas Gold
BuzzFeed hires reporter to cover Trump’s relationship with the media →“What makes Trump such a compelling media story is that he is obsessed with Twitter and often watches hours of television, commenting live on Twitter on what he sees on TV and sometimes making policy and political decisions based on TV coverage. As he watched a Fox News segment on Tuesday night about killings in Chicago, he threatened to “send the feds in!”
