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Thursday, February 16, 2017
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“A threat to society”: Why a German investigative nonprofit signed on to help monitor hoaxes on Facebook“This ‘news’ is there to influence the political process in Germany, and we think it's very important to put them straight.” By Shan Wang. |
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Newsonomics: Craig Newmark, journalism’s new Six Million Dollar ManThe Craigslist founder has given to Wikipedia and Poynter, with more to come: “I do think a trustworthy press is mission critical for any democracy.” By Ken Doctor. |
What We’re Reading
Poynter / Kristen Hare
This Vermont newspaper couldn’t give itself away in an essay contest. But it did find a buyer. →
“The new owner, Ray Small, was a contestant who ‘conveyed a passion for community journalism,’ according to a press release announcing the sale. He and his wife, Kim, will take over management on Friday and become the Gazette’s 11th owners since it was founded in 1889.”
Jim C. Hines
Here’s how much money novelists make →
“In other words, ten percent of all respondents earned $200 or less last year. Before taxes and expenses. Twenty percent made $825 or less. Thirty percent were $3,393 or below, and so on. If you earned at least $296,000, you were in the 90th percentile.”
The Drum / Ian Burrell
Channel 4 News editor: Facebook is paying us a ‘minuscule’ amount for our 2 billion video views →
"A proper news organisation can’t earn enough money off Facebook to wash its face, it’s a huge distortion," says the Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear.
PunditFact / Joshua Gillin
Fact-checking fake news reveals how hard it is to kill →
“Here's what we've learned so far. Fake news is like a nasty weed, it grows quickly and is hard to kill. We've fact-checked a total of 31 claims that were flagged as “fake news.” Eight rated False on our Truth-O-Meter, the other 23 rated Pants on Fire! In the short time we've been devoted to fact-checking “fake news,” the phrase has been overused and misappropriated to the point that it's become pretty much meaningless.”
Mashable / Katie Dupere
Giphy launches library of more than 2,000 GIFs to teach you sign language →
“Giphy released an extensive GIF library on Thursday with more than 2,000 words and phrases in American Sign Language. To create the GIFs, Giphy cut videos from the popular educational series Sign With Robert, adding text descriptions to make the GIFs look like looping flash cards.”
Digiday / Lucia Moses
How platforms get publishers to play the access game – Digiday →
“It's a sign of the times that publishers find themselves acting like lobbyists, hoping to get the ear of the decision-makers in power. The access game is also a way that platforms, inadvertently or not, worm their way into publishers' organizations and dictate their strategy.”
WSJ / Lukas I. Alpert
Gizmodo Media Group is using Facebook ads to target potential Trump administration leakers →
"One thing we know about Donald Trump is that there are a lot of things Donald Trump doesn't want people to know about. If you've reached this page, you might have information about the conduct of Donald Trump or his administration that you'd like people to know about. Here's how you can tell us," the site explains.
Digiday / Jessica Davies
The New York Times’ international ambitions hinge on programmatic advertising →
“The goal: to foster closer relationships with U.K. and pan-Europe agencies and marketers on bespoke programmatic deals, and build the kind of long-term relationships with clients that it has in its core U.S. market.”