 |
Friday, February 17, 2017
 |
How BBC Persian is using Instagram and Telegram to get around Iranian censorship“This is a social circumvention strategy rather than a social media strategy.” By Joseph Lichterman. |
 |
Think The Wirecutter invented affiliate revenue? Meet the mom who’s been doing it since 2010Lucie’s List has 360,000 subscribers and pulls in enough revenue to support a family and a staff in San Francisco. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
 |
Howard University decides it won’t sell its public TV station in the FCC spectrum auctionMeanwhile, efforts continue in New Jersey to get stations to commit their earnings from the auction to local news initiatives. By Joseph Lichterman. |
What We’re Reading
Spiegel Online / Fabian Reinbold
Facebook is having some trouble finding news outlets to partner with on its factchecking efforts in Germany →
The investigative nonprofit CORRECT!V was the first to sign on to help monitor hoaxes and misinformation on the platform, “but the search for partners is more difficult than expected for Facebook. The company recently received many cancellations from German media, according to Spiegel — and the test phase of the project has still not begun. (via Google Translate).
New Hampshire Union Leader / Staff
New Hampshire station WBIN-TV ends news programming after selling its broadcasting rights in an FCC auction →
The station, which sold its television broadcast rights in the FCC’s spectrum auction for $68.1 million, said Friday it ‘will cease broadcasting in the coming months,’ and that ‘as a result of this sale, we will be making major new investments in our radio and digital businesses.’ (WBIN-TV laid off nearly all of its staff, reportedly without warning, on Friday morning.)
Reuters / Jessica Toonkel
Newspapers aim to ride ‘Trump Bump’ to reach readers — and also advertisers →
“For example, there is a heightened understanding in the wake of November’s election that if a brand buys an ad in The Huffington Post, for example, it could be perceived as supporting a liberal agenda.”
Backchannel / Lauren Bohn
Syrian history is unfolding on WhatsApp →
Social media is offering a lifeline for fractured families — and a window into the refugee crisis.
The New York Times / Jim Rutenberg
In the Trump era, censorship may start in the newsroom →
Last week, a PBS station in San Antonio pulled from the air a segment by longtime journalist and commentator Rick Casey (Casey had criticized Republican Representative Lamar Smith comments about “getting your news directly from the president” being the only way to get the “unvarnished truth”).
Bloomberg / Gerry Smith
BuzzFeed tries to break readers out of their social-media bubbles →
“The idea is an attempt to get readers to understand — or even acknowledge the existence of — the viewpoints of people who don't think like them. BuzzFeed's "Outside Your Bubble" feature will appear at the bottom of its widely-shared articles. A BuzzFeed staffer will curate different opinions from Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, blogs and elsewhere with help from data tools, Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith said in an interview.”
Poynter / Benjamin Mullin
New York Times fans sponsored 209,000 student subscriptions in 8 days →
“Donations to the program, which began on Feb. 9, have ranged from $4 to $20,000, according to an announcement from The New York Times. More than 100 contributions came from international sponsors even though the program only serves U.S. public schools.”
Global Editors Network / Évangéline de Bourgoing
Hacking the Facebook news problem →
A sampling of new tools that help bring factchecks to readers more directly, or help insert some ideological diversity into readers’ news feeds.
The Atlantic / Adrienne LaFrance
The Mark Zuckerberg manifesto is a blueprint for destroying journalism →
“A sprawling new manifesto by Zuckerberg, published to Facebook on Thursday, should set off new alarm bells for journalists, and heighten news organizations' sense of urgency about how they—and their industry—can survive in a Facebook-dominated world.”
Digiday / Lucinda Southern
Ad blocking is now a chronic but manageable condition →
“Ad blocking, which was once treated as a mortal threat to publishers, has now become a chronic condition: They might die with it, but they're more likely to have been killed by other causes.”
The Ringer / Bryan Curtis
“How sportswriting became a liberal profession” →
“In sportswriting, there was once a social and professional price to pay for being a noisy liberal. Now, there's at least a social price to pay for being a conservative.”