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Friday, June 2, 2017
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Fake news might be the next issue for activist tech-company investorsPlus: Make your own fake Facebook story, “giant man-bats that spent their days collecting fruit and holding animated conversations,” and the AP’s guidelines on fake news. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Solving the crossword puzzle: Rebuilding a print habit on digital devices“Sometimes, I've learned, you have to take opportunity where you least expect it. And in the end that’s what happened to us.” By John Temple. |
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The Wall Street Journal is killing its What’s News app (but bringing lessons from it to its main app)The Journal is the latest news organization to build a mobile-first secondary app as a user-interface playground — and then return focus to the core app. By Joseph Lichterman. |
What We’re Reading
Poynter / Kristen Hare
Charlotte Agenda created a newcomer’s guide, in print, that brought in more than $100K →
“It’s our most popular user problem to solve — ‘I just moved to the city, what do I need to know?’ We love solving problems through media products.”
My Central New Jersey / Nick Muscavage
New Jersey legislators introduce a bill to create a fund for local journalism →
The Civic Information Consortium bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat, would allocate $20 million from the sale of New Jersey’s public television licenses through the FCC auction — which netted the state $332 million — into a fund through state universities supporting journalistic initiatives and programs.
Offspring / Melissa Kirsch
Gizmodo Media Group launches a Lifehacker-influenced parenting site →
“We pledge to feature zero celebrity ‘baby bump’ photos — we swear, we'll never even use the term ‘baby bump.’ There will be no essays about how we should relish every cuddle, paeans to the miracle of parenthood, or rants about the horrors of parenthood.”
Daring Fireball / John Gruber
John Gruber: “Facebook is designed from the ground up as an all-out attack on the open web” →
“Treat Facebook as the private walled garden that it is. If you want something to be publicly accessible, post it to a real blog on any platform that embraces the real web, the open one.”
NPR / Elise Hu
Raccoon cafes? Robo-toilets? NPR’s Elise Hu has a new video series about new experiences in East Asia →
Hu is NPR’s Seol bureau chief and we wrote a story in 2015 about how she uses online platforms to expand her voice and coverage beyond NPR’s airwaves.
The Washington Post / Erik Wemple
The Guardian U.S. saw contributions spike after its reporter got bodyslammed →
“According to rep Deepal Patadia, reader contributions to the Guardian last week increased by 40 percent over the publication's recent weekly average. The contribution page makes clear that the donations aren't tax-deductible and fund journalism.”
Backchannel / Dan Gillmor
What to do if the laptop ban goes global →
“For people who carry sensitive information — business or personal — allowing electronics out of their control is simply a non-starter. Many business people, security-minded journalists, and political activists, among others, don't leave their devices to the mercy of third parties.”
The New York Times
This week’s New York Times Magazine is all comics →
“Everything in the issue — the crossword puzzle, the answers to last week's crossword puzzle, the page numbers, the masthead, etc. — has been done by hand.”
Wall Street Journal / Jack Marshall
Google will help publishers prepare for a Chrome adblocker coming next year →
“The new setting, which is expected to be switched on by default within the desktop and mobile versions of Chrome, will prevent all ads from appearing on websites that are deemed to provide a bad advertising experience for users. To help publishers prepare, Google will provide a self-service tool called "Ad Experience Reports," which will alert them to offending ads on their sites and explain how to fix the issues.”