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Wednesday, July 12, 2017
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This Canadian rock star and author is starting a monthly print paper for his Toronto neighborhoodLaunched by Dave Bidini, the nonprofit West End Phoenix has attracted support from its community — and Margaret Atwood. By Joseph Lichterman. |
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With its Take Action newsletter, The Nation is giving readers ways to act on the stories they read“We’re about ideas, but we’re also about instigating actions. Though I believe our role is to seed ideas for the future, you want a journalism that has impact. It’s news readers can use.” By Ricardo Bilton. |
What We’re Reading
Free Press / Josh Stearns
From 2014: Net neutrality and the future of journalism →
“As more and more news and information moves online, we need to ensure that the flow of online information is free and unencumbered. Traditional battles over press freedom are critical, as the recent Committee to Protect Journalists report so clearly showed, but today we also have to understand that keeping the Internet free goes hand in hand with keeping the press free.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Carlett Spike
How 21Ninety, a spinoff of Blavity that focuses on lifestyle content for young black women, is coming into its own →
The outfit, still funded entirely by Blavity, launched in march. Its daily newsletter averages about 15,000 readers per day. More than 86,000 people follow 21Ninety on Twitter, and the site has more than 100,000 followers on Instagram.
Slate / Scott Nover and Nikki Usher
Why haven't reporters mass-adopted secure tools for communicating with sources? →
“But is secure leaking really more simple and widespread than ever before? As researchers, we wanted to find out. So we conducted a census of Washington journalists to find out whether these tech tools were really taking off. Turns out, many political reporters seem to be better equipped to play a part in All the President's Men than they do in Citizenfour.”
The Pulitzer Prizes
Dana Canedy is the new administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes →
“At a time when media organizations are adapting to technologies and the epithet 'fake news' is brandished as a weapon, Canedy's experience, energy, integrity and passion will help the Board focus on its vital mission: identifying and celebrating the best in American journalism and arts and letters.”
The New Yorker / Andrew Boynton
The New Yorker explains its punctuation of Donald Trump, Jr.,’s Name →
“This styling doesn't come up very often in the magazine, and its occurrence in a headline of sorts has brought it a weird kind of notoriety. Now it can comfortably stand alongside the diaeresis and ‘focussing.'”
The Wall Street Journal / Lukas I. Alpert
The Wall Street Journal reorganizes its newsroom →
“The restructuring creates a number of new senior newsroom roles. [Editor in chief Gerry] Baker's new reports will include editors for professional news, digital content strategy, strategic initiatives and a managing editor responsible for non-news matters such as finance and personnel. There also will be an editor of features, special content and events.”
The Guardian / Samuel Gibbs
Your Facebook Messenger app is about to be filled with ads →
Facebook said on Tuesday that it was testing advertising on its Messenger app globally. Ads will be displayed on the home tab of the Messenger app, adding that users clicking on the ads will either be taken to the advertiser's website or to a chat window where they can interact with the brand.
Adweek / Corinne Grinapol
What does Time Inc. think it would solve with a name change? →
“Where name changes make sense, it's usually for more practical reasons. When PolicyMic dropped the Policy, and later the dot, from its name, it was a simplification that reflected the publication's expansion into coverage areas beyond politics and policy. The previous name suggested editorial boundaries that no longer applied.”
Journalism.co.uk / Caroline Scott
The Guardian’s latest virtual reality experience shows viewers what life in the UK is like for asylum seekers →
“‘Limbo’ places viewers in the shoes of a newly arrived asylum seeker, guiding them through urban streets to the Home Office, all while listening to a montage of interviews from asylum seekers, immigration lawyers and barristers in the UK.”
The Verge / Thuy Ong
Tech giants rally today in support of net neutrality →
“Sites across the web will display alerts on their homepages showing "blocked," "upgrade," and "spinning wheel of death" pop-ups to demonstrate what the internet would look like without net neutrality, according to advocacy group Battle for the Net.”
Digiday / Lucia Moses
‘A general atmosphere of ambient dread’: Text journalists fear (and resent) The Great Pivot to Video →
“There's a sense of dread that the move into video is fundamentally different from the advent of digital and that writing jobs may disappear permanently. The shift to video is a convenient scapegoat. With the rise of digital, print writers could reinvent themselves as online journalists. This time, they don't have that option.:
Dow Jones
The Wall Street Journal revamped its iPhone app →
The relaunch comes after the Journal killed its standalone What’s News app last month. The Journal says lessons from the now-shuttered app were incorporated into the redesigned main news app.
Publishers Weekly / Jim Milliot
Book sales in print are up 3% over last year →
“Units for the January–June period in 2017 were 310.7 million, up from 302.8 million a year ago.”