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Friday, August 25, 2017
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Is “platform” the right metaphor for the technology companies that dominate digital media?Metaphors don’t just highlight a comparison — they also downplay the aspects they don’t capture. And “platform” papers over some of the big questions social media raises. By Tarleton Gillespie. |
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When it comes to the academic study of fake news, “bullshit receptivity” is a thingPlus: The importance (or not) of identifying news sources, big companies go rumor-hunting, and how easy it is to plant a fake poll. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re Reading
Reynolds Journalism Institute / Jennifer Nelson
What two Florida TV stations learned from experimenting with AR and 3D technologies →
“We use the virtual set every day for every single show. We can transition from the real set to the virtual set seamlessly. As far as the augmented reality-type stuff, it takes a really long time to make these. We can't order something to be made that day and get it that day. We have to think weeks and months in advance.”
The Tow Center
A comprehensive timeline of platform developments, for news publishers →
“The developments tend to fall within a few categories: Product changes, launches, and expansions (rollout of Instant Articles); Partnerships with publishers (Google News Lab, Facebook Journalism Project); Policy developments (efforts around fake news and terrorism and terms of use); Changes to curation and news feed algorithms (reducing clickbait); and Advertising/revenue (more ad formats, support for subscription.)”
BuzzFeed / Craig Silverman
How global media company International Business Times uses overseas labor and a ghost office to power its Australian edition →
“A review of IBT Australia’s website by BuzzFeed News found that its Australian news content is actually being produced by writers in the Philippines, and the address listed for its Australian office is occupied by people who say they don’t work for the company.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Joshua Adams
A journalist’s new podcast explores the secrets behind fact-finding →
“I hope it shows the behind-the-scenes processes of an article or a scientific study. That stuff doesn't always end up in the final piece, and as we have many people in the public questioning the media, questioning science, questioning expertise, I think talking about the process is important.”
Journalism.co.uk / Madalina Ciobanu
Pen, paper and data: Orb’s approach to global reporting →
“Each of Orb’s stories are usually simultaneously published in four formats – text, audio, multimedia, data – and translated into four of the world’s most widely spoken languages: English, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese. As it grows, the organization hopes to expand to ten or eleven languages, making its work accessible to as many readers as possible.”
Digiday / Max Willens
The Washington Post expands PowerPost, its newsletters for DC power players’ inboxes →
“In the past three months, it has expanded PowerPost, a 2-year-old vertical focused on newsletters and a podcast targeted at Beltway insiders and decision-makers, from one newsletter to four, with the other three focused on energy, finance and health care. It's also added three new journalists to the original team of two, plus two researchers and ad tech to sell custom native advertising inside its newsletters.”
The Hollywood Reporter / Natalie Jarvey
Humans of New York docuseries coming to Facebook →
“Humans of New York is one of the handful of shows that Facebook is funding for its new Watch video tab, which it announced earlier this month. Watch is currently rolling out and features a mix of short-form content — produced by video publishers such as Group Nine’s Thrillist and The Dodo and Vox Media — as well a handful of signature, funded projects that are longer in length.”
Politico / Tyler Fisher
Our left-right media divide told through Charlottesville →
“How partisan Twitter users saw and shared different narratives of Charlottesville and the aftermath.”
News-Sentinel
Fort Wayne’s News-Sentinel will stop publishing in print →
“The News-Sentinel announced today its intent to move primarily to a digital product in the coming months. The News-Sentinel will now sharpen its focus on more timely, topical and in-depth coverage of the region’s news without the constraints of the afternoon print cycle.”
Bloomberg / Mark Bergen
Google rolls out its biggest crackdown on extremist YouTube videos →
“Videos tagged by its new policy won't be able to run ads or have comments posted, and won't appear in any recommended lists on the video site. A warning screen will also appear before the videos, which will not be able to play when embedded on external websites. YouTube will let video creators contest the restrictions through an appeals process, a spokeswoman said.”