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Monday, September 18, 2017
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This former hedge fund guy is a one-man nonprofit investigating some of America’s shadiest companies“You can’t stop these guys from getting rich as hell and doing things, but I can at least have a marker laid out there in the cyber world saying: Hey, take a hard look.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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The future of news is humans talking to machinesThat’s the argument of the BBC’s Trushar Barot, who believes voice AI is the biggest technology revolution that the news industry is missing — and that it’s not too late to do something about it. By Trushar Barot. |
What We’re Reading
Quartz
Quartz is launching a new daily email newsletter, Quartz Obsession →
Quartz Obsession is sent out weekdays at 4 PM; each issue covers a single topic (bitcoin mines, polyester, UN interpreters, the TR-808 synthesizer). The emails experiment with interactivity and each consists of a series of multimedia cards, including images, GIFs, polls, and charts.
The Drum / Jennifer Faull
The Economist ad revenue declines as “the virus” catches up with it →
“The magazine raised subscription prices by 20%, which chief executive Chris Stibbs said was "expertly handled" and resulted in ‘little impact on total volume or new starts.'”
Digiday / Shareen Pathak
Amazon reviews have a bot problem →
“Multiple small companies report they're seeing one-star reviews of unverified purchases on their pages that are written with bad grammar, coupled with remarks like, ‘Great product satisfaction guaranteed.’ The problem seems to run across both the first-party and third-party sellers on the platform.”
Financial Times / Lionel Barber
The FT’s Lionel Barber on fake news in the post-factual age →
“Right now, the environment is uniquely conducive to fake news because: We live in a world where there are no accepted facts. A world where facts are secondary to opinion. A world where the media landscape has fragmented. A world which has become intensely polarised.”
The New York Times / Paul Mozur, Mark Scott, and Mike Isaac
Facebook navigates an Internet fractured by governmental controls →
“As nations try to grab back power online, a clash is brewing between governments and companies…According to a review by The New York Times, more than 50 countries have passed laws over the last five years to gain greater control over how their people use the web.”
NBC News / Claire Atkinson
Amazon is thinking of buying dozens of cable channels →
“As traditional pay-TV providers scale down their offerings into cheaper so-called skinny bundles, Amazon is looking to scoop up smaller TV channels with minimal distribution in order to build itself into a video destination for every imaginable niche, with a particular focus on millennial audiences.”
Multichannel News / John Eggerton
FCC seeks more evidence for Sinclair-Tribune deal claims →
“This is just the latest obstacle for the Sinclair merger, potentially pushing a final decision on the merger well into next year.”
Business Insider / Maxwell Tani
CNN is ramping up media/tech coverage with a new venture called Pacific →
“Media isn’t just in Los Angeles and New York anymore. It’s in San Francisco and Seattle.”
Associated Press / Ryan J. Foley
Governments turn tables by suing public records requesters →
“The lawsuits generally ask judges to rule that the records being sought do not have to be divulged. They name the requesters as defendants but do not seek damage awards. Still, the recent trend has alarmed freedom-of-information advocates, who say it's becoming a new way for governments to hide information, delay disclosure and intimidate critics.”
The New York Times / Sydney Ember
Rolling Stone is for sale →
“Publishing is a completely different industry than what it was. The trends go in one direction, and we are very aware of that.”
The Wall Street Journal / Douglas MacMillan
Snapchat removes Al Jazeera’s channel in Saudi Arabia →
“Snap, trying to expand its popularity as a destination for news articles and videos, is encountering a new challenge in the form of potential government censorship of that news. A spokeswoman for Snap said in an email that the company removed Al Jazeera's channel to obey local laws.”