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Thursday, September 14, 2017
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With scripted comedy videos, The Washington Post wants to provide “new entry points to the news”“[The] very difficult task is to figure out how we get people to think of us as a video destination, and that destination does not have to be Washingtonpost.com.” By Ricardo Bilton. |
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Stopping fake news on social can feel like playing whack-a-mole. This tiny fact-checking operation in India thinks it’s making a small dent“The impact we've made has been noticeable on people in powerful positions, whether it's politicians or mainstream media. We’ve opened them up, to see that you can’t ignore this, and that's a good first step.” By Shan Wang. |
What We’re Reading
rasmuskleisnielsen.net / Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
What is journalism studies studying? →
A lot of coverage about fake news, not much about new business models.
Medium / Marc Reeves
Why it's time regional newspapers stopped talking about the digital tipping point →
“Rather than waiting reluctantly for it to happen — or indeed trying to postpone it — we should have been doing everything to make it happen on our terms. Unfortunately, I think the industry dragged its feet for too long.”
BuzzFeed / Craig Silverman
Here’s why it doesn’t matter if people trust Facebook’s fake news label in the News Feed →
“But here's the hidden truth people keep missing: the public's reaction to the disputed label is largely irrelevant to stopping the spread of misinformation. One reason is that any link rated false by third party checkers automatically has its reach reduced on Facebook. People can share it all they want but the platform prevents it from going viral as a result of an algorithmic push.”
TechCrunch / Josh Constine
Facebook’s “snooze” button temporarily hides people in your feed →
“Facebook has been trying to settle in on the best way to let you control the News Feed without being confusing. In 2012 it offered a ‘See Less’ option on friends' profiles. But eventually Facebook found this was puzzling for users, since they'd still see that person in their feed, so it wasn't clear if the option actually did anything. By 2014, Facebook had dropped ‘See Less’ in favor of a definitive ‘Unfollow’ button that let you stay friends but banish them from your feed.”
Poynter / Daniel Funke
Geman fact-checkers say fake news probably won’t impact the outcome of Germany’s election →
“That lack of conflict during the campaign has translated into a general indifference among German voters toward both fake news and its debunking, fact-checkers say.”
Axios / Mike Allen
Social media’s role in spreading fake news is at the core to Bob Mueller’s Russia investigation →
“Mueller’s investigation, based on people he’s interviewing and questions he’s asking, could very well expose in vivid detail not only Russia’s influence in the election, and sketchy if not illegal behavior by Trump associates, but also how Facebook, Twitter and social media helped facilitate a lot of it.”
Poynter / Kristen Hare
A new Google News feature will better highlight hyperlocal news stories →
And more local news-focused features are on the way, says Google News product manager James Morehead.
Digiday / Lucia Moses
The Washington Post’s robot reporter has published 850 articles in the past year →
“In its first year, the Post has produced around 850 articles using Heliograf. That included 500 articles around the election that generated more than 500,000 clicks — not a ton in the scheme of things, but most of these were stories the Post wasn't going to dedicate staff to anyway. For the 2012 election, for example, the Post did just 15 percent of what it generated in 2016.”