 |
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
 | We are responsible for how we use our power“We must collaborate on rewriting the power dynamics between newsrooms and each other, our audiences and those we seek to hold accountable.” By Heather Bryant. |
 | Journalism becomes the escape“Wouldn't it be great if news organizations felt like something known, loved and trusted? If our neighbors retreated into work created by our organizations like they do into private texting groups or Netflix binges or that cozy corner booth at a favorite restaurant?” By Kelsey Proud. |
 | The year of the lawsuit“Perhaps even more consequential is the rise of cases that could fundamentally change settled libel law.” By Christa Scharfenberg and Vickie Baranetsky. |
 | Agree we’re partisan — for the democratic system“Our prism of partisanship as the fundamental way to view the world is dangerously myopic, blinding us to the real workings of power, and causing us not to ask the right questions.” By Heather Chaplin. |
 | Journalism wants to be your friend, not your teacher“Media is moving back from a 20th-century mass market to a collection of artisans who keep close ties with specific patrons, based on shared social, cultural and normative understandings.” By Efrat Nechushtai. |
 | Fighting the reality of deepfakes“This technology is evolving so rapidly that as quickly as we can find ways to counter it, its creators can adapt it to make it more convincing.” By Rubina Madan Fillion. |
 | Voting rights becomes the new climate change“Voter suppression doesn't have to overturn an election to have an impact.” By Andrew Donohue. |
 | Cross-newsroom collaborations strengthen communities“How we treat each other as journalists and the relationships we form when working together are central to the success of the reporting, and in forging new paths for our industry.” By Jean Friedman Rudovsky. |
 | The most beautiful sentence in 2019 is “No.”“Hunting for a valid, data-tested reason to drop a promising idea reserves their team's time for work that makes money and keeps great journalism alive.” By Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer. |
 | The year product leads media“We will start to see more senior leadership in news organizations that comes from design, product, and technology backgrounds.” By Alexis Lloyd & Matt Boggie. |
 | The year of the fight back“2019 will be a turning point for journalism that does not shrink from spotlighting and critiquing threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists.” By Julie Posetti. |
 | The rise of content “pilots”“In today’s mobile-driven environment, we need to concentrate on stories and follow them during the course of a news cycle.” By Mario García. |
 | Catching up with “Neuland”“While a concerted effort from politics, science, and journalism, as well as the civil society, is needed to find solutions to these thorny and contested issues, journalism in particular stands out as being the central chess piece.” By Jonas Kaiser. |
 | Canada’s subsidy for news backfires“The Canadian example will become a negative one, cited regularly by those arguing that governments should stay out of the news business and let the chips fall where they may.” By Jesse Brown. |
 | Bet on sports gambling“Too many editors remember the era of seamy 900 numbers and sketchy appeals like ‘Lucky's Rock-Solid-Dead-Bolt Lock of the Week.'” By Dan Shanoff. |
 | Podcasting is media’s slow food movement“Podcasting’s ‘bugs’ — difficult to scan, share, comment on — are actually its features.” By Jake Shapiro. |
 |
Entering a more balanced era“Subscriptions are not salvation. But a diversified digital revenue mix for publishers, with quality advertising and reader monetization at its core, might be.” By Borja Bergareche Sainz de los Terreros. |
 | Data journalism becomes a global field“As director of the Data Journalism Awards I saw a record number of entries in 2018 — nearly 700 — from 57 countries, and half from small newsrooms.” By Simon Rogers. |
 | Time to swing for the fences“We'll see — and support and applaud — more media companies investing in innovation-based growth and taking far bigger risks on a new path towards financial success.” By M. Scott Havens. |
 | For journalism curriculum to change, its faculty needs disruption“What do these companies want? Leadership, strategy, problem-solving, excellent communication skills, all buoyed by an undercurrent of tech savvy — just what journalism graduates should be able to deliver.” By Cindy Royal. |
 | Good luck convincing us millennials to pay“Yes, yes, yes, journalism is about integrity and spreading information, but it's also workers creating products, and consumers have been lucky to get this far into the internet age without having to pay much.” By Alexandra Svokos. |
What We’re Reading
Columbia Journalism Review / Daniel Hentz
The state of climate change coverage: An analysis of 650 climate-related articles in the past two months →
“The volume and consistency of deep dives indicates that explainer journalists are maintaining the climate conversation when hard news begins to teeter.”
Bloomberg / Sarah Frier and Steven T. Dennis
Instagram outperformed Facebook for Russia’s IRA meddling →
“‘Our assessment is that Instagram is likely to be a key battleground on an ongoing basis.’ … There were 187 million interactions with Instagram content, compared with 77 million on Facebook and 73 million on Twitter, according to a data set of posts between 2015 and 2018.”
Single Subject News Project / William Henry Hakim
Reynolds Journalism Institute
Applications for the 2019 RJI fellowship are now open →
“RJI is now taking applications for our next group of fellows. We're looking to advance new products, services, ideas and storytelling techniques with funding, mentoring, testing and promotion.” Due Jan. 31
YouTube
YouTube announces the 87 newsrooms receiving innovation funding →
“Many of these projects are focused on expanding newsroom video operations and trying out new ways of reporting news through video — from reaching younger audiences online to exploring live and fact-checking formats.”
CNET / Joan E. Solsman
PewDiePie’s bro army snuck a meme-filled ad page onto WSJ.com →
“The Wall Street Journal’s website was compromised with a page supporting PewDiePie in the race to keep his channel’s status as YouTube’s most-subscribed. The page, which claimed the WSJ was apologizing to the YouTube star and had fired journalists who misrepresented him, asked people to subscribe to his channel and included a string of memes.”
The Daily Beast / Kelly Weill
How YouTube built a radicalization machine for the far-right →
“There was no way out. If a person was into Flat Earth conspiracies, it was bad for watch-time to recommend anti-Flat Earth videos, so it won't even recommend them.”
Digiday / Sahil Patel
Fox News is taking a membership approach to its new subscription service →
“The content is a fundamental aspect of what Fox Nation will be. But we're also thinking more broadly about how this can ultimately be a fan club for Fox News super fans. A subscription service that's basically a transaction for content is very vanilla.”
The Wrap / Jon Levine
Time magazine staffs up under new ownership →
“Under the new ownership of Salesforce billionaire Marc Benioff, the company posted openings for 25 fresh positions, of which 22 are in editorial. Among the new openings, two national political correspondents, two health reporters, two technology reporters, and even a fact-checker (a position that has almost vanished in stripped down newsrooms across the country).”
Poynter / Al Tompkins
How a local TV station dedicated three years to investigating hospital bills →
“The imagery of stacks of medical bills and the exteriors of hospitals who would not allow the journalists inside created the sort of challenges that might keep some TV journalists from taking on these stories.”
