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Wednesday, March 28, 2018
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The platforms are the problem: The fight against digital disinformation gets $10 million from the Hewlett FoundationOther philanthropic efforts have focused on newsrooms or audiences. Hewlett is targeting the platforms. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Facebook starts training 14 metro newsrooms this week. What will they learn?“We tested this, it tanked. You tested this, it worked. Why?” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re Reading
PressGazette / Arun Kakar
BBC launches Serbian digital news and social media in last of World Service expansion’s 12 new language outlets →
“The BBC now operates in more than 40 languages worldwide, and most recently opened new and expanded bureaux in Lagos, Bangkok, Cairo and Kathmandu.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Jon Allsop
An interview with new Takeaway host Tanzina Vega →
“One of the things I'm excited about is being able to take the mantle and build, not on what the traumatic past was, but on what a lot of women of color who were in these positions prior to me built.”
Mumbrella Asia / Eleanor Dickinson
Bloomberg expands Twitter news network TicToc into Asia →
“Launched in December TicToc has a following of 171,000 and averages 750,000 daily viewers, according to Bloomberg.”
Washington Post / Margaret Sullivan
The sliming of Parkland students shows the spreading stain of media polarization →
“What we're seeing here is a spreading stain, in which conspiracy mongering from the likes of Infowars and, yes, Gateway Pundit is adopted by some elements of the formerly mainstream right and peddled to a receptive audience softened up for decades by Fox News.”
Journalism.co.uk / Caroline Scott
“Slow journalism” and the 24/7 digital news cycle →
“Each issue of Delayed Gratification, which is produced by a small central team and a large network of freelancers, covers a three month period and is published another three months after the dates covered in the magazine — enough time, Orchard explained, for final analysis on the topics to be given.”
BuzzFeed / Mark Di Stefano
The Economist and Financial Times both hired Cambridge Analytica for U.S. expansion →
“At the FT, editors and reporters have been asking about what Cambridge Analytica did for them, with suspicions raised after the newspaper included a single-line disclosure in some of their recent reporting of the firm.”
Mashable / Kerry Flynn
Facebook stops accepting new chatbots and apps →
These changes stem from Cambridge Analytica’s misuse of Facebook user data, but what’s interesting is that chatbots do not actually have access to that much information, said Syd Lawrence, founder of The Bot Platform.
The New York Times
The New York Times’ diversity report shows not much progress in hiring more people of color, though female representation has increased →
“As the charts below show, many of the numbers are moving in the right direction — though not far enough or fast enough. Over the past three years, representation of women has increased at every level of The Times. Over all, our employees are now evenly split between men and women. Women in News and Opinion leadership increased to 46 percent in 2017, from 38 percent in 2015, and in business departments, to 46 percent, from 41 percent. The trend is not as uniformly positive for people of color.”
Politico / Carrie Budoff Brown
Politico redesigned →
“So we're thrilled to unveil a new home page that is lighter, cleaner and better for showcasing the rich array of journalism we now produce. It reflects the more rounded news organization we are today: Scoops and fast-twitch reporting remain core to our DNA, but we know our readers also value high-impact investigations, must-read briefings, visual stories and infographics, video news packages and explainers, audio interviews and podcasts.”
Medium / Phillip Smith
Why do reporters take the risk to start a media business? These answers might surprise you. →
“I am looking for the early signals of a successful journalism entrepreneur — what are the personality traits and skills that can help lead to success?”
The Guardian / Mark Sweney
Younger viewers now watch Netflix more than the BBC, the BBC says in its annual report →
“As the trend shifts towards on-demand viewing, the BBC risks being overtaken by competitors,” the BBC wrote in its report.