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Wednesday, August 15, 2018
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Democracy is cracking and platforms are no help. What can we do about it? Some policy suggestionsHere are a few in a new Canadian report: greater transparency requirements for digital news publishers, holding social media companies legally liable for the content on their platforms, and mandatory independent audits for platform algorithms. By Christine Schmidt. |
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How media coverage of epidemics helps raise anxiety and reduce trust“Telling people about scary diseases without informing them about ways to protect themselves is a good way to cause anxiety and emotional distress — and a bad way to build trust in government health agencies.” By Yotam Ophir. |
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Major internet companies might want to push their own point of view, but can they also take care of misinformation please and thank youThree-quarters of Americans surveyed say social networks should show the same set of news topics to all users, ignoring their stated interests or browsing history. (Someone should tell them about newspapers!) By Christine Schmidt. |
What We’re Reading
NBC News / Alyssa Newcomb
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explains why they put Alex Jones in a time-out →
"We can't build a service that is subjective just to the whims of what we personally believe," Dorsey told NBC News' Lester Holt in an exclusive interview.
Indiewire / Steve Greene
Here’s the trailer for BuzzFeed’s new Netflix show →
“I don’t know if that was the worst thing I’ve ever done or the best.”
Wall Street Journal / Anne Steele
PRX and PRI join forces to capitalize on podcasts’ growing popularity →
“‘We recognized we needed to do more to position public media for the future,’ said Alisa Miller, chief executive of PRI, who will become executive chairwoman of the combined organization. PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman will be CEO of the combined company.”
Wall Street Journal / Alexandra Bruell
The woman behind the New York Times’ high-risk, high-reward business strategy →
“Through the Samsung deal and others with the likes of General Electric Co. and BMW AG , the 47-year-old executive is upending the Times century-old ad sales strategy, shifting away from one-off ad placements of the low-six-figure variety, in favor of more elaborate and lucrative deals that resemble corporate partnerships.”
MIT Technology Review / Zeynep Tufekci
How social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump →
“Power always learns, and powerful tools always fall into its hands. This is a hard lesson of history but a solid one. It is key to understanding how, in seven years, digital technologies have gone from being hailed as tools of freedom and change to being blamed for upheavals in Western democracies—for enabling increased polarization, rising authoritarianism, and meddling in national elections by Russia and others.”
Washingtonian / Andrew Beaujon
Why the Washington Post’s Twitter has been so good lately →
“SOMEBODY once told me the world is gonna roll me/ I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed/ She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb/ In the shape of an ‘L’ on her forehead”
Center for Cooperative Media / Stefanie Murray
Election projects around the world show the power — and necessity — of collaborative journalism →
“I think it's worth highlighting them, especially in advance of the U.S. midterms — there are several ideas here that could be used locally on a smaller scale.”