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Monday, August 13, 2018
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How not to be a parachute partner: ProPublica’s figured out how to collaborate with local newsrooms without bigfooting them“We're really proud of our work at the Southern Illinoisan, but we have a flashlight, not a lighthouse.” By Christine Schmidt. |
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Facebook’s message to media: “We are not interested in talking to you about your traffic…That is the old world and there is no going back”That firehose isn’t opening up again anytime soon. By Joshua Benton. |
What We’re Reading
The New York Times / Michael H. Keller
The flourishing business of fake YouTube views →
“Inflating views violates YouTube's terms of service. But Google searches for buying views turn up hundreds of sites offering ‘fast’ and ‘easy’ ways to increase a video's count by 500, 5,000 or even five million. The sites, offering views for just pennies each, also appear in Google search ads. To test the sites, a Times reporter ordered thousands of views from nine companies. Nearly all of the purchases, made for videos not associated with the news organization, were fulfilled in about two weeks.”
Digiday / Tim Peterson
Lots of news publishers have shut down their chatbots, but Quartz keeps on keeping on →
“The studio makes standalone chatbots for advertisers such as HBO to promote its show ‘Westworld’…The moneymaking part makes it worthwhile for Quartz, along with the insights it's learned. The client work funds Quartz's journalism and lets it experiment without having to report to a client, said John Keefe, bot developer and product manager at Quartz.”
The Australian / Darren Davidson
Report: Facebook’s Campbell Brown says Mark Zuckerberg “doesn’t care about publishers” →
“Mark doesn't care about publishers but is giving me a lot of leeway and concessions to make these changes…in a few years the reverse looks like I'll be holding your hands with your dying business like in a hospice…We are not interested in talking to you about your traffic and referrals any more. That is the old world and there is no going back.” (Brown denies making the comments.)
The Associated Press / Ryan Nakashima
Some Google services on Androids and iPhones still store your location data even if you’ve turned off location history →
“For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like ‘chocolate chip cookies,’ or ‘kids science kits,’ pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude — accurate to the square foot — and save it to your Google account.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Mathew Ingram
A 3,148 word explainer on the blockchain and cryptocurrency-based journalism marketplace Civil →
“Civil has to create not only a new blockchain-powered platform, but also a crowdsourced constitution, a non-profit journalism foundation and a council of expert advisers, all at the same time. It's a little like creating a virtual country, complete with citizens who vote, an economy, a court system and a government, but the structure of this country is unlike anything that has come before it.”
Austin American-Statesmen / Gary Dinges
The Austin American-Statesman is closing down its weekly Spanish-language newspaper →
Ahora Sí will cease publication on October 11. The Statesman also announced its 200-plus employees across the entire organization would be eligible for buyouts.
The Outline / J.R. Hennessy
Why The New York Times so interested in Australia, according to one Australian →
“The Times is already the 17th-most-viewed news website in Australia, so it stands to reason there are at least a few people willing to part with their dollars for access to the crosswords. Also, as the world's power center continues to pivot towards Asia, Australia intuitively seems like a perfect place to grab front-row seats. It seems like a ‘nicer’ place to watch the incoming world order (with a more reliable subscriber base) than Beijing or Jakarta.”
The Boston Globe / Dan Kennedy
How Gerry Lenfest morphed from reluctant newspaper owner into a savior of journalism →
“The nonprofit/for-profit hybrid model that Lenfest set up in Philadelphia is not a panacea…Still, the Philadelphia experiment has brought stable ownership, community-minded oversight and a journalism-first mindset to the Inquirer and its sister properties after years of chaos.”