 |
Thursday, August 2, 2018
 |
Should you major in journalism? Here are stories from eight working journalists who didn’t“If you decide that maybe journalism school isn’t a great fit for you, then take every opportunity to build up the skills that you will need in journalism outside of your curriculum.” By Marlee Baldridge. |
 |
Facebook puts $4.5 million more into news support with a membership accelerator and News Match cashThough local news will be a focus, this program won’t be exclusively for local news publishers. By Christine Schmidt. |
What We’re Reading
The Information / Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa
Google is developing a news aggregation app for use in China that will comply with the country's strict censorship laws →
“Google is also preparing a mobile app for internet search in China that will comply with local censorship laws, an effort first reported Wednesday by The Intercept. The company is developing the apps in Mountain View where its headquarters are, and mainland China, where it has offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, according to people familiar with the matter.”
New York Times / Kim Bellware
What Chance the Rapper’s purchase of Chicagoist means →
“The best parts of Chicagoist, the ones that Chance would be wise to preserve, were its broad editorial freedom and its focus on niche neighborhood stories that might escape the attention of larger outlets.”
The WordPress.com Blog / Anne McCarthy
WordPress introduces a diverse, free photo stock library →
“We're excited to announce that we've been working hard with Pexels and other diversity-focused image-library partners so that everyone with a WordPress.com or Jetpack-connected site can realize their vision with the right stock photos.”
Poynter / Kristen Hare
Salem, Oregon is getting a new online news site. “I’m pretending there’s no other media there.” →
“A monthly subscription will cost $10 and a yearly subscription will cost $100. The Reporter will accept advertising, and Zaitz is looking at founding sponsorships, ‘but I forecast zero dollars from either one of those.'”
Storybench / Floris Wu
How Florida Today created an augmented reality rocket launch app →
“Our initial results showed that roughly 48 percent of the people that are using the app are 18 to 34 years old. It is an incredibly big win for a media company to be able to say 48 percent of the audience that it reaches is 34 and under.”
The New Yorker / Charles Bethea
News outlets are prewriting stories about officials getting fired to keep up with the Trump era →
"Reince fired via tweet, Tillerson fired via tweet, McMaster, Bannon — everyone saw those coming. Spicer, everyone knew it couldn't last too much longer. Pruitt you knew it was going to happen. I'm sure people have them ready for [John] Kelly. You start hearing that Trump is souring on someone, or that someone is souring on Trump, and you start getting it ready. There has never been so much turnover in such a short time. It is the only constant in Trump's world. He sees people as entirely disposable."
Wall Street Journal / Deepa Seetharaman
Fake Facebook accounts latched on to real U.S. protest groups →
“Events promoted by fake accounts included a November 2017 march against cops in New York, a June 2017 birthday celebration in San Diego for a Chicano activist, and a June 2018 protest at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C. The page for ‘Resisters,’ which described itself as ‘feminist activism against fascism,’ promoted more than 30 events across several U.S. cities and one in Rome. It also had events planned for the months ahead, including anti-fascism protests in mid-August and a New Year's Day rally in Times Square called ‘A NYC Protest in Support of Rosenstein.'”
Local News Lab
$500,000 goes to 10 North Carolina projects redefining the future of local news →
Among the grantees: Word on the Street/La Voz de los Jóvenes, “an online magazine with a program that mentors and trains youth of color to gather and publish news that engages their communities and builds racial equity.”
New York Times / Rick Rojas
News from your neighborhood, brought to you by the State of New Jersey →
“I think times have changed,” said Louis D. Greenwald, a Democrat and majority leader of the State Assembly. "I think it's one of the smartest investments that government can make to protect our democracy and our rights."”
The Guardian / Mark Sweney
Print advertising in U.K. national newspapers rises for first time since 2010, study finds →
“Print display advertising in the national newspaper market rose 1 percent to £153m in the first quarter of 2018, the first time there has been an increase since the last quarter of 2010. To put this in context, in the 29 quarters since the 2010 rise, more than half of national papers — 15 — have seen double-digit declines in advertising spend of up to 22 percent.”
Poynter / Taylor Blatchford
Digital startup Colorado Sun plans to cover the whole state in greater depth →
“Other Denver media startups like the InDenver Times, the Rocky Mountain Independent and Colorado Public News failed due to lack of interest or subscribers after the Rocky Mountain News folded. Coffield said she thinks the Sun will be different because of the timing. The journalists understand better how audiences consume news digitally, and readers aren't surprised to hear that the Sun will be online only.”
Quartz / Zach Seward
Quartz gets a redesign →
“Today's new website unifies all of our editions — Quartz, Quartz India, Quartz Africa, Quartz at Work, and Quartzy — into one modern web application. Our emails have a more prominent home in this new version, too.”