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Friday, December 7, 2018
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Few people are actually trapped in filter bubbles. Why do they like to say that they are?Plus: Are your Google results really that different from your neighbor’s? By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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3 ways Facebook and other social media companies could clean up their acts — if they wanted to“These moves may hurt the firms' finances, but they would also demonstrate serious and lasting commitment to limiting their platforms' usefulness in political manipulation campaigns.” By Anthony Nadler and Matthew Crain. |
What We’re Reading
Washington Post / Eli Rosenberg
How shoe-leather reporting boosted North Carolina’s explosive election fraud investigation →
“Bruno, who spends much of his time chasing local news staples — shootings, weather events, car crashes, endless city hall squabbles — said the story was a reminder of the value of his work. His producers have extended his segments from the usual 1 minute 15 seconds to closer to 3 minutes, because of the magnitude of the story.”
J-Source / H.G. Watson
A generation of journalists in Canada are struggling →
“We have, in the last few years, become more concerned about the impact on local democracy as the Canadian news media landscape shrinks. But much less has been said about the impact on a generation of journalists. How many voices have already been lost because they couldn't face a precarious future? How many great journalists have left newsrooms because they could no longer bear the brunt of prejudice?”
The New Republic / David Uberti
The march toward a world with less news continues →
"We are, for the first time in modern history," Alan Rusbridger writes in his account of his time at The Guardian, "facing the prospect of how societies would exist without reliable news—at least as it used to be understood."
Des Moines Register / Robin Opsahi
CNN and the Des Moines Register are partnering for Iowa polls ahead of the 2020 caucuses →
“Upcoming polls will look at Iowans’ opinions on presidential candidates, which issues are at the forefront of voters’ minds and more. The Register and CNN will have joint control over deciding poll questions, when results are released and related content.”
Columbia Journalism Review / George Civeris
Digital influencers have changed advertising, and now they’re changing journalism, too →
“Digital-first publishers often embed influencer talent among their own staffs: Many BuzzFeed video creators have social media followings robust enough to guarantee view numbers that would be unrealistic for other publishers, while Refinery29 staffers create sponsored posts for advertisers on their personal accounts.”
American Press Institute / P. Kim Bui and Gwen Vargo
Topic hunters, locally engaged, life changers: How to understand different reader types and drive each to subscribe →
“It took more than 70 percent of readers over a month to reach the point where they chose to subscribe, and nearly 50 percent took at least a year, according to an API study on recent subscribers at 90 local papers.”
BuzzFeed News / Steven Perlberg
Michael Bloomberg said that he may end political coverage at Bloomberg News if he runs in 2020 →
“In the Radio Iowa interview, Bloomberg said that he had begun to talk about the coverage issue with John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. ‘I'm not a candidate yet, so I've got plenty of time to think about it, but I have thought a lot about that, because the news part of our business is a very big part of our business,’ he said.”
VentureBeat / Manish Singh
Facebook is launching a political ad library in India in 2019 →
“This would make India the fourth market — after the U.S., Brazil, and the U.K. — where Facebook offers users a disclaimer on political ads.”