 |
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
 |
Fewer nosy neighbors and data overlords: This German publisher is trying to build a hyperlocal social networkOne user: “I do not want to stay in touch with avoidable contacts in Dubai or London. I want to know who lives in my neighborhood and wants to get to know these people.” By Christine Schmidt. |
 |
Showing your work, reflecting your audience, and using the right tools: Some 2019 predictions about trust and transparency“Readers are paying attention — that's what you want, isn't it? — and they now have the tools to push back and to challenge our decisions.” By Joshua Benton. |
What We’re Reading
The Guardian / Julian Borger
Turkey sentences journalist Pelin Ünker to jail over the Paradise Papers investigation →
“After the sentence was issued, Ünker told the ICIJ she intended to appeal, pointing out that the Yildirim family had admitted that articles about their Maltese businesses were accurate.”
Better News / Joni Deutsch, Cole Del Charco, Ju-Don Marshall and Greg Collard
How Charlotte’s NPR station, WFAE, fought news fatigue (and found a hit) with a music podcast →
“When public radio host/producer Joni Deutsch moved from West Virginia, to Charlotte for a new role at WFAE, she asked Charlotteans (native and new to the area) about the Charlotte music scene. Joni received a lot of shrugs in return. That made sense, given how music/arts coverage in Charlotte media had shrunk in recent years, even as the music community and Charlotte populace (of potential music fans left unaware of the region's music history) continued to grow.”
The Buffalo News / Caitlin Dewey
How this local news reporter uncovered Buffalo’s “digital deserts,” where more than half of households lack internet →
Caitlin Dewey, formerly of the Washington Post, reported how “it has been a battle to get people to even agree we had a connectivity issue,’ said Sanjay Gilani, the outgoing chief technology officer at the Buffalo schools. ‘Now everybody agrees – the data proves it. So I hope the debate is turning positively to what we can do and how we can fund it.'”
Nieman Foundation
Announcing the 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellows →
Climate change storytelling, labor relations in the media, Generation Z’s Instagram news habits, a platform for sustainable independent journalism in Turkey and more — meet the researchers and journalists behind these projects visiting Cambridge this year.
The New York Times / Michael M. Grynbaum
So, Trump’s live TV speech happened. How did the media do? →
“He made a lot of dubious claims.”
The Idea / Mollie Leavitt
How Rafat Ali develops products for Skift →
“Media is a simple business: You pick a sector, cover the shit out of it, get an audience, you either sell them, which is advertising, or you sell to them, which is subscriptions or paid services, that's it. There's no other way to do media.”
The New York Times Company / A.G. Sulzberger
The state of The New York Times in 2019 →
“Many of you have heard me say that the world doesn't need more ‘content.’ There are enough hot takes, chat podcasts, and YouTube videos to sustain us through the apocalypse. What the world needs more of is great journalism.”
Media Legal Defence Initiative
Introducing a legal fund for factcheckers →
“The project is being launched by three leading media law and journalism organizations: the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI), the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) and the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).”
MuckRock / Michael Morisy
MuckRock/DocumentCloud announces its paid plan →
There’s still a free option, but the org level access is $100/month.
Journalism.co.uk / Marcela Kunova
Quartz’s AI Studio launches an open-source platform to help journalists use machine learning →
“But for the machine learning we think can help support reporters, the applications are far more specific. More like: ‘Computer, here are 100 examples of the pattern I'm looking for. Please find more of those this in this pile of 1 million records.'”