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Monday, February 11, 2019
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Want to reduce political polarization? Save your local newspaperIn places that lose a newspaper, split-ticket voting decreases by almost 2 percent. Without trustworthy political information, we fall back on party labels and our partisan identities. By Joshua P. Darr, Johanna Dunaway, and Matthew P. Hitt. |
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Newsonomics: In the Consolidation Games, enter the bankersAlden’s offer to buy Gannett looks less and less credible. But can Tribune and Gannett suss out the merger that might be necessary to stop it? By Ken Doctor. |
What We’re Reading
NAJA
The Native American Journalists Association has launched the Indigenous Investigative Collective →
“Aimed at providing training, resources, and networked support to Indigenous reporters covering the day-to-day activities of their tribal governments…Press freedom in Indigenous communities is the exception, not the rule. To enable Indigenous journalists to accurately report despite press-blackouts and opaque government structures, NAJA believes it is critical to provide support and tools for journalists to work with whistleblowers in an ethical and responsible way.”
Membership Puzzle Project
Join the beat of finding ways for your audience to join your beat →
“The Membership Puzzle Project launched Join the Beat in 2018 as an experimental project designed to help beat reporters identify, share, and put into practice new ways to collaborate directly with their audiences and sources. The participating reporters explored how embracing their audiences’ knowledge, insights, and skills could enrich coverage and deepen the relationship between community members and newsrooms and how to build workflows to make this kind of collaboration part of their routine, rather than limited to special projects.”
IRE
These are the 2018 Philip Meyer Award winners →
Including Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Quartz, the Associated Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal, and APM Reports.
Economic and Political Weekly / Chinmayi Arun
On WhatsApp, rumors, and lynchings in India →
“The Indian government is treating the lynchings as a ‘fake news’ problem, and is placing the onus of remedies on WhatsApp. This is a misdirected policy response that does little to address the issue…We must view the mob violence and murder resulting from rumour in India from an incitement-to-violence perspective, not a fake-news perspective.”
Spotify / Tricky
Is there much of a future for print? →
Nieman Lab director Joshua Benton joins with Columbia’s Emily Bell, the University of Texas’ Iris Chyi, and the New School’s Heather Chaplin to discuss.
Salon / Amanda Marcotte
Virginia’s garbage fire is why the decline of local journalism is a national issue →
“The decline in robust, in-depth journalism, particularly on the local level — coupled with the rise of social media and well-funded partisan opposition research — is creating an atmosphere where political scandals, legitimate or not, will increasingly dominate politics and media.”
The Atlantic / Gabby Deutch
In the “Year of the Woman,” many were missing from international reporting →
“Journalism around the world remains dominated by male reporters and their male sources. But that's starting to change.”
Eurasianet / Dustin Gilbreath
In the country of Georgia, “old age and economic worries are predictors of susceptibility to disinformation” →
“Another major finding of the study is that a solid, growing economy is perhaps the best antidote against disinformation.”
Gizmodo / Kashmir Hill
“I cut the ‘big 5’ tech giants from my life. It was hell” →
“Critics of the big tech companies are often told, ‘If you don't like the company, don't use its products.’ I did this experiment to find out if that is possible, and I found out that it's not —with the exception of Apple.”
Medium / Jeff Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis: “We are not being honest with ourselves about the failures of the models we depend upon” →
“The mistake that many paywallers make is that they don't understand what might motivate people to pay.”
Digiday / Lucinda Southern
How The Telegraph pairs user registration and paid subscriptions →
“By far the most popular use of My Telegraph is saving articles, then it's following journalists, followed by customizing content topics.”
Business Insider / Benjamin Goggin
Gatehouse Media has laid off at least 60 journalists across the country after a $30 million acquisition →
“The total number of jobs lost is hard to determine due to non-disclosure agreements required as part of severance agreements, according to at least three sources who were affected by the layoffs.”
Journalist's Resource / Denise-Marie Ordway
Seven ways journalists can access academic research for free →
“Some of the more popular journals give journalists complimentary access. The American Economic Association (AEA), for instance, offers reporters free two-year accounts, allowing them to read published and forthcoming articles for all eight of its journals, including the American Economic Review.”