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Wednesday, March 27, 2019
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Newsonomics: Inside the new L.A. Times, a 100-year vision that bets on tech and top-notch journalismIt’s a few years behind its East Coast brethren in New York and Washington. But tens of millions in new investment and ambitious digital plans are showing a path back to its former prominence — and beyond. By Ken Doctor. |
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Circa, Sinclair’s millennial-focused news site (and the final remains of some interesting mobile ideas), is shutting downFrom an innovative startup to a Sean Hannity segment supplier to a generic millennial news site, Circa seems to have finally run out of lives. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Slow down, read up: Why slow journalism and finishable news is (quickly) growing a following“You can't finish a news feed, but you can finish Zetland, and that is just very nice, you know: ‘OK, that was the lesson for today, now I'm off out in the sun, talking to a friend.'” By Benjamin Bathke. |
What We’re Reading
The New York Times / Philip N. Howard
To detect future misinformation campaigns, platforms should be required to make all the ads they run public and searchable →
“The people and groups behind these ads aren't going to volunteer the details about them on their own. A fully searchable public archive, maintained by an independent ad council financed by a fraction of ad revenues, will give democracy a healthy shot of algorithmic transparency.”
The New York Times / Tiff Fehr
How The New York Times “read” through 900 pages of Michael Cohen documents in minutes →
“In close collaboration with the newsroom staff, I recently led the development of a tool called DocumentHelper. The tool is used internally at The Times to quickly ingest large numbers of documents and make them searchable. Steps that reporters previously followed across a few different applications can be combined into the equivalent of a ‘one-stop shop.'”
Motherboard / Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler
Facebook is banning white nationalist (not just white supremacist) content →
“Facebook will also begin directing users who try to post content associated with those ideologies to a nonprofit that helps people leave hate groups, Motherboard has learned…Phrases such as ‘I am a proud white nationalist’ and ‘Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer’ will now be banned, according to the company.”
The Verge / Casey Newton
Europe is splitting the internet into three →
“The internet had previously been divided into two: the open web, which most of the world could access; and the authoritarian web of countries like China, which is parceled out stingily and heavily monitored. As of today, though, the web no longer feels truly worldwide. Instead we now have the American internet, the authoritarian internet, and the European internet.”
The Hollywood Reporter / Eriq Gardner
Vice is settling a class-action suit that alleged gender discrimination in salaries →
For $1.875 million. “The average payout will be about $1,600 (minus taxes), though payouts will depend on factors including service time and job classifications.”
Digiday / Max Willens
“He's not trying to solve the long-term problems facing journalism” →
A profile of Peter Stern, who oversees Apple News’ deals with publishers: “His view on this is that Apple has a firm view of how it wants to do things and what's in the best interest of its customers. That takes primacy over things like sustainability, cannibalization.”
The New York Times Company
Here’s The New York Times’ 2018 diversity report →
“Overall, women now make up 51 percent of our staff, and people of color represent 30 percent; both have increased in recent years. The progress on gender equality, in particular, has been significant, and last year women made up 49 percent of our newsroom leaders — up from just 38 percent in 2015. Racial diversity in leadership, however, has not increased since 2016, and lags the staff population.”
Recode
“How are we different? Well, our show has fun. Our show will sing you some news when it's appropriate.” →
Kara Swisher interviews Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram.
AP / Rishabh Jain
Facebook says it’s limiting false stories for India election →
“India reportedly has the highest number of Facebook users in the world, with more than 300 million. That is about a third of the 900 million people eligible to vote in 2019.”
Ford Foundation
Road map for inclusion: Changing the face of disability in media →
“People with disabilities should be represented proportionally, both in front of and behind the camera.”