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Friday, June 14, 2019
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As the Christchurch massacre trial begins, New Zealand news orgs vow to keep white supremacist ideology out of their coverage“We’re going to do our job — we won’t chill our coverage in any way — but we’re not going to spread hate or misinformation.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Populists prefer television to online news — but are sticking to Facebook as others leave“In the U.S., though there are some outlets with populist audiences — such as Fox and HuffPost — it is clear that the majority of outlets have audiences that are predominately non-populist left, such as The New York Times.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re Reading
Writers Guild of America East
Vox Media and its union have agreed to their first contract →
Including a $56,000 minimum salary ($53,000 for overtime-eligible employees), annual raises in the 3 to 3.5 percent range, health benefits for many part-time employees, 16 weeks of paid parental leave, and commitments around diversity in hiring — among other things.
Journalism.co.uk / Marcela Kunova
Facebook plans to determine the “trustworthiness” of individual reporters, not just news organizations →
“Jesper Doub, Facebook EMEA, director of news partnerships, was an outspoken critic of Facebook until he joined the company last year…Facebook is putting together a list of trustworthy news sources, in addition to actively down-ranking clickbait content. ‘We look to treat trustworthy reporters and news organisations differently. It's not only about the New York Times or Der Spiegel, we also look at individual journalists.'”
Bloomberg
A Turkish prosecutor is seeking jail terms of up to 5 years for two Bloomberg reporters →
“The charges relate to an August 2018 Bloomberg story about how Turkish authorities and banks were responding to the biggest currency shock in the country since 2001. Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalinkilic, the reporters, are accused of trying to undermine Turkey's economic stability.”
What's New in Publishing / Kevin Anderson
“Tying together two rocks doesn’t make them float”: Why newspapers are facing the end of scale →
“The savings from this round of consolidation will disappear into the maw of the next recession leaving precious little left for the business transformation that these groups and the communities they serve need.”
The Verge / Ashley Carman
Spotify is making podcasts more prominent for its premium users in its apps →
“Currently, the layout for a premium users' library is tricky to navigate, with all your media — playlists, songs, albums, artists, podcasts, and videos — crammed together at the top. This new design, while not necessarily a monumental change to how people listen on the audio platform, makes the experience slightly more pleasant, especially considering that people haven't loved Spotify's podcast treatment.”
CNN / Brian Stelter
Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ legacy: The death of the White House press briefing →
“The format served presidents and the press well for decades. But Trump and Sanders ultimately decided it was not in their personal interest to provide the same level of transparency as past administrations.”
AdNews / Mariam Cheik-Hussein
Australian media owners and journalists unite to call for laws to protect a free press →
“The ‘Journalism is not a Crime’ letter was published in News Corp Australia newspapers, including The Australian, and Nine newspapers, including The Sydney Morning Herald…It comes following the raids on Annika Smethurst, a News Corp journalist, and the ABC over two separate stories relating to the Afghan Files and alleged plans for government spying on Timor-Leste.”
Vox / Brian Resnick
Hyped-up science erodes trust. Here’s how researchers can fight back. →
“Frequently, stories about scientific research declare an exciting new treatment works but fail to mention the intervention was performed on mice. Or stories that breathlessly report what the latest study finds on the health benefits (or risks) of coffee, without assessing the weight of the available evidence. The truth is, a lot of these misconceptions start as the one around McAuliffe's study did: with the university press release.”
Digiday / Max Willens
Led by Tasty, BuzzFeed expects to drive $260 million in consumer product sales this year →
“This would double the $130 million in retail sales of BuzzFeed-branded products in 2018…and easily slot BuzzFeed onto a list of the world's biggest brand licensors…The company is using that success to pitch itself as some type of food-commerce whisperer to advertisers.”
Digiday / Aditi Sangal
The New York Times’ deputy off-platform editor Millie Tran on platforms and private sharing →
“BuzzFeed is really great at executing. They launch fast, learn quickly and pivot. The New York Times is good at long-term strategic planning, slower to execute but very thoughtful when they do.”
Reuters / Douglas Busvine
Business Insider and eMarketer are merging →
“The news comes as private-equity house KKR readies an offer to buy out minority shareholders in Axel Springer for 63 euros a share, supporting its main owners who want to take the company private and pursue long-term growth.”
FRONTLINE
Need some funding and guidance for your local newsroom’s investigation? Frontline wants to help →
“Through the Local Journalism Project, FRONTLINE will partner with reporters affiliated with local print, television, radio, or digital news organizations to carry out in-depth investigative projects on subjects of local relevance. The initiative will support four to five such projects annually over the next four years. Applications are now being accepted.”