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Thursday, August 22, 2019
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Three years into nonprofit ownership, The Philadelphia Inquirer is still trying to chart its futureBuyouts, rebranding, good journalism, and a vision still in progress: The Philadelphia Inquirer has had quite a summer. The metro newspaper business is still tough, even without a hedge fund or private equity pulling the strings. By Christine Schmidt. |
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People avoid consuming news that bums them out. Here are five elements that help them see a solution“It is important that journalists take the time to fully explain the issue and the response before exploring implementation, results, and insights.” By Christine Schmidt. |
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The Boston Globe continues its regional expansion experiment, with students in a suburb“Investigative reporting is great to have, but first we need the basics — and we're no longer getting them.” By Christine Schmidt. |
What We’re Reading
ABC News / Rhiannon Hobbins and Flip Prior
Here’s how the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is fixing the absence of women in its reporting →
“Teams record the gender of interviewees. They measure what they can control. In News, for instance, we would not count someone, such as the Prime Minister, who is critical to a particular story but we would count an expert commentator, as we can choose whether we hear from a male or female expert. The data then forms part of the regular editorial meetings.”
Scientific American / Claire Wardle
“Misinformation has created a new world disorder” →
“Bad actors who want to deepen existing tensions [design] content that they hope will so anger or excite targeted users that the audience will become the messenger. The goal is that users will use their own social capital to reinforce and give credibility to that original message. Most of this content is designed not to persuade people in any particular direction but to cause confusion, to overwhelm, and to undermine trust in democratic institutions from the electoral system to journalism.”
The Atlantic / Ken White
Don’t use these free speech arguments ever again →
“…when you smugly drop ‘You can't shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater’ in a First Amendment debate, you're misquoting an empty rhetorical device uttered by a career totalitarian in a long-overturned case about jailing draft protesters. This is not persuasive or helpful.”
The Information / Alex Heath
Facebook pushes Instagram to earn its keep →
“Some executives in the room saw Instagram's success as a threat to Facebook itself…In the roughly 11 months since Mosseri took over, most of Instagram's senior leadership team has been replaced, Facebook has ordered Instagram to roughly double the number of advertisements in the app…employees from Instagram and WhatsApp were also told recently that their corporate email accounts will be switched to addresses that end with fb.com.”
Digiday / Jessica Davies
Google says news publishers lose 62% of ad revenue when users block cookies →
(Of course, you may have heard Google makes a little money from digital advertising too.)
CJR / Jeremy Gordon
Can music journalism transcend its access problem? →
“Across the industry, celebrity journalism has waned, thanks to the emergence of the internet as a promotional tool — it is possible to share your story directly, without the mediation of a mildly depressed writer — and the ongoing fragmentation and resource-depletion of publications across America.”
Current / Tyler Falk
Alaska public broadcasters lose state funding →
“The governor's office said in a press briefing about the vetoes that it recognizes public broadcasting's ‘important role in Alaska, especially in our rural communities that have limited or no access to other forms of media.’ But funding for public broadcasting ‘can no longer be sustained,’ the briefing said.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Simon Parkin
Reporting the abstract issues of climate change — through games →
“There's lots of data out there. We thought there was a clear story that could walk people through climate cuts and help them discover what's needed to really meet emissions targets. When you play…you realize pretty quickly we need to make much more drastic cuts than one might assume.'”
MIT Technology Review / Andy Wright
Why are products for older people so ugly? →
“They are the Longevity Explorers, part of Caro's experiment to improve the way technology is developed for older adults. They've been meeting here since 2014. Throughout most of the meeting Caro sits quietly at the head of the table, hands clasped together, and just listens. He wishes more people—especially entrepreneurs—would do the same.”
Reynolds Journalism Institute / Jennifer Nelson
The Associated Press plans to study push alerts (and how to make them less annoying) →
“During the fellowship, the team plans to experiment with various alerting features on the AP's news site and mobile app to test different delivery methods, topics and timing. They will measure various metrics, which may include open, follow and uninstall rates as they study user preferences. As they seek to learn users' preferences, they will also conduct user research.”
Digiday / Lucinda Southern
Insider is reorganizing its editorial teams into two brands and three divisions →
“Last year, Insider was profitable for the first time for the whole year and reached $100 million (£82 million) in revenue. Over time, the publisher has been diversifying into video production, events, licensing shows to platforms like Facebook, and commerce. The publisher has also had the benefit of being fully owned by Axel Springer, which bought the company in 2015 for $343 million (£282 million).”