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Friday, September 7, 2018
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Are you sure that promoted article is still political content, Facebook?“Any human being that would put an eye on it would be able to say this is not political propaganda. This is really fair and well-documented journalism. It should not be confused.” By Christine Schmidt. |
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They’ll do it live: The New York Times is going beyond poll results and showing how the numerical sausage gets madeBut will the added transparency enlighten, confuse, or open up new vectors of misinformation? By Joshua Benton. |
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When maps go viral: A cartographer takes a look into user-made maps (and their unintended consequences)Plus: Who tweets anti-vaccine content, and watch out for “misinfodemics.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re Reading
Reynolds Journalism Institute / Judd Slivka
Observations on how we teach drone journalism →
“The biggest determinant in skill at the beginning of our 15-week course is if someone is a gamer. This shouldn't be surprising, but still kind of was. Our students who did the best right out of the gate were the ones who had spent considerable time honing their eye-hand coordination playing PC or console games.”
Electronic Frontier Foundation / Danny O'Brien
Fake compromises, real threats in next week’s EU copyright vote →
“Next Wednesday at Noon CET, all 751 MEPS will be voting on 203 brand new amendments to the ‘Copyright in the Digital Single Market’ directive, including genuine reforms as well as innocuous-looking language that would double-down on the copyright filters and link taxes from the previous, rejected, draft.”
Twitter / John Herrman
The “top engaging stories” on Facebook include a whole lotta Lad Bible →
Plus some Burger King horse meat rumors.
Columbia Journalism Review / Casey Kelly
The man behind Maine’s unparalleled consolidation of local news →
“In less than a decade, Brower has acquired six of Maine's seven daily newspapers and 21 of just more than 30 weeklies — a degree of newspaper consolidation unmatched in any other state. “
Reuters Institute / Global Initiative, ideas@global-initiative.com
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen named new director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism →
“Professor Nielsen will succeed Dr. David Levy, who is stepping down after ten years as Institute director. During Dr. Levy's directorship the Institute has grown enormously, with a more than threefold increase in staff and funding, a strengthened fellowship program, the creation of a substantial research team, and increased impact on journalism and the news industry.”
BuzzFeed News / Charlie Warzel and Ryan Mac
Twitter permanently bans Alex Jones and Infowars →
“After weeks of equivocation, Twitter permanently suspended the accounts of Infowars and its founder Alex Jones on Thursday, following similar moves by other large tech companies, including Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify. The decision came after a series of provocations from Jones that Twitter deemed in violation of its ‘abusive behavior’ rules.”
The Information / Aaron Tilley
Apple hires veteran media executive Liz Schimel as “head of news business” →
“Ms. Schimel's addition to the business side of Apple News is a likely reflection of the emphasis the company is beginning to place on producing advertising revenue through the Apple News app, which comes installed on the company's mobile devices and aggregates articles from various media sources.” The Washington Post has said it has generated hundreds of subscriptions a day through Apple News.