Monday, August 28, 2023 |
| The report also finds “warning signs” over editorial independence in responses from newsrooms. By Sarah Scire. |
What We’re ReadingDigiday / Sara Guaglione
Newsroom unions’ return-to-office negotiations heat up as fall approaches →“Hearst and The New York Times both announced updates to their in-person attendance requirements over the summer, asking employees to come into the office three days a week. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal’s union is negotiating the publisher’s in-office mandate, proposing a three-day cap on in-office work.”The Atlantic / Helen Lewis
The dirty secrets of book blurbs →“What’s behind the blurb arms race? Two things: the switch across the arts from a traditional critical culture to an internet-centered one driven by influencers and reliant on user reviews, combined with a superstar system where a handful of titles account for the great majority of sales.”Press Gazette / Jim Edwards
Why the future of digital-only local news may be small, focused, and based on email →“Traditionally, local papers in America heavily cover high school sports because parents love seeing their kids’ names in the paper. But Brodbeck has banned youth sports coverage from his sites because he was irked by the number of reader complaints it generated.”The Philadelphia Inquirer / Will Bunch
Political journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America →“America is entering its most important, pivotal year since 1860, and the U.S. media is doing a terrible job explaining what is actually happening.”The Fix / Veronica Snoj
Five trends in post-invasion Russian journalism →“Telegram is king, for both sides.”Axios / Tyler Buchanan
Columbus Dispatch pauses the use of its AI sports writing tool after criticism →“The Worthington Christian [] defeated the Westerville North [] 2-1 in an Ohio boys soccer game on Saturday.”Vanity Fair / Joe Pompeo
Jelani Cobb on J-school sticker shock, education wars, and the Trump coverage conundrum →“[His] ultimate objective, he told me, is to cover the full cost of tuition for low-income students while expanding the reimbursement options for those who are better positioned to take out loans.”Washington Post / Paul Farhi
Pentagon protested false Fox News report about fallen Marine, emails show →“Fox quietly amended the digital story and then removed it from its website following more complaints from the Marines. It has not corrected the erroneous report or explained its reasons for removing the article in the month since it was published.”Semafor / Max Tani
Two Brits on the list for top CNN job →“Semafor broke the news last week that a leading contender for the job is Mark Thompson, the former New York Times and BBC chief. But the company has also spoken to another prominent British journalist, James Harding, who led BBC News from 2013 to 2017 and then founded the British digital media outlet Tortoise.”Online Journalism Awards / Karolle Rabarison
Here are the winners of the 2023 Online Journalism Awards →“The winning projects include exceptional journalism by local outlets such as LAist, the Miami Herald, GBH News and Borderless Magazine; nonprofit news organizations including Iowa Public Radio, Radio Free Asia and The 19th; leading international media such as LA NACION and impressive collaborations like Story Killers and The Great Salt Lake Collaborative, each of which involved over a dozen organizations.”Washington Post / Jonathan O'Connell, Paul Farhi, and Sofia Andrade
How a small-town feud in Kansas sent a shock through American journalism →“At the center of everything were a business owner, a police chief and a newspaper.”Michael Geist
The “media bargaining” part of Canada’s Bill C-18 may not begin until 2025 →“This creates the worst of all worlds: either news link blocking by the Internet companies in order to comply with the law or no deals until the system is fully operational in 2025 and into 2026. Moreover, if Google joins Meta in news link blocking, the CRTC will be developing a bargaining system that does not apply to any Internet company.”The Verge / Mia Sato
Can news outlets build a “trustworthy” AI chatbot? →“On August 1st, an AI chatbot tool was added to Macworld, PCWorld, Tech Advisor, and TechHive, promising that readers can ‘get [their] tech questions answered by AI, based only on stories and reviews by our experts.'” But: “Smart Answers struggles with queries that seem straightforward.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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