Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | “We cannot be neutral about this, by definition. A free press that doesn’t agitate for democracy is an oxymoron.” By Gideon Lichfield. |
| “News organizations will increasingly rely on digital creators not just as amplifiers but as integral partners in storytelling.” By Marlon A. Walker. |
| “We’ve overindexed on problem articulation, to the point of problem admiring. The risk is that we are analyzing ourselves into inaction and irrelevance.” By Meredith Artley. |
| “It may be a challenge to find a writer who can channel the viewpoint of the American voters who favored Donald Trump in 2024 while still honoring the principles of responsible journalism.” By Matthew Pressman. |
| “Journalists can fall into a trap of parroting the language provided by officials, whether that’s law enforcement, the courts, politicians, academics, or subject-matter experts.” By Doris Truong. |
| “The next great digital media product will capture all of the best qualities of an old-fashioned newspaper, and more.” By Simon Allison. |
| “It was never about the size of inventory and the pricing. It isn’t about the transaction. Independent bookstores are about relationships and community.” By Eric Nuzum. |
| “We got here through nearly 600 years of editorial choices, in one story after the other, from the birth of the printing press to today.” By Cassie Owens. |
| “For too long, science journalism has been treated as something distinct, something extra — the domain of specialists writing for audiences who are already deeply interested in and informed about science. This is bad.” By Siri Carpenter. |
| “To employers I say, take the extra minute to wonder: What else might this person have going on in their life that’s impacting their performance, and how can I help them?” By Rachel S. Hunt. |
| “The future of news is moving beyond the written word. With AI at its core, it’s conversational, spoken, interactive, responsive, and deeply personal — the very essence of meaningful human communication.” By Nikita Roy. |
| “Every president claims a mandate and a decisive victory, but saying so doesn’t make it so. Media coverage is crucial for determining the scope of that power.” By Joshua P. Darr. |
| “There’s an old adage in the news business that journalists only cover the planes that crash. But in this case, we need to cover the planes that are taking off.” By Sarabeth Berman. |
| “Audiences are embracing human-curated content delivered through both digital and analog channels.” By Rodney Gibbs. |
| “In a world where GenAI presents itself as the solution, we will return to the social sciences, Humanities, and even old-style journalism.” By Daniel Trielli. |
| “Journalism as a social service is about helping people and communities become the best versions of themselves. That’s something another 100 years of Pulitzer Prizes will not achieve.” By Simon Galperin. |
| “The printed page offers our minds a break from those hits of dopamine that distracted us from thinking, feeling, and doing more important things.” By Aimee Rinehart. |
| “For news organizations looking to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, exploring these platforms isn’t just about finding new distribution channels – it’s about building the foundation for future AI-powered news experiences.” By Ethan Toven-Lindsey. |
What We’re ReadingThe Verge / David Pierce
YouTube is a hit on TVs — and is starting to act like it →“YouTube just released some new stats that show how the service is being consumed on televisions, and the numbers are enormous. Watch time on TV for sports content was up 30 percent year over year; viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts on their TVs every month.”Polygon / Chris Plante
Reminder to the media: Research video games before reporting on them →“Unfortunately, mainstream reports have a decades-long history of broadly failing to report confidently on video games, particularly as they relate to real-world violence. In the late 1990s and through the 2000s, local news and network news alike infamously responded to shootings by flooding televisions with stories of Doom training a generation to kill. These days, the moral panic is often subtler, though no less absurd, often nodding to a connection between games and violence without explicitly stating one.”Intelligencer / John Herrman
Luigi Mangione’s full story isn’t online →“This was, for a while, a niche form of reporting, often done by amateurs and eventually professionalized by new media organizations with young employees. It promised revelation from the dark corners of the web: While reporters were on the street getting quotes from neighbors about how the killer was ‘such a nice boy, and quiet,’ a compilation of violent or alarming posts, made in secrecy or obscurity, would tell the real story. In practice, it wasn’t always so fruitful.”The Verge / Lauren Feiner
TikTok failed to save itself with the First Amendment →“In fact, the ruling argued that a TikTok divest-or-ban rule outright promotes the values of the First Amendment. ‘Indeed, the First Amendment precludes a domestic government from exercising comparable control over a social media company in the United States,’ the court writes. ‘Here the Congress, as the Executive proposed, acted to end the [People’s Republic of China’s] ability to control TikTok. Understood in that way, the Act actually vindicates the values that undergird the First Amendment.'”CNN / Clare Foran and Brian Stelter
Senate GOP blocks bill to protect journalists after Trump opposes it →“Known as the PRESS Act, the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act would prevent the government from forcing journalists to reveal their sources and limit the seizure of their data without their knowledge. The bill passed the GOP-controlled House earlier this year…On Tuesday evening, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon went to the Senate floor and asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill. But GOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas objected, blocking the attempt.”NPR / Tovia Smith
Bankruptcy judge rejects The Onion’s bid for Infowars →“For all of those as upset about this as we are, please know we will continue to seek moments of hope,” the Onion said in a
post on X. “We are undeterred in our mission to make a funnier world.” 9to5Mac / Ryan Christoffel
Apple’s new Podcasts app aims to be better at recommending new shows to you →“You can now choose favorite podcast categories, which should improve podcast recommendations in the app. The app’s Search page is now personalized, highlighting categories and curated collections that better suit your listening habits.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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