Wesley Lowery talks journalism education, objectivity, and learning by doing

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Wesley Lowery talks journalism education, objectivity, and learning by doing Lowery took the helm of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University as its executive editor this month. By Sophie Culpepper.

Out of touch, but inspiring? Journalists share their thoughts about academic research A survey finds there are key differences between what journalists think researchers can help with, and what the journalists are actually trying to address in their newsroom. By Tamar Wilner and Valérie Bélair-Gagnon.

What We’re ReadingThe Wall Street Journal / Katie DeightonPublishers and advertisers push back at FTC’s “click-to-cancel” proposal →“’The way [some companies] act is close to fraud, as delays can carry you forward for another month you really didn’t want to pay for,’ one consumer said in a comment to the FTC about its proposal.”Variety / Todd SpanglerGizmodo’s io9 published AI-generated Star Wars article that was filled with errors →“Among other issues, the article presents the titles in a numbered list that is not actually in chronological order. It also omits any mention of Disney+’s Star Wars series ‘Andor,’ ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ and lists ‘The Clone Wars’ series as coming after the events of ‘The Rise of Skywalker,’ which is incorrect.”Rest of World / Russell BrandomHow the Oversight Board sparked a standoff in Cambodia →“On the speech and platform side, the most interesting thing to note is how little Meta had to do with anything that happened. Meta’s internal moderators wanted to leave the post up, remember, and Hun Sen’s announcement only came in response to the Oversight Board decision.”Reuters / Tyler Clifford and Sharon BernsteinBiden administration appeals ban on social media contacts →“The notice of appeal filed on Wednesday signals the government’s plan to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans to review the ruling in a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s efforts to persuade social media companies to police posts it considered disinformation.”The Rebooting, Substack / Brian MorrisseyTwilight of the open web →“More publishers will look to ‘protect’ their content from bots and scraping, relying increasingly on paywalls and creating a doom loop in which the open web becomes an even more frustrating experience.”Columbia Journalism Review / Adam PioreUp in the Air: Graydon Carter’s Air Mail →“I think they understand this quasi-fictional way of life as being under attack from young, progressive, angry people on the internet. I think they think of themselves as not having to engage with internet culture or internet criticism,” said senior Vox culture correspondent Constance Grady. “I think they see that as being part of ‘the problem’ and are sort of proud of the idea of rising above it—and as such, of not having to care about racism and police brutality, because those are unpleasant topics that they don’t like thinking about.”The Atlantic / Kaitlyn TiffanyWe’re in a golden age of illegal sports streams →“The Kafkaesque conditions of the system have led baseball fans into a life of crime. We are in a golden age of illegal sports streaming: There are many, many easily accessible and surprisingly high-quality sites, with crisp videos and fine enough sound.”The Verge / Alex HeathInstagram head Adam Mosseri explains why he’s taking on Twitter →“It would be great if it gets really, really big, but I’m actually more interested in if it becomes culturally relevant than if it gets hundreds of millions of users.”The New York Times / Tiffany Hsu and Stuart A. ThompsonDisinformation researchers fret about fallout from judge’s order →“It’s bananas that you can’t show a nipple on the Super Bowl but Facebook can still broadcast Nazi propaganda, empower stalkers and harassers, undermine public health and facilitate extremism in the United States,” said Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate. “This court decision further exacerbates that feeling of impunity social media companies operate under, despite the fact that they are the primary vector for hate and disinformation in society.”Los Angeles Times / Brian Merchant“California and Canada should call Google’s and Facebook’s bluff on news” →“it sure can feel like journalism needs a miracle these days. But to me, all this shows that the news industry doesn’t need a miracle — it just needs decent regulation”

Nieman Lab / Fuego

Twitter / Facebook

View email in browser

Unsubscribe

You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org.

Nieman Journalism LabHarvard University1 Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138
Add us to your address book