Do countries with better-funded public media also have healthier democracies? Of course they do
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Monday, January 24, 2022
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Do countries with better-funded public media also have healthier democracies? Of course they doBut the direction of causality is tricky. Do a democracy’s flaws lead it to starve public media, or does starving public media lead to a democracy’s flaws? By Joshua Benton. |
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The Atlantic spent two years studying what readers and listeners need. Here’s what they found“We think a good deal about appropriate moments to prompt a reader to pursue a different story or a different topic altogether.” By Emily Goligoski. |
What We’re Reading
The New York Times / Maya Salam
Can cultural works like “Don’t Look Up” get us out of our heads on climate? →
“There's a hunger for entertainment that favors unflinching articulation and externalization over implication and internalization — to have our greatest fears verbalized without restraint, even heavy-handedly, along with a good deal of style and wit.”
The Washington Post / Margaret Sullivan
If local journalism manages to survive, give Evan Smith some credit for it →
“The Austin-based Tribune has grown from 17 employees to around 80 (more than 50 are journalists), raising $100 million through philanthropy, membership and events, including its annual Texas Tribune Festival…Most important, it has done a huge amount of statewide news coverage with a focus on holding powerful people and institutions accountable.”
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises is asking shareholders to help it stop an Alden Global Capital takeover →
“A ‘Vulture Hedge Fund’ is Seeking to Acquire Lee at a Steep Discount. Don’t Let it Take Value that Belongs to You. Vote the WHITE Proxy Card Today!”
Los Angeles Times / Stephen Battaglio
Why pay TV operators are dropping Trump-loving cable networks →
“Before One America News Network host Dan Ball finished an interview with guest Jim Jordan this past week, he asked the Ohio Republican congressman for a favor. ‘Please put some pressure on AT&T and DirecTV for us’…Earlier in the week, Ball solicited viewers to send him ‘dirt’ on William Kannard, chairman of the board for DirecTV parent AT&T, including any evidence of marital infidelity.”
Press Gazette
Julian Assange has won the first stage of his appeal to overturn extradition to the U.S. →
“For a proposed appeal to be considered by the UK's highest court, a case has to raise a point of law of ‘general public importance’…Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde, said Assange could go to the Supreme Court itself and ask to bring the appeal to ‘certify a point of law.'”
The Washington Post / Erik Wemple
Sarah Palin v. The New York Times: Exploring the line between bad journalism and libelous journalism →
“From the start, the Palin case has been a square-off over the most fundamental of media protections — namely, the ‘actual malice’ standard.” (The trial was set to being today, but Sarah Palin contracted COVID. “She is, of course, unvaccinated,” said federal judge Jed Rakoff.)
The Guardian / Paul Karp
Google warns of a “devastating” impact on the Internet unless an Australian court overturns a ruling on links to defamatory content →
“[Solicitor George] Defteros successfully sued Google, arguing its publication of search results that included a 2004 article in the Age about his arrest on conspiracy to murder charges — which were later dropped — defamed him.” This precedent would criminalize not just writing or publishing defamatory content, but merely linking to it, whether in a search result or in a story.
The New York Times / Amanda Holpuch
That local TV reporter who got hit by a car on air struck a nerve with journalists →
“…particularly those who are thrust into situations where they are expected to cover stories without a camera operator or producer by their side — a practice known in the industry as using a ‘one-man band.’ Such assignments are often performed by multimedia journalists, or MMJs, who are responsible for setting up the camera, then stepping in front of it to deliver a report.”
The Guardian / Harry Davies
A cross-party group of U.K. MPs wants to stop oligarchs from using top London law firms to intimidate journalists →
“[Conservative MP David] Davis said: ‘It is very clear that some London-based law firms have found an incredibly profitable niche that they are willing to pursue without too much concern about the outcome. I think the professional bodies for those law firms should be looking very hard at them, as should the government.'”
Los Angeles Times / Michael Hiltzik
What to make of Chevron’s plans to build a “newsroom” of its own →
“Chevron lately has been posting a recruiting ad for a business writer to become ‘an integral member of the “newsroom” team.’ (Quote marks in the original.) The successful applicant will report to the so-called newsroom's managing editor, fulfilling Chevron's mission ‘to proactively tell our story through engaging, consumer-first digital content’ by creating ‘digital news articles, video scripts, newsletters, and social media posts.'”
NPR / Shannon Bond
What the Joe Rogan podcast controversy says about the online misinformation ecosystem →
“An open letter urging Spotify to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation has gained the signatures of more than a thousand doctors, scientists and health professionals spurred by growing concerns over anti-vaccine rhetoric on the audio app’s hit podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.”
The Washington Post / David Von Drehle
Some personal testimony in the matter of NPR v. the Supreme Court →
“…At which point I realized that accuracy is evidently not an important value for Gorsuch. I would never have mentioned this. But then Team Gorsuch began nitpicking and hairsplitting, and now the story seems relevant.”
Inside Radio / Amy Ta
NPR asked a federal court to dismiss a $5 million wrongful dismissal suit from its former director of broadcast engineering →
“By the time Langley was let go in what NPR told him was a restructuring of the department, Langley had already filed internal equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints in 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018 and 2019 for alleged discriminatory actions by senior NPR managers and the broadcaster's human resources office. Langley also repeatedly sought pay increases, which he alleges he was due based on what younger, White coworkers were being paid.”
OIGO / Ernesto Aguilar
For America Amplified, Paola Marizan is creating unapologetically bilingual content →
“Bilingual millennials are our target audience. These millennials speak both in English and Español and they don’t have any problem going back and forth. So, I thought, why should we change how we talk to each other if we're trying to make the audience feel engaged?…why wouldn’t I want you to relate to me in the way like I’m even speaking to you, and telling you the news or a story?”
Politico
Is the media doomed? 16 “future-minded thinkers” on where they think journalism will be in 15 years →
“Barring an epochal change of heart or habit on the part of the public, the flow of information will only get faster and more discordant in the years ahead.”
Politico / John F. Harris
Politico’s founding editor says it’s time “for the pendulum to swing back in the direction of institutional power” in media →
“Financial power is the indispensable prerequisite for the kind of power that interests me more: Agenda-setting power. This is where media institutions, both established ones and the relative newcomers like Politico, need to reclaim ground.”
NPR / Kelly McBride
NPR’s public editor: Nina Totenberg’s story on the Supreme Court mask controversy merits a clarification →
“No one has challenged the broader focus of Totenberg’s original story, which asserts that the justices in general are not getting along well. The controversy over the anecdotal lead, which was intended to be illustrative, has overwhelmed the uncontested premise of the story.”
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