How do newsrooms talk to readers when they’ve really screwed up? With process, transparency, and trust
 |
Monday, May 9, 2022
 |
How do newsrooms talk to readers when they’ve really screwed up? With process, transparency, and trustAt their best, they talk explicitly about reader trust — how it gets earned and lost. They lay out their standards and where they fell short. They make opaque newsroom processes transparent. And they show their work. By Joshua Benton. |
 |
Elon Musk says relaxing content rules on Twitter will boost free speech, but research shows otherwiseA body of research shows that stronger, not weaker, moderation of the information ecosystem is what’s needed to combat harmful misinformation. By Filippo Menczer. |
What We’re Reading
Associated Press / David Bauder
The war in Ukraine has been a boom time for open-source reporting →
“…using publicly available material like satellite images, mobile phone or security camera recordings, geolocation, and other internet tools to tell stories. The field is in its infancy but rapidly catching on. The Washington Post announced last month it was adding six people to its video forensics team, doubling its size. The University of California at Berkeley last fall became the first college to offer an investigative reporting class that focuses specifically on these techniques.”
Poynter / Rick Edmonds
The trade associations for U.S. newspapers and magazines have merged →
“Industries that once seemed distinct in format, content, frequency, and distribution have become much more similar in the digital era. And they find common ground for lobbying, both to gain leverage on compensation for their content from Google and Facebook and to bargain on postal rates.”
Axios / Ivana Saric
U.S. targets Russian TV stations in new sanctions →
“The move will cut off three of Russia’s top TV stations — Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV — from American advertising dollars. ‘All three stations are directly or indirectly state-owned and controlled,’ Treasury wrote.”
Twitter / BuzzFeed News Union
BuzzFeed News Union has ratified its first contract →
“Several members of our union bargaining committee started at BuzzFeed making less than $40,000 a year. Today, we ratified a contract that sets a salary floor for union jobs at $60,000, which will also increase 2.5% every year.”
The New York Times / Stuart A. Thompson
The war in Ukraine, as seen on Russian TV →
“Russian television's convoluted and sometimes contradictory narratives about the war are not solely intended to convince viewers that their version of events is true, disinformation experts say. Just as often, the goal is to confuse viewers and sow distrust so audiences are not sure what to believe.”
The New York Times / Jeremy W. Peters
The Supreme Court’s leak inquiry exposes the gray areas of press protections →
“…there is no law or written code of conduct that suggests how an investigation into such a breach should proceed, or whether the journalists at Politico who brought the draft to light will be swept up in the kind of criminal investigation that top Republican lawmakers have demanded.”
Press Gazette / Andrew Kersley
U.K. newspaper chain Reach is moving 150 reporters from its local papers to its national and regional ones →
“Many reporters reported being given less than a week's notice of the news before being moved to the new titles, while others have not yet been told which titles they will end up writing for.”
Los Angeles Times / Stephen Battaglio
Meet the Press Daily will move from MSNBC to streaming channel NBC News Now →
“With the shutdown of CNN+ — which had signed former Fox News star Chris Wallace — [Chuck] Todd will be the most high-profile TV news talent to have a daily program on a streaming service.”
BuzzFeed News / Richard Nieva
Elon Musk will fund his Twitter deal with money from countries that suppress free speech →
“On Thursday, an SEC filing revealed new financiers for Musk's takeover plan, which include Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. Both countries impose harsh censorship to quash dissent: A Qatari law states that spreading "false or malicious news" can land you in prison for five years, while in Saudi Arabia, critics of the government have faced arrest and even murder.”
Washington City Paper
Paper, cut: Writers and editors reflect on the end of Washington City Paper in print →
“I'll tell you one other stupid story. I got my nose broken for a feature story I wrote.”
Mediaite / Juwan Holmes
“Annoyed and betrayed”: Inside the collapse of the Black News Channel →
“…despite its wide availability, bountiful funding, and impressive roster of talent on both sides of the camera, BNC never took off. The network averaged just 4,000 viewers in 2021, according to Nielsen, ranking behind Newsy, Accuweather, and Fuse.”
Poynter / Rick Edmonds
Gannett gets revenue and paid digital subscriptions moving in the right direction →
“The nation's largest newspaper publisher with 250-plus regional dailies and USA Today added 118,000 new digital subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. It now has 1.75 million, a 46% increase from the same period a year ago, and is on track to pass 2 million by the end of the year.”
The Washington Post / Anthony Faiola
How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain →
“Since the war began in late February, VPNs have been downloaded in Russia by the hundreds of thousands a day, a massive surge in demand that represents a direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin and his attempt to seal Russians off from the wider world. By protecting the locations and identities of users, VPNs are now granting millions of Russians access to blocked material.”
CNN / Oliver Darcy
Politico’s exclusive on Roe v. Wade was the most-viewed story in its history →
“By Friday afternoon, the story had nearly reached 11 million views, the spokesperson added. The outlet’s first tweet about the story had more than triple the impressions Politico normally sees an entire month on Twitter.”
NPR / David Folkenflik
The war in Ukraine revives questions about a 90-year-old New York Times Pulitzer Prize →
“[Walter] Duranty was The New York Times’ man in Moscow, as the line went, with a cushy apartment in which to entertain expatriates and a reputation as a leading authority on the Soviet Union. Duranty had staked his name on the idea that Josef Stalin was the strong leader the communist country needed.”
The Guardian / Rafqa Touma
The New York Times removed “fetus” as a Wordle answer — but only for some players →
“At New York Times Games, we take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news…When we discovered last week that this particular word would be featured today, we switched it for as many solvers as possible.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher
FT editor Roula Khalaf: U.K. laws enable “professionalized intimidation” of journalists →
“From autocracies to illiberal democracies and unfortunately even thriving democracies, journalists are maligned and manipulated, harassed and intimidated…And it is our very own legal system and our lawyers that facilitate it.”
No comments