When political reporters get training on science issues, they improve the sourcing in their science-related stories months later
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Monday, May 2, 2022
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When political reporters get training on science issues, they improve the sourcing in their science-related stories months laterThey quote more scientists and cite more peer-reviewed studies, a new study finds. So maybe don’t cut your newsroom’s training budget to the bone? By Joshua Benton. |
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Calendly didn’t pay me to write this post. It’s just a great tool for journalists.On average, it takes about seven emails to find and agree upon a meeting time. I don’t have the brain space for that. By Hanaa' Tameez. |
What We’re Reading
The New York Times / Lauren Hirsch and Mike Isaac
How Twitter’s board went from fighting Elon Musk to accepting him →
“In most megadeals, the adoption of a poison pill leads to a protracted fight. The tactic is a clear signal that a company intends to battle. Negotiations then drag out. Sometimes buyers walk away. But interviews with a dozen people close to the transaction, who were not authorized to speak publicly, show just how few options Twitter's board had.”
The Guardian / Alex Hern
Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel dismisses Facebook’s metaverse as “ambiguous and hypothetical” →
“Just ask a room of people how to define it, and everyone's definition is totally different. But one of the big overarching concepts people have is that a lot of those tools are designed to replace reality. Whereas when we talk about AR, we're trying to augment the real world around you. So our fundamental bet is that people actually love the real world: they want to be together in person with their friends.”
Washington Post
How it became normal for public officials to attack journalists →
“‘It is another form of degrading trust in our institutions,’ said Tom Rosenstiel, a University of Maryland journalism professor and the former executive director of the American Press Institute. ‘These are steps toward autocracy.'”
Marketing Brew / Ryan Barwick
How a loophole let Google run ads alongside blocked Russian publishers →
“A story about the Ukrainian army shelling residential buildings ran alongside an ad for United Airlines. A story claiming that Russian forces have only attacked military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops above a Marriott Bonvoy ad.”
The Information
Vice Media is exploring selling off its studio business →
“…looking to take advantage of rising valuations for production companies in recent months. But a sale of the business would deprive Vice of its biggest business and would raise questions about the future direction of the firm.”
Bloomberg
A Turkish court has acquitted two Bloomberg reporters over claims they tried to undermine the country’s currency →
“After a two-and-half-year trial, the court dropped charges against Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalinkilic over a 2018 story…The Bloomberg reporters were indicted along with more than thirty people, who were charged over social media comments deemed critical of Turkey's economy and banks, following complaints from the country's banking and capital market regulators.”
Politico / Max Tani
Some White House reporters are bummed that Biden is too boring to turn them into stars →
“Some of those covering the most powerful office on the planet say that the storylines, while important, and substantive, can lack flair or be hard to get viewer attention…There is a sense that the main saga of American politics is taking place outside the confines of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and that the journalists covering it — Donald Trump and the future of democracy — may reap the career rewards.”
The Cut / Angelina Chapin
Is she a bully, or did she just work for the New York Post? →
“Depending on whom you ask, [Michelle] Gotthelf was either a strong female leader in a misogynistic shark tank or a perpetuator of a toxic newsroom culture. ‘The way the Post is run can be really summarized by misogyny and control,’ says one former reporter who left in the past few years.”
The New Statesman / Stuart McGurk
“We’re going to disrupt”: A year inside GB News, the aspiring Fox News of the U.K. →
“They recalled an early ideas meeting in which someone said they didn't trust the Covid vaccine. ‘I remember thinking, “Oh God, this is not the sort of conversation we would ever have had at an editorial meeting at the BBC.” They may have discussed why people don't have faith in the vaccine. But you wouldn't have someone who didn't believe in it themselves.'”
The Verge / Richard Lawler
Every ridiculous thing we learned about Elon Musk’s plan to take over Twitter →
Including: Twitter “executives hadn't even seen the plans for the company that Musk reportedly shared with bankers.”
The Verge / Emma Roth
The nonprofit behind Wikipedia will no longer accept donations in crypto →
It had accepted them since 2014; fellow nonprofit Mozilla stopped taking them last month. “Some of the main arguments concerned the environmental implications of Bitcoin, the risk of scams, as well as the fact that the WMF gets such a low amount of donations in cryptocurrency compared to other forms of payment.”
Axios / Lachlan Markay
The Federal Election Commission tossed a challenge to a network of left-leaning news sites →
“The decision reaffirms that even biased or ideologically driven news reporting can't be regulated as ‘political’ activity…The case at issue centered on Courier Newsroom, a network of progressive news sites run by veteran Democratic digital strategist Tara McGowan.”
The New York Times / Nicole Sperling
Peacock is the latest to send movies meant for theaters to streaming simultaneously →
“I think everybody sort of woke up and smelled the coffee during the pandemic and recognized that not all movies are created equal…It's a big deal for Peacock to have these movies. They are events for them. And we got yeses, so I think it was a satisfying rationale.”
The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
Joe Biden joked about a return to near-normal at the White House correspondents’ dinner →
“‘Thank you for that introduction and the 42 percent who applauded it,’ he said pointedly, adding that his journalist hosts were ‘the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have.'”
The Washington Post / Michael Scherer and Sarah Ellison
How a billionaires boys’ club came to dominate the public square →
“The world's richest man, Elon Musk, attacked a publication owned by the world's third-richest man, Jeff Bezos, last month for reprinting a column published by the world's 13th-richest man, Mike Bloomberg.”
The Guardian / Alex Hern
Facebook moderators are calling on the company to do more about posts praising atrocities in Bucha →
“‘It's been a month since the massacre and mass graves in Bucha, but this event hasn't been even designated a “violating event,” let alone a hate crime,’ said one moderator, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity. ‘On that same day there was a shooting in the US, with one fatality and two casualties, and this was declared a violating event within three hours.'”
Press Gazette / William Turvill
“I sincerely hope it will help us continue to focus”: Zach Seward on selling Quartz to G/O Media →
“…adding that Quartz, with a staff of around 100, has been attempting to simultaneously fund a strong newsroom, a custom advertising agency, and a commerce business. ‘Another advantage of the conglomerate model at G/O is everyone is specializing in one of those things,’ he said.”
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