Adnan Syed is released — and so is a new episode of the first season of Serial
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Tuesday, September 20, 2022
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Adnan Syed is released — and so is a new episode of the first season of Serial“To call something the most popular podcast might seem a little like identifying the tallest leprechaun,” David Carr wrote in 2014. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re Reading
Los Angeles Times / Frank Shyong
In memory of Henry Fuhrmann, “who believed in us before we believed in ourselves” →
“For those of us from immigrant families whose parents don't always understand why journalism is worth the hours, a mug from Henry was a lifeline. He didn't force us to win his approval, giving it unconditionally. He called us ‘rising stars’ and ‘management material’ long before we had any real achievements under our belt. And in trying to live up to the labels, some of us made them true.”
The Hollywood Reporter / J. Clara Chan
Spotify launches an audiobooks business with à la carte pricing and no discounts for subscribers →
“Audiobooks can be discovered via the search function on the Spotify app, and buyers will be redirected to a separate web page to make their purchase. Once completed, users can return to the Spotify app to listen to the book, online and offline.”
American Press Institute / Jane Elizabeth
How to be different — and better — this election →
“The first step: Study your election reporting, planning and staffing from previous years. Journalists can be notorious savers and likely can document any anachronistic stories, poor return on investment (hours spent vs. readership), and trouble spots as well as successes.”
Type Investigations
Type Investigations launches the Inside/Out Journalism Project for incarcerated reporters to produce feature-length investigations →
“Since launching the project, Type has spent over $550 on prison phone calls and emails, as well as hundreds of dollars on postage, to communicate with reporters and their sources. So far, reporters, researchers, and editors have submitted 44 public records requests.”
Axios / Sara Fischer
The Atlantic looks to film and TV projects as “a third substantial revenue stream beyond subscriptions and advertising” →
The company is launching its first two TV and film projects: “Shadowland,” a six-part docu-series, is premiering on Peacock and at The Atlantic Festival on Sept. 21, and “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power,” a feature-length documentary, will be available on Peacock in early 2023.
Columbia Journalism Review / Jon Allsop
Adnan Syed, Serial, and justice →
“From the outside at least, it's hard to satisfyingly pinpoint the impact that Serial and, later, HBO's show had on the events that led to Syed walking out of prison yesterday: they raised and then kept huge public attention on his case in a way that can't easily be separated from the progress of the case itself, and yet the vacating of his sentence took years, and ultimately flowed from a new law and an official procedure.”
Current / Julian Wyllie
WHRO acquires the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism to bolster investigative reporting in the state →
"They were getting hung up on a lot of the non-reporting work that has to be done to have a nonprofit, whether it's the legal, the HR and the marketing … and [co-founders Louis Hansen and Christopher Tyree] were not paying themselves. Their budget was pretty, pretty tiny," [WHRO CEO Bert Schmidt] said. "We had all that, we just needed more reporters … So I said, 'Why don't you guys work for us, and we'll have the brand migrate to WHRO?'"
TechCrunch / Aisha Malik
Twitter’s new opt-in feature will remind you to add alt text to photo uploads →
“The social network is rolling out an image description reminder to encourage more people to add descriptions to the photos they share. Twitter began testing the feature in July with 10% of users and is now rolling it out to everyone on the platform.”
The Wall Street Journal / Cordilia James
Why do all these 20-somethings have closed captions turned on? →
“In recent years, Apple, Google and other tech companies expanded on-device auto-captioning options, while Netflix found creative ways to describe audio (not just dialogue) to viewers who are deaf and hard of hearing. The innovations—as well as the rising popularity of captions on social media—have helped eliminate some of the stigma associated with hearing loss, advocates say.”
Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation “recommits” to INN, LION Publishers, and the Center for Community Media →
In total, the three organizations will receive $9 million over three years.
the Guardian / Jessica Elgot
New U.K. culture secretary will review scrapping the BBC license fee →
"It is no secret that I have been a long-term sceptic of the license fee," [Michelle] Donelan said.
Adweek / Mark Stenberg
Bustle Digital Group will close the tech title Input and lay off staff at Mic →
“In total, BDG will lay off 19 staffers, with the majority of the cuts coming from Mic and impacting mostly the editorial team.”
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