The relief of missing out: Anticipated anxiety is a big reason why more people are avoiding the news
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Monday, September 19, 2022
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The relief of missing out: Anticipated anxiety is a big reason why more people are avoiding the news“Obviously, I could be a little bit more into what's going on and look myself…Knowing more about it doesn't do anything about it, does it?” By Joshua Benton. |
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KQED started tracking sources. Here’s (exactly) how they did it“We can try to address inequities by being conscientious about who we feature in our coverage over a period of time.” By Ki Sung, Lisa Pickoff-White Vinnee Tong. |
What We’re Reading
The Bulwark / André Forget
Walter Lippmann’s “Public Opinion” at 100 →
“…its centenary has passed, for the most part, unacknowledged. This is ironic, because its central question — put simply, ‘How can a truly self-governing society function under the conditions of “mass culture”?’ — has rarely been more relevant.”
The Hollywood Reporter / Mia Galuppo and Katie Kilkenny
Streaming has poured millions into documentary filmmaking — but with strings attached →
“While the streamers' appetite for documentary content has created a new golden age for nonfiction filmmaking, it's come with transformations that many find worrying: Doc subjects are being paid, timelines are getting scrunched, and the line between premium nonfiction and reality television is blurring. Two camps have emerged, one that has welcomed the resources, reach and riches, the other fearful of a Faustian bargain with the powerful platforms.”
The Washington Post / Robert G. Kaiser and Steve Luxenberg
The Washington Post shuts down Outlook, its 68-year-old home for essays, arguments and criticism →
“Today, The Post has nearly 3 million paying subscribers. Fewer than 275,000 take the Sunday edition. This article will be read primarily by that dwindling and aging print audience, as well as online readers who might bump into the story while browsing the internet with their phones, tablets or laptops. Many of The Post's digital readers don't know an Outlook section ever existed.”
Techdirt / Mike Masnick
The Fifth Circuit has thrown out a century of First Amendment law to argue tech companies have no right to moderate content →
“It is difficult to state how completely disconnected from reality this ruling is, and how dangerously incoherent it is. It effectively says that companies no longer have a 1st Amendment right to their own editorial policies. Under this ruling, any state in the 5th Circuit could, in theory, mandate that news organizations must cover certain politicians or certain other content. It could, in theory, allow a state to mandate that any news organization must publish opinion pieces by politicians. It completely flies in the face of the 1st Amendment's association rights and the right to editorial discretion.”
Adweek / David Cohen
YouTube might start using AI to turn your horizontal videos vertical →
“The Google-owned video platform said its ML model detects key elements in the video — faces, key objects, logos, motion, text — and breaks that video into scenes, ensuring that those key elements appear properly in the reformatted video.”
The New York Times / Zach Schonbrun
A sports media empire that runs on “good vibes only” →
“Jomboy Media, a start-up that sprouted from O'Brien's GIF-laden social media feeds and then grew exponentially because of its coverage of a baseball scandal, has nearly tripled its work force to 64 since 2021. It recently closed a $5 million funding round led by Connect Ventures that included a handful of athletes and celebrities. It is the type of legitimacy that could spoil something born of love…”
Politico / Daniel Lippman, Christopher Cadelago, and Max Tani
Tensions rise between the L.A. Times and its billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong →
“Times journalists continue to fear that the paper is stuck in a helpless middle ground: identifying as a national player but without the readership of its biggest competitors; eager to adapt to the digital era but uncertain about how best to do it; blessed with a billionaire benefactor but unclear on his vision.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher
Did newsrooms know about the queen’s death before it was announced? →
“The earliest any outlet had confirmed the death of the Queen was by 3:06 p.m., when Guido Fawkes accidentally published the news early. [The official announcement came at 6:30 p.m.]…Another source told Press Gazette they were ‘pretty certain’ of the passing by 4.30pm. But no one at any newsroom confessed to getting an official tip-off.”
The New York Times / Natasha Singer
Streaming services promise next-level targeting of political campaign ads →
“The targeting has become so precise that next door neighbors streaming the same true crime show on the same streaming service may now be shown different political ads — based on data about their voting record, party affiliation, age, gender, race or ethnicity, estimated home value, shopping habits or views on gun control.”
The Guardian / Alex Hern
“Gifs are cringe”: How Giphy’s multimillion-dollar business fell out of fashion →
“It is rare for a multimillion-dollar company to explicitly state that its business is dying because it is simply too uncool to live. But that is the bold strategy that the gif search engine Giphy has adopted with the UK's competition regulator, which is trying to block a $400m (£352m) takeover attempt by Facebook's owner, Meta.”
The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
Can the Sunday morning talk show be saved? →
“The programs' shifting fortunes tell a tale about the changing media landscape, and about politics, too. Political leaders now have multiple opportunities to deliver their message — cable-news live hits, podcasts, talk radio, social media — and they don't have to wait until Sunday.”
The New York Times / David Leonhardt
“A crisis coming”: The twin threats to American democracy →
“In the mid-20th century, tens of thousands of Americans joined the John Birch Society, a far-right group that claimed Dwight Eisenhower was a secret Communist. Today, however, falsehoods can spread much more easily, through social media and a fractured news environment. In the 1950s, no major television network spread the lies about Eisenhower.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher
“Climate stories are everywhere and readers are eager for them” →
“When other news organizations hire more reporters to cover climate issues, I celebrate because it means that we — and by we, I mean climate journalists — are changing newsrooms and having an impact.”
The New York Times / Sandra E. Garcia
Editor Will Welch leads GQ to “the new masculinity” →
“‘A controversial cover is by nature a good cover,’ Ms. Wintour said in an email. ‘You want a cover to make people sit up and take notice, and get them talking — what is the point of a cover otherwise? Of course, Will knows this as well as anyone.'”
The Guardian / Jim Waterson
“Do it solemnly, quickly, and shut up”: How TV prepared for the royal funeral →
“Almost every major British TV channel — with the exception of Channel 5, which is showing the Emoji Movie — has cleared its schedule for royal coverage on Monday.”
The Guardian / Mark Sweney
The queen’s funeral may break TV records — but it’s no cash bonanza for the media industry →
“Mass media TV events are usually cash cows for commercial broadcasters, with 30-second ad breaks in an X Factor final or an England game in the latter stages of a major football tournament running to hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, there was a total TV advertising blackout after the death of the Queen, in accordance with a protocol agreement with Buckingham Palace, over most of the weekend.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
“This isn’t an acceptable part of the job”: How journalists and publishers can tackle online abuse →
“The UK media industry's first dedicated online safety editor is trying to help journalists move away from the idea that abuse is ‘something you should have to put up with.'”
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