Newsonomics: Two years after launching a local news company (in an Alden market), here’s what I’ve learned
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Monday, December 5, 2022
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Newsonomics: Two years after launching a local news company (in an Alden market), here’s what I’ve learnedEleven takeaways as Lookout Santa Cruz enters its third year. By Ken Doctor. |
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Text-to-image AI is a powerful, easy technology for making art — and fakesDeep fakes have already been used to create nonconsensual pornography, commit small- and large-scale fraud, and fuel disinformation campaigns. These even more powerful image generators could add jet fuel to these misuses. By Hany Farid. |
What We’re Reading
The New Yorker / The New Yorker
Puck wants to build a business by covering power from the inside →
“Puck's tone is deliberately clubby. Part of its pitch is that its writers move in the same elevated spaces as the people whom they cover. [Editor-in-chief Jon] Kelly dislikes some of the ‘wrist-slapping and rage in journalism’ nowadays and seems put off by the effects of the democratizing forces of social media on the profession. (In one conversation, he told me that he thought sending Twitter D.M.s was ‘a little tacky.’)”
The Sydney Morning Herald / Zoe Samios, Nick Bonyhady
Having gotten Google and Facebook to pay up, Australia may target TikTok next →
“The review reveals that Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, struck 13 deals in total, far fewer than Google. The search giant struck at least 23 commercial agreements with news outlets, and a collective deal with another 24 smaller publishers.”
Semafor / Max Tani
Ron DeSantis is building his own media in Florida →
“Over the last year, DeSantis has given just a handful of interviews. Almost all of them have been with Fox News primetime or morning hosts or major conservative podcasters. But he's also carved out time for the Florida Standard and a similar site called Florida's Voice, which launched in 2021. The publications offer an unfiltered platform for his message. And they've returned the favor of his attention with flattering coverage…”
The Washington Post / Sarah Ellison
Washington Post layoffs included one of the nation’s last full-time dance critics, a Pulitzer Prize winner →
“[Sarah] Kaufman, who has held her position for a quarter-century, was told her job had been cut Wednesday — the same day Post leaders announced plans to shutter the newspaper's stand-alone Sunday magazine and lay off its 10 employees.”
New York / Shawn McCreesh
The New York Times newsroom union prepares to walk out on Thursday →
“Picture it: a full day without the New York Times. No one covering the tumult in Guangzhou or inside Buckingham Palace or what our president is saying. From midnight to midnight, no reporting, no filing stories, no podcasting, no comment moderating, and definitely no responding to editors' queries.”
The Verge / Emma Roth
Apple’s mixed-reality headset, previously thought to be coming in early 2023, is likely delayed several months →
“Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is back with yet another prediction about Apple's mixed-reality headset and says mass shipments of the device could kick off in the latter half of 2023 as the company deals with ‘software-related issues.'”
The New York Times / Sheera Frenkel and Kate Conger
Researchers say the rise of hate speech on Twitter post-Musk is unprecedented →
“‘Elon Musk sent up the Bat Signal to every kind of racist, misogynist, and homophobe that Twitter was open for business,’ said Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate. ‘They have reacted accordingly.'”
The New York Times / Kate Dwyer
The world of literary magazines is shrinking →
“In the United States, none of the five large publishing houses currently fund these outlets. The infrastructure supporting national literary magazines is crumbling, too: There are fewer newsstands, fewer bookstores that stock niche magazines, fewer advertisers willing to spend on print, and — in a world where information is increasingly siloed online — fewer people willing to subscribe.”
Press Gazette / Aisha Majid
People don’t trust the news industry tend to not know much about it →
“…while several factors influence trust — such as someone's willingness to trust other institutions in society — when audiences understand how news works, they are more likely to trust it. Almost two-thirds (63%) of people with a perceived low level of understanding of journalism said they did not trust journalists — compared to 52% of people who claimed to know more about the industry.”
The Atlantic / Brian Stelter
The demise of Headline News signals the end of companion television →
“Job losses in journalism have been rolling across the industry for decades now. But it's not every day that a fixture of cable television goes belly up. The demise of HLN, CNN's 40-year-old sister station, which will stop airing original newscasts [today], deserves attention not just because it marks the end of an era but because it's a reminder of how eras in media actually end. Before death comes obsolescence.”
Talking Biz News / Chris Roush
Bloomberg Media’s ad revenue has gone up for 9 consecutive quarters →
“In the coming year, we're ending open-market third-party programmatic ad sales to our audience on Bloomberg.com…Our most important segment of users, Bloomberg.com subscribers now total more than 450,000, accelerated by the enterprise subscriptions business started earlier this year.”
Twitter / Justin B. Smith
Semafor: Sam Bankman-Fried only has rights to a “passive single-digit minority stake” in us →
“In short, Bankman-Fried, like all of our investors, has no influence over our editorial coverage or operations. Our reporting on Bankman-Fried and FTX reflects this, and I am proud to see our editorial team leading the charge on this unfolding story with scoop after scoop each week.”
Current / Tyler Falk
Public radio stations’ staffers are more diverse than commercial radio’s →
“The survey of radio stations found that white employees made up 75.4% of the workforce in noncommercial newsrooms…In commercial radio newsrooms, white staffers made up 92.1% of the workforce…The survey also found that 63.9% of the noncommercial radio newsrooms surveyed had staffers of color…Only 12.1% of commercial newsrooms employed people of color.”
The Wrap / Loree Seitz
Semafor climate editor exits due to Chevron ads →
“‘I'm not saying they or Chevron improperly influenced the climate coverage. I could ‘call it as I saw it,”‘ [climate and energy editor Bill] Spindle posted on Twitter. ‘What concerned me was my belief that it was not appropriate to have Chevron advertising on the same page as stories on climate coverage, particularly as the dominant advertiser.'”
Reuters / Lucy Craymer
New Zealand seems likely to follow Australia in making Facebook and Google pay for news →
“Minister of Broadcasting Willie Jackson said in a statement on Sunday that the legislation will be modelled on similar laws in Australia and Canada and he hoped it would act as an incentive for the digital platforms to reach deals with local news outlets.”
The New York Times / Michael M. Grynbaum
Elon Musk, Matt Taibbi, and a very modern media maelstrom →
“The so-called Twitter Files, released Friday evening by the independent journalist Matt Taibbi…also offered a window into the fractured modern landscape of news, where a story's reception is often shaped by readers' assumptions about the motivations of both reporters and subjects.”
The New York Times / Jeremy W. Peters
Lachlan Murdoch is to be deposed today in the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News →
“…his appearance before Dominion's lawyers is a sign of how unexpectedly far and fast the lawsuit has progressed in recent weeks — and how contentious it has become.”
Agence France-Presse
Concern rises as new Turkish media law squeezes dissent →
“The law, passed in parliament in October, could see reporters and social media users jailed for up to three years for spreading what is branded ‘fake news.'”
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