Beyond Section 230: Three paths to making the big tech platforms more transparent and accountable
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Tuesday, January 10, 2023
What We’re Reading
ProPublica / ProPublica
ProPublica to launch investigative reporting hub in the Northwest →
“Our approach in the Northwest will be a new one for ProPublica, a hybrid model that matches the strengths of staff reporters with those of journalists working with our Local Reporting Network at other news outlets in the region. Our new editor will oversee three ProPublica reporters who will be based in the region and the work of three Distinguished Fellows who work for local news organizations.”
Bloomberg / Thomas Seal
The U.K.’s conservative TV startup GB News is struggling →
“The startup has yet to shake off an advertiser boycott and has struggled to keep key staff. In recent months, five presenters, at least five executive producers and other employees, including the head of digital and head of human resources, have left or are working through notice periods.”
Fox News / Jessica Chasmar
Matt Gaetz introduces amendment to bring C-SPAN cameras back to House floor →
“Support has been mounting for C-SPAN to permanently adopt the approach it took last week to Speaker Kevin McCarthy's contentious speaker election, in which it freely roamed the House floor and captured dramatic moments that don't often see air time.”
Newmark J-School
The Newmark J-School is launching the Journalism Protection Initiative, with Joel Simon at the helm →
“The Journalism Protection Initiative will conduct and host research into the growing threats to journalism and journalists in the U.S. and around the world, with a focus on disinformation and propaganda, tech regulation and policy, rising authoritarianism, and the use of violence, repression, and lawfare to suppress critical voices.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Jon Allsop
What Brazilian journalists think about the George Santos story →
“More than one journalist I spoke to noted a very different strain of Brazilian reaction to the Santos story: schadenfreude at the US screwing up again. ‘You send a man to the moon but you can't find a conman on Long Island?’ Guimarães said, summarizing that reaction. ‘For American media, especially in New York, it's an existential angst: We missed it. In Brazil it's like, Wow! Really?!'”
AP / John Leicester
France’s Macron opens up about love to interviewers with autism →
“Your questions took me onto grounds…where I'd not been in other interviews, with other journalists.”
Gawker / Jenny G. Zhang
“Man on the street” TikTokers are a public menace →
“And we all know how reasonable social media addicts are about respecting the boundaries of complete nobodies who are suddenly and inadvertently punted into the spotlight.”
n+1 / Max Abelson
Janet Malcolm on the stand →
“Interviews aren’t the same as sworn testimony, but they rhyme. They use questions to flatter, badger, and trap witnesses who, in turn, evade when they can and admit things they don't want to. Reporting and the law both rely on evidence and discovery, asking for honesty and promising fairness in exchange.”
Jamlab / Benon Herbert Oluka
Africa’s crusading journalists veer away from the mainstream →
"Part of the problem I had with subscription previously is Substack uses Stripe as its payment process and Stripe only processes payments in US dollars. Nigeria, as you may know, is where the bulk of my readership resides, and Nigeria has a significant capital restriction regime going on.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
U.K.’s City AM to end Friday print edition as commuters stay home →
“As anybody can tell from the pubs and bars of the city, Thursday is the new Friday. With the world changing, and more people working from home on Fridays, it's the smart move to focus on serving our readers online rather than in print.”
Reuters
Dutch regulator grants Russian independent TV Rain five-year broadcasting license →
“Latvia cancelled the license of TV Rain in early December after the company was branded a threat to national security.”
The Texas Observer / Gus Bova
“Striking does work”: Fort Worth journalists win only newspaper contact in Texas →
“The Fort Worth newsroom joins about a dozen other papers with union contracts under the NewsGuild, the country's preeminent journalists' union with some 26,000 members.”
The New York Times / Michael Grynbaum
Can Ron DeSantis avoid meeting the press? →
“Whether Mr. DeSantis can keep up his approach to media remains unclear. Mr. Trump may have mastered Twitter, but it was his ubiquity on big outlets like CNN and MSNBC that solidified his electoral appeal.”
Axios / Sara Fischer
Vice is reportedly having a tough time finding a buyer →
“Vice Media is revisiting its sale process amid stalled talks with Antenna Group, a Saudi-backed Greek broadcaster, sources told Axios … Vice has been looking to sell for years as its valuation declines.”
Variety / Todd Spangler
G/O Media taps Merrill Brown as editorial director, overseeing Gizmodo, Deadspin, The Onion, and other sites →
“[The] role had been vacant for a year and half.”
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
The Reuters Institute’s journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions for 2023 →
“Expect to see a correction in the creator economy this year. While many individual journalism businesses that have been started on Substack and other platforms continue to thrive, the pressure of delivering to constant deadlines on your own is relentless, and ‘creator funds’ and similar monetary incentives offered by some platforms can't be relied on to endure.”
Business Insider / Reed Alexander and Elaine Low
Cheddar News is going through an “identity crisis” after staff exits and a misfired social media strategy →
“We’re not live news 24/7. We’re not breaking news 24/7. We’re not local news … We’re not really investigative news.”
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