Meet the first-ever artificial intelligence editor at the Financial Times
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Monday, February 27, 2023
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Meet the first-ever artificial intelligence editor at the Financial Times“I want to make AI more understandable and accessible to our readers, so it doesn't feel like magic but merely a tool that they can wield.” By Sarah Scire. |
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After a decade of tracking politicians’ deleted tweets, Politwoops is no more“That’s one of the things I’ll miss most about running Politwoops: getting a glimpse behind the carefully crafted images that politicians present to the public.” By Derek Willis, ProPublica. |
What We’re Reading
Columbia Journalism Review / Gabby Miller
Where did Facebook’s funding for journalism really go? →
“The total amounts received from Meta ranged from $5,000 to the $390,000 received by the Boston Globe. The median amount received was $25,000, but 239 outlets received just $5,000.”
The Washington Post / Ana Vanessa Herrero
On buses and balconies, Venezuela’s citizen reporters take news to the people →
“In Barrio La Cruz, an impoverished neighborhood on the eastern edge of the Venezuelan capital, [DarÃo] Chacón is a celebrity: The anchor here of La Parada, a live — very live — news program he delivers in person twice a week.”
The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr and Kyle Melnick
Fox News’ Howard Kurtz says the network won’t let him cover Dominion’s lawsuit against it →
“I believe I should be covering it. It's a major media story, given my role here at Fox. But the company has decided that as part of the organization being sued, I can't talk about it or write about it, at least for now.”
Press Gazette / Liz Cookman
A year freelancing in Ukraine: “Spirit-crushing but worth fighting for” →
“We — me, two Czech journalists and a Turkish photographer — escaped out of the last open checkpoint in Mariupol, manned by a single Ukrainian soldier who warned that he had no idea what lay ahead. ‘Watch out for mines,’ he said, ‘and Russians.'”
The Verge / Mia Sato
AI-generated fiction is flooding literary magazines — but not fooling anyone →
“Outlets like Asimov's are getting overwhelmed by AI chum, taking up the time of editors and readers and potentially crowding out genuine submissions from newer writers…the wider availability of writing bots creates a new genre of get-rich-quick schemes, where literary magazines with open submissions have discovered themselves on the receiving end of a new surface for spammy submissions trying to game the system.”
The New York Times / Benjamin Mullin
Nancy Dubuc is out as Vice’s CEO →
“Her unexpected departure — her last day is Friday — and Vice's struggles in recent years, highlight the fallen fortunes of a group of digital media companies that not long ago was talked about as the future of the industry.”
The Wall Street Journal / Miles Kruppa
Dude Perfect conquered YouTube, now they want the world →
“Now, in their mid 30s, the five friends who started Dude Perfect LLC are looking for their next act. Their solution: a 30-acre theme park and headquarters they expect to cost at least $100 million and take more than two years to build.”
The New York Times / Eduardo Medina
Hundreds of newspapers dropped Dilbert after its creator’s rant about black “hate groups” →
And Sunday night, Dilbert was dropped by its syndicator, likely ending its run in all mainstream media.
The Guardian / Andrew Roth
“Faithful to my profession to the end”: Russian journalists endure under Putin’s onslaught →
“Mikhail Afanasyev wants your letters. The Russian journalist from Abakan in Siberia was jailed last year for writing about a small group of national guardsmen who had refused to fight in Ukraine. But Afanasyev remains defiant, while local supporters crowdfund thousands of dollars to pay off his legal fines.”
The Washington Post / Anumita Kaur
Dozens of news outlets demand access to the Jan. 6 footage given to Tucker Carlson →
“‘Without full public access to the complete historical record, there is concern that an ideologically-based narrative of an already polarizing event will take hold in the public consciousness, with destabilizing risks to the legitimacy of Congress, the Capitol Police, and the various federal investigations and prosecutions of Jan. 6 crimes,’ the letter stated.”
Ideastream Public Media / Anna Huntsman
Remembering Mandy Jenkins, national digital news pioneer →
“Mandy Jenkins, a journalist who pioneered social media and digital strategies for news organizations nationwide, died of breast cancer at age 42 on Feb. 26, 2023.”
The Guardian / Margaret Sullivan
Will the Dominion lawsuit finally stop Fox News from spreading lies? →
“Advertising boycotts are almost pointless since Fox gets its massive revenue largely through carriage fees — the money that cable and satellite providers pay to individual networks; Fox is able to demand and get disproportionately high rates because it has such a fervent audience.”
The New York Times / Katie Robertson
Revenue grew at Condé Nast last year, but shy of target →
“Condé Nast, which is a unit of the privately held Advance Publications, doesn't publicly disclose its financial results and only occasionally discusses them.”
The Verge / Emma Roth
The head of Twitter Blue is reportedly out at Twitter →
“Twitter product manager Esther Crawford no longer has a job at the company following yet another wave of layoffs, as first reported by Platformer's Zoë Schiffer…Alex Heath of The Verge confirmed Crawford and most of the remaining product team were laid off this weekend, leading to speculation that Twitter's owner Elon Musk may be about to install a new regime at the company.”
The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
Two Voice of America journalists put on leave after “Russian propaganda” accusations →
“The journalists, Garri ‘Harry’ Knyagnitskiy and Daria Davydova, were hired by VOA in November after working for several years at media outlets controlled by the Russian government or closely allied with it.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher
Politico is expanding fast in London →
“Back in December we had 18 journalists in London. We're now at 32, I think — I lose track a little bit. We badly need new offices.”
Spectrum News 13
Remembering Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons →
“He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did.”
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