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Tuesday, October 10, 2017
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Starting today, anyone who publishes something on Medium can paywall itHow much they’ll get paid is another question. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Cambodian viral site Khmerload has new plans for a BuzzFeed-like digital empire across Southeast AsiaIn Vichet launched Khmerload while he was still a PhD student. Now, with Silicon Valley backing, he's added new editions in Myanmar and Vietnam and is looking at several more locations in South and Southeast Asia. By Holly Robertson. |
What We’re Reading
Nieman Reports / Tim O'Reilly
Tim O’Reilly on ways to put the brakes on “fake news” →
“There is a master algorithm that rules our society, and…it is not some powerful new approach to machine learning. It is a rule that was encoded into modern business decades ago…It is the algorithm that led CBS chairman Leslie Moonves to say in March 2016 that Trump's campaign ‘may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS.’ You must please that algorithm if you want your business to thrive.”
PR Newswire
A “snack portfolio” will be sponsoring…a journalistic residency at The New York Times? →
“The Véa brand, a snack portfolio that tells its own story of exploration through the use of unique combinations of real global ingredients and recipes…’Véa’s North Star is the exploration and discovery of real food and real experiences…This synergistic approach combines the free-spirited nimbleness of raw storytellers with the resources and trained abilities of a news powerhouse which, like our snacks, we hope will inspire a new generation to explore more.'”
New York Times / Nicholas Confessore and Daisuke Wakabayashi
How Russia harvested American rage to reshape U.S. politics →
“This is cultural hacking,” said Jonathan Albright, research director at Columbia University's Tow Center for Digital Journalism. “They are using systems that were already set up by these platforms to increase engagement. They're feeding outrage — and it's easy to do, because outrage and emotion is how people share.”
Fast Company / Harry McCracken
Flipboard introduces a seal of approval for mobile-friendly sites →
“The company will give [articles that load quickly]…a bump in the algorithms that determine which items Flipboard users see in their feeds, thereby exposing them to more readers.”
eMarketer
American adults spend over 12 hours per day consuming media →
4 hours watching TV, 3 hours on our phones, 2 hours on our laptops and desktops, 86 minutes listening to the radio, and a mere 24 minutes reading print. (To be fair, when you’re zoning out with your iPhone while watching TV, this analysis counts you twice.)
Quartz / Heather Timmons
Facebook’s latest solution to its fake news problem: Sign on a right-wing fact checker →
“The new partnership…is part of Facebook's attempt to ‘appease all sides,’ said one person briefed on the discussions. ‘There are legitimate publications that write from a conservative point of view, and they are fact-based,’ he said.”
American Society of News Editors
ASNE will overhaul its annual diversity survey with $300,000 from Democracy Fund →
“Grant funds will help invigorate the survey’s design and data collection methodologies, establish a comprehensive view of the state of diversity in media and raise awareness through the dissemination of data collected.”
9to5Mac / Benjamin Mayo
#fakenews! A tech error led to Dow Jones reporting an Apple/Google merger →
“Obviously, every element of the story is made up, but it's pretty funny to see the temporal blip on Apple's stock price, which briefly spiked up to $158…Whilst the contents of the story make it obvious that the news is completely fake, the existence of real-time high-speed trading means the jump to $158 was almost certainly caused by automatic computer algorithms rather than real people.”
Wired / Andrew Losowsky
Actually, do read the comments — they can be the best part →
A guest post by Andrew Losowsky, project lead for The Coral Project.
Wall Street Journal / Ben Mullin
Fusion Media: If you make a good ad, we’ll give you bonus ad space →
“Bonuses are doled out on a sliding scale: The ads with the highest engagement rates get higher bonuses, which are capped at 20% of the total impressions purchased. The benefits for Fusion Media, theoretically: happier readers, happier advertisers and an added incentive to help close deals.”
Digiday / Ross Benes
The Financial Times is pushing out charts and graphics on Instagram →
“It’s not like we're opening the paywall. They're easy to use — we don't want the audience to copy and paste the link.”
Washington Post / Elizabeth Dwoskin
Google uncovers Russian-bought ads on YouTube, Gmail, and other platforms →
“The discovery by Google is also significant because the ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated troll farm that bought ads on Facebook — a sign that the Russian effort to spread disinformation online may be a much broader problem than Silicon Valley companies have unearthed so far.”
New York Times / Sydney Ember
Los Angeles Times names Forbes’ Lewis D’Vorkin as top editor →
“The announcement was met with some skepticism in the newsroom, according to two Times journalists, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear that commenting could affect their jobs. There is some worry, they said, that Mr. D'Vorkin will be more focused on clicks and advertising, rather than pursuing ambitious journalism.”
ProPublica / Mick Dumke
ProPublica Illinois starts publishing →
We wrote about ProPublica Illinois here.