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Tuesday, April 21, 2020
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Can Spotify’s playlists do for podcasts what they’ve done for music?Plus: Tips for recording at home, COVID cuts at big publishers, and the benefits of a podcast book club. By Nicholas Quah. |
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The constant shifts of the coronavirus pandemic may be making journalists more comfortable expressing uncertaintyAt a time of almost constantly changing news, what are the obligations of journalists to make it clear that their information is provisional? By Kevin Lerner. |
What We’re Reading
Poynter / Barbara Selvin
“We simply could not”: As the coronavirus struck rural South Africa, a news publisher briefly considered shutting down →
“Like community newspapers in the U.S., the weekly Limpopo Mirror is covering the crisis intensively while advertising drains away. Owner Anton van Zyl, who joined the paper as a reporter in 1990, reflected on the challenges facing small publishers — some near-universal, like the dominance of social media platforms, others specific to his locality, like the 72 health clinics in the province that lack running water.”
Poynter / Rick Edmonds
Tribune Publishing implements “broad furloughs” on top of last week’s pay cuts →
The company is requiring most non-union employees earning between $40,000 and $67,000 a year to take three weeks of furloughs in the next three months. Similar pay cuts and/or furloughs are coming for unionized staff.
Nieman Foundation
The Wall Street Journal and Frontline have won this year’s Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism →
“The reporting exposed decades of abuse, negligence and dysfunction inside the Indian Health Service, the federal agency that provides health care to more than two million Native Americans…reporters revealed that the IHS failed to stop child predators and other dangerous doctors practicing in hospitals that serve some of the nation's poorest and most vulnerable citizens, many of whom have no other health care options.”
Politico / Alexandra S. Levine
Coronavirus raises stakes in the battle over who controls .org domains →
“Empowering a for-profit entity that could undermine the accessibility and affordability of the .org domain, which serves nonprofits, should concern all of us.”
Folio / Greg Dool
Meredith is cutting the salaries of 60% of its employees →
“While our financial position is strong, given the impact on advertising — which represents approximately half of our revenue mix — we are proactively taking aggressive actions to strengthen our liquidity and enhance our financial flexibility in the near-term to effectively navigate the current environment.”
Hold the Front Page / David Sharman
Gannett’s U.K. dailies are adding a paywall that also offers up to 80% fewer ads →
Though it’s an extremely loose paywall: “Readers will be required to register after reading 20 articles in a month and will be asked to subscribe after reading 40, although coronavirus-related news will not be included in the tally.”
The New York Times / Marc Tracey
NPR cuts executive pay as corporate sponsors’ payments fall →
“The radio and podcasting giant does not run traditional advertisements, but nearly one-third of its revenue has come from corporate sponsors like Angie's List, General Motors, State Farm and Trader Joe's…Rob Risko, the director of membership at Southern California Public Radio, said on Monday that his station was projecting losses into next year.”
Medium / Annemarie Dooling
Why The Wall Street Journal has started treating email like a platform →
“Emails don't automatically appear in the inbox after sending — as with other platforms, numerous factors influence what is seen. In email, everything from sender address, to volume, to past reputation can impact whether or not someone receives your email and where it lands in the inbox.”
The Guardian / Josh Taylor
Facebook and Google will be forced to share advertising revenue with Australian media companies →
The Treasurer of Australia said it was only fair that media companies that created the content got paid for it. "This will help to create a level playing field.”
BBC News / Dr. John Wright
Doctors and nurses: Fake news makes patients fear our hospital staff →
“I’ve had patients who want to self-discharge because they think we’re trying to kill them. I’ve had a patient a couple of weeks ago, who wanted to self-discharge because her family was messaging her telling her that if she dies in our care, we won’t tell them and we’ll just burn her body. These are the things that are being spread around.”
Substack / Hamish McKenzie
Substack co-founder lays out how he’d rebuild print media (on Substack, naturally) →
“Unlike with a newspaper, you're not aiming for a large general audience that will appeal to advertisers. You're looking for small, devoted audiences – people who really care about the subject matter, and at least some who are hungry enough for this coverage that they're willing to pay.”
SurveyMonkey / John Crowley
Take this survey on the impact of COVID-19 on journalism →
“I am issuing an appeal to journalists of all creeds, backgrounds, geographies and experience levels — working in newsrooms large or small — to complete a quick, anonymous survey around stress and what news organizations could look like post-COVID-19.”
What's New in Publishing / Simon Owens
Is Patch actually producing quality local journalism? →
“I opened 10 [Patch] stories at random and began going through them one by one, looking for signs of original reporting. Out of the 10 I opened, only one included any information that couldn't be found from any other public source…At the end of the day, all the smart curation in the world will never replace good, old-fashioned reporting.”
New York Magazine / Justin Davidson
The West Side Rag is a hyperlocal site that mixes dogged reporting, COVID-19 news, and updates on a baby raccoon boom →
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the publication’s founder and editor “saw a neighborhood with an abundant supply of underemployed journalists, small businesses with few local outlets in which to advertise, and a fervently engaged potential readership nearly the size of Buffalo.”
KQED
KQED is making its coronavirus coverage available in Spanish →
“As California battles the coronavirus crisis, we want to offer resources and give information to support all communities in our region during this time of change.”