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Thursday, May 21, 2020
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Here’s (exactly) how we organized one of the largest virtual U.S. journalism events to dateOnce we announced we would host in place instead of in person, registrations shot through the roof; we ended up with just under 750 registrations by the time the conference began. Typically, the summit attracts 150 to 175 people. By Stefanie Murray and Joe Amditis. |
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Aiming for novelty in coronavirus coverage, journalists end up sensationalizing the trivial and untrueSometimes the biggest story does not advance as quickly as journalists might hope. It is in these moments of seeming stasis that journalistic repetition can become more powerful and serve as a way to hold government accountable. By Michael J. Socolow. |
What We’re Reading
NBC News / Nicole Acevedo
Community news media, a ‘lifeline’ for Latino families, is now under threat by coronavirus →
“The disappearance of these outlets would be ‘traumatic’ for immigrant families nationwide where “community media often serves as a lifeline,” Graciela Mochkofsky said. ‘If that goes away, it will probably be filled with misinformation or with rumors, even those spread by well-intentioned people sending unverified information.'”
Newslaundry
Times of India shutters locals editions and layoffs begin amid uncertainty →
“The media giant [The Times Group], which runs 45 dailies and periodicals, including the Times of India and the Economic Times, a series of websites, and a bouquet of TV and radio channels, has cut staff salaries and deferred increments. It has laid off dozens of staffers in its financial daily, the Economic Times. There is no clarity as to the actual number, however.”
Investigative Reporters and Editors / Ron Nixon
Publication without representation →
“Among daily newspapers that responded to the survey, about 22.2 percent of employees were racial minorities (compared to 16.3 percent in 2017), and 25.6 percent of employees at online-only news websites were minorities (compared to 24.3 percent in 2017). Of all newsroom managers, 19 percent were minorities (compared to 13.4 percent in 2017). People of color represent 22.6 percent of the workforce in U.S. newsrooms that responded to the survey. Yet people of color make up about 40 percent of the population, census data show.”
Eater / Navneet Alang
Alison Roman, Bon Appétit, and the “global pantry” problem →
“Bon Appétit is also hardly the only powerful food media authority to grapple (or not) with whom it chooses to cast as its ambassadors of the global pantry: Scrolling through the New York Times's cooking section's 15 of Our Best Vietnamese Recipes and its Mexican at Home recipes, for example, it is impossible not to notice that every single byline is that of an (ostensibly) white writer. And just last week, Momofuku Milk Bar owner Christina Tosi posted a recipe on Instagram for ‘flaky bread’ that, as some commenters quickly pointed out, looked an awful lot like paratha, an Indian flatbread.”
NPR / Bobby Allyn
Nearly half of the accounts tweeting about coronavirus are likely bots →
“Researchers culled through more than 200 million tweets discussing the virus since January and found that about 45% were sent by accounts that behave more like computerized robots than humans”
NPR.org / David Folkenflik
Fresh newsroom cuts at Tribune stir mistrust as “vulture” investor looms →
“Inside the Tribune Publishing newspaper chain, all eyes are focusing on Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting. The hedge fund Alden Global Capital is expected to consolidate its control over the company and usher in even more severe cuts than the ones the company has put in place.”
The New York Times Company
Here is The New York Times’ diversity report for 2019 →
“Women now represent 51 percent of our staff and 49 percent of leadership. People of color now represent 32 percent of our staff and 21 percent of our leadership. Each of these numbers increased over last year, driven in part by the diversity of our new hires. Across the company, 53 percent of new hires in 2019 identified as women and 43 percent identified as people of color. The charts also show that we still have gaps in representation at the leadership level, particularly of people of color.”
Twitter / Kerry Flynn
The Atlantic has laid off 68 employees, 17 percent of its staff →
“The staff reduction most deeply affects our live events division, given the uncertainty about when in-person events will return,” owner David Bradley wrote in a memo. “We are also making a number of reductions in our sales and marketing team; are closing our video department; and are losing a small number of newsroom positions.”
NPR.org / Kelly McBride
NPR Public Editor: “Unarmed black man” doesn’t mean what you think it means →
“NPR has used the phrase 82 times in the past year. Five of those were headlines, 26 were in newscasts read at the top of the hour. And most of those references — 65 to be exact — occurred since Arbery was killed in February. In that same time period, “unarmed white man” does not appear anywhere in NPR’s coverage.”
Poynter / Kristen Hare
One year ago, the staff of the Times-Picayune got laid off. Here’s where they are now. →
One just won a Pulitzer. Another stayed in New Orleans and started a nonprofit newsroom. Some left the industry. Almost everyone Poynter talked to said they missed their old newsroom.