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Friday, May 1, 2020
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Here’s how 4 news organizations are building new ways to inform (and comfort) kids about coronavirus“Grownups, we have our various coping mechanisms and ways of processing this strange new reality. We have our Zoom calls and our alcohol and our memes. The kids don’t have those tools.” By Hanaa' Tameez. |
What We’re Reading
The New York Times
This interactive by The New York Times just made it very easy to support local news →
The Times compiled databases from several media associations so you can search and find news outlets near you to support.
The Texas Tribune / Evan Smith
The Texas Tribune Festival is going virtual →
The exact format of the now-online TribFest will be announced on June 1.
The Navigator / Wilson Liévano
How photojournalists can cover the coronavirus pandemic safely →
The COVID-19 Guide for Visual Journalists “recommends to use a telephoto lens in addition to maintaining a distance of 6 feet from your subject. But even those precautions could be insufficient, hence the need for goggles, a tight mask around your nose and mouth and a full gown when circumstances don't allow for social distancing, like in a hospital.”
Poynter / Tom Jones
The Post and Courier is requiring staff return to the newsroom, leaving its reporters angry and frustrated →
“…executive editor Mitch Pugh told staff to report to the publication’s Charleston office at least one day a week starting Monday…[Post and Courier journalists interviewed] say many of their colleagues were concerned, angry and frustrated.”
Pew Research Center / Aidan Connaughton
5 charts on views of press freedom around the world →
“Across the nations surveyed, a median of just 26% said the news media were doing very well at reporting the news accurately. Ratings of the media were highest in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, where medians of 82% and 74%, respectively, said that the media were doing well at reporting the news accurately.”
The Markup / Colin Lecher
States are suspending public records access because of COVID-19 →
“There is little precedent for such action, even in an emergency…Governors are taking emergency action in some states, ordering changes to public records compliance during the crisis. Other states and municipalities have made legislative changes to their laws…’COVID-19 is no excuse to relax the fundamentals of open government and transparency.'”
Vox / Ella Nilsen
Poll: Most U.S. freelancers still haven’t gotten any federal unemployment or loan assistance →
“A new survey done by the Freelancers Union of 2,755 of its members found a full 85 percent who applied for government relief still have not received the funding, and the vast majority were still waiting to hear back from government relief programs.”
Twitter / Inside Higher Ed Guild
Newsroom and tech staffers at Inside Higher Ed are unionizing →
“We believe collective bargaining is the most effective way to ensure we can continue to produce quality reporting and thrive in a supportive work environment…[We would] like to promote a healthier work-life balance as we adapt to our new normal.”
Australian Broadcasting Corporation / Karen Percy
An Australian court has ruled Google is a “publisher” and is liable for anything defamatory that shows up in its search results →
“[Lawyer George] Defteros argued that in 2016 and 2017, searches on Google continued to turn up articles and hyperlinks to web material that defamed him, including an entry in the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia…[Justice Melinda Richards] also found that providing the hyperlink within the search results ‘amounted to publication of the webpage.'” Richards ruled that Google owes Defteros $40,000.
Press Gazette / Dominic Ponsford
“Not making any money is quite liberating”: How travel media is coping with COVID-19 →
“We are still thriving to this day, but just like pretty much any other business at the moment, we are not actually making any money, which is a challenge for us at the moment. But in a curious way, it is also quite liberating. For us to accept that at the current time has enabled us to get very creative in the way that we respond and we are responding to the crisis.”
Los Angeles Times / Meg James
Those three weekly papers shut down by the L.A. Times might live on after all →
“Charlie Plowman, the owner of Outlook Newspapers in La Cañada Flintridge, has acquired the assets of three recently folded newspapers [the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and La Cañada Valley Sun]…’I heard the outpouring from local residents, as to how much they love these publications, and want to support them.'”
Twitter / Ben Smith
An executive at Alden Capital, the newspaper-owning hedge fund, suggests a campaign to push Google and Facebook to pay fees →
“Fees from those who use and profit from our content can help continually optimize our product as well as ensure our newsrooms have the resources they need. My hope is that we are able to work together towards the shared goal of protecting and enhancing local journalism.”
CNN / Kerry Flynn
Gannett has been stonewalling elections for three newspaper unions →
“Gannett’s tactic is delay us, delay us, delay us,” said a staff photographer at Naples Daily News, part of the Southwest Florida Guild.
Medium / The NYT Open Team
The New York Times on implicit bias in comment moderation powered by machine learning →
The Times cautions, “This might sound like another machine learning success story, but it is not that simple.”
TechCrunch / Lucas Matney
Apple News hits 125 million monthly active users →
Still no user numbers for the paid version, Apple News+, that launched last year.
Poynter / Rick Edmonds
A local group is organizing to try to buy The Baltimore Sun from Tribune Publishing →
“The effort has some urgency. Alden Global Capital owns a third of Tribune Publishing stock and appears to be exerting pressure to slash costs. Alden's ‘standstill’ agreement not to buy more Tribune shares expires in June.”
Religion News Service / Aysha Khan
Meet Muslim, a new online publication for the Gen Z Muslim community →
“Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh is the founder and editor-in-chief of Muslim.co, a new digital publication for Muslim youth. He says the publication is meant for all teens and young adults within the ummah, or community of Muslims, regardless of their race, gender, sect or how they do or don't practice their faith.”