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Monday, May 11, 2020
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Retrench? Nah: How women and politics site The 19th is forging ahead with a launch in a pandemic“The primary obsession this summer and into the fall will be the politics of the pandemic and what that means for women — deeply exploring the ways in which women are disproportionately affected by this moment, which may be a heck of a lot longer than a moment.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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In Africa, government attempts to fight misinformation are also limiting freedom of expression“Even before COVID-19, many African countries used libel laws, defamation laws, and internet shutdowns to limit the freedom of expression of citizens and the media…The pandemic is now being used as an excuse to further limit freedom of expression.” By Ashwanee Budoo. |
What We’re Reading
Digiday / Max Willens
Like it or not, Google and Facebook are becoming the leading patrons of the news industry →
“Over the next few months, Google and Facebook will, combined, spend close to a quarter billion dollars supporting local news, through a combination of emergency relief grants, extra marketing dollars earmarked for ads on publishers' sites, and the waiving of fees Google normally collects from its ad server.”
What's New in Publishing / Faisal Kalim
Like casinos, news orgs need to identify their “whales” when planning a membership program →
“‘You know your whales when you see them. They're wearing a hat with your logo on it. They treat your editors like celebrities. They read and comment on everything you send them. They're the most committed 10-15% of your audience’…whales generate as much as 70 to 90% of reader revenue.”
The Economist
How the pandemic revived the newspaper stunt →
“Stunts have grown rarer lately, as circulations and budgets have dwindled, but they sit comfortably with the pandemic's patriotic atmosphere.”
ELLE / Rose Minutaglio
Meet the Navajo Times reporter covering COVID-19 →
“In March, she revealed that the Navajo reservation's outbreak could likely likely be traced back to a rally at the local chapter of an evangelical church. When former Miss Western Navajo Valentina Blackhorse died from the virus last month, she landed an exclusive heart-wrenching interview with her sister. Most recently, she wrote an emotional obituary about a former senior police officer who died, and whose son is now sick.”
The New York Times / Vivian Wang and Edward Wong
The Trump administration escalated conflict with China by restricting Chinese journalists’ U.S. visa access →
“Chinese journalists in the United States who try to do independent journalism privately expressed worries about the future of their work, and said they did not want to be caught in the middle of such a conflict. American journalists in China have voiced similar concerns.”
Pop-Up Magazine Productions
Pop-Up Magazine Productions is unionizing →
The company, which produces Pop-Up Magazine and California Sunday Magazine, is joining the NewsGuild.
Deseret News / Art Raymond
The CEO of Banjo has resigned after his past as a Klansman surfaced →
You may remember Banjo from its past life as a social media discovery tool aimed at newsrooms. (It later pivoted to working with law enforcement; Banjo says it no longer considers itself a news company.)
6AM City / Ali McGhee
How 6AM City created a company-wide mentorship program for new hires →
“As the program grows, mentees — armed with what they learned and their own accumulated wealth of experiences — have begun moving into positions as mentors, stepping into their rightful places as the next wave of leaders within the company.”
Adweek / David Griner
A Finnish newspaper ran a print ad that can only be read from six feet away →
“Newspaper advertising might not be the first place you'd look for innovation, but a new ad from Finland shows the medium still has attention-grabbing life in it…The black-and-white ad appears to be an illegible blur until viewed from six feet away, after which the message becomes clear: ‘Keeping it safe. From a distance.'”
The New York Times / Jon Caramanica
How Instagram Live became a center of pandemic-era culture →
“What's unfolded in the weeks since is a wholesale reshuffling of the nature of celebrity. Without the usual systems of amplification and distribution, the very tools of fame are changing — benevolent magnanimity is out, relatability is in; polish is out, transparency is in.”
Digiday / Max Willens
Six months in, Facebook News is still not available to all U.S. users →
Some participants are worried News has slid down Facebook’s list of priorities since the glitzy launch announcement in October.
Washington Post / Erik Wemple
Vanity Fair “updates” story about Donald Trump Jr. and far-right channel OAN →
“‘Updates’ do a lot of work in journalism these days. Sometimes they are used to denote simple amplifications to fast-moving online news stories. Other times they provide cover for the insertion of badly missing context. At other times, they camouflage important corrections that editors and reporters prefer not to label as such.”