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Wednesday, June 10, 2020
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Police have been spying on black reporters and activists for years. I know because I’m one of them.I learned during a police surveillance trial that the Memphis Police Department spied on me and three other journalists. By Wendi C. Thomas. |
What We’re Reading
Vox / Ezra Klein
America is changing, and so is the media →
“‘Organizations that have embraced the mantra that they need to diversify have not as quickly realized that diversifying means they have to be a fundamentally different place,’ says Jelani Cobb, the Ira A. Lipman professor at the Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer at the New Yorker.”
Center for Community Media
How Black media is responding to the uprisings →
“As Black journalists face unprecedented personal risks, navigating the historical trauma and burden of daily racism to report on these national uprisings for racial justice, Black media center the journalists who work at Black-owned outlets, as well as their audiences.”
Twitter Support
Twitter is testing a feature to see if you’ve read an article before retweeting it →
“To help promote informed discussion, we’re testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven’t opened on Twitter, we may ask if you’d like to open it first.”
Deez Links / Delia Cai
The problem…..is all of this →
“But while it's not the first time these assertions about pay inequality, workplace mistreatment, and tokenism (amongst many, many other issues) from Black media workers are being publicly aired — the mood finally feels receptive, like there's been some massive lightbulb moment of like oh so this really iS a problem huh??? Shit are WE the problem?? It's equal parts galvanizing and also maddening to see the dams finally bursting from the force of this focused attention, and no title or industry gets to sit out.”
Trusting News / Lynn Walsh
Trust tip of the day: Acknowledge when you mess up →
“Sometimes those conversations around fairness and bias can be more difficult to address than an inaccuracy in a story. Your willingness to have these conversations and admit the mistake can be worthwhile though. How you fix the mistake — and your willingness to talk about the mistake with your users — can tell your community a lot about who your journalists are and what you value as a news organization. It can also be an opportunity to build trust.”
The New York Times / Marc Tracy
The Wall Street Journal re-assigned Gerard Baker to the opinions team after staff complained about his social media use →
“The letter, from the board of the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, the union that represents Journal staff members, criticized a column by Mr. Baker on race and accused him of tweeting in a way that went against the paper's social media policy.”
Digiday / Steven Perlberg
Spared for now, large publishers live in fear of Amazon commission cuts →
“Major publishers who do business with Amazon seem to be spared from the cuts — for now. According to people familiar with the matter, rates have remained the same for commerce publishers including CNN's Underscored, The New York Times' Wirecutter, and Vox Media/New York Magazine's The Strategist.”
CNN / Kerry Flynn
College life will never be the same. This media company is documenting the change. →
“Her Campus Media has since pivoted to produce new content and virtual live events. And as students seek ways to adapt to this uncharted territory in their education, the company’s namesake site Her Campus has seen a surge in new college chapters sign-ups, a trend that is atypical as the academic year comes to a close.”
WSJ / Keach Hagey
Tucker Carlson departs the Daily Caller, the conservative digital publication he co-founded →
Daily Caller co-founder and publisher Neil Patel said he bought out Carlson's roughly one-third stake. Patel said that made the Daily Caller the largest digital-media company owned by a person of color.
Business Insider / Rachel Premack
Bon Appétit’s editor-in-chief just resigned — but staffers of color say there’s a “toxic” culture of microaggressions and exclusion that runs far deeper than one man →
“Following Rapoport’s resignation, Walker-Hartshorn is still processing what it was like to work for him. One memory sticks out from early in her tenure at Bon Appétit, when she asked Rapoport how he wanted his coffee before a run at Joe & the Juice. He stared at her for what felt like forever, Walker-Hartshorn said. Then, he declared: ‘I don’t know, like Rihanna.'”
Medium / Will Oremus
“Breaking911” is being impersonated on Twitter, but don’t trust the original either →
“Breaking911 doesn't often share blatantly fake news like its fake clones, but the account consistently posts misleading information, removing context and sourcing from its tweets or adding its own descriptions without attribution. For instance, the account's text tweets and caption on videos often don't directly link to or even list their sources nor do many posts on its website.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Emily Bell
As publishers rethink editorial norms, social media policies must follow →
“The relationship between journalism and social platforms needs a thorough rethinking from both sides. While the New York Times staff expressed frustration and outrage that the newspaper would provide a platform for incendiary views such as Cotton's, the bigger question might be why, when there are so many other platforms available, should news media provide an unmediated platform for a sitting politician at all?”
TechCrunch / Sarah Perez
Facebook News launches to all in the U.S. →
“The News tab will appear to all U.S. users as a bookmark (under the three-lined ‘more’ menu) on mobile, Facebook says. Those who frequently visit the bookmark will see News available as a tab (a button in the Facebook app) sooner.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Jane Eisner
The uncertain future of Jewish news media →
“Every Jewish newspaper has been struggling to maintain its aging audience and find a new audience among younger people. Even before this happened, they were struggling. The question is why. Are there still enough people who want to read about Jews through a Jewish lens?”