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Friday, June 12, 2020
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The Dallas Morning News is testing out reporter-specific promo codes for readers on the fence about subscribing“Being able to link the promo code to heartfelt messages of why local journalism is so important right now is like a one-two punch that we thought would be powerful with readers.” By Hanaa' Tameez. |
What We’re Reading
Vanity Fair / Joe Pompeo
A talent drain at BuzzFeed News has left "a glaring diversity problem” →
“[Editor-in-chief Mark] Schoofs's initial flurry of internal appointments and promotions went mostly to white men, including the leaders of a new ‘inequality desk.'”
Rio Grande Guardian / Dayne Reyes
Gannett closes Edinburg Review and Valley Town Crier, two of its newspapers along the U.S.-Mexico border →
“An unnamed staff member said: ‘All of this happened last Wednesday. I was on a Zoom meeting and they just told us, 'hey, you are shutting down'. It came out of nowhere so our last publication was Wednesday.’ The staff member added: ‘It was a super brief meeting, less than ten minutes. They were basically saying our (advertising) numbers were not there. We took a big loss in revenue (with the coronavirus lockdown).’"
Google
The Condé Nast salary transparency spreadsheet has 231 entries (and counting) →
One idea in the notes: “Please allow managers visibility and participation in salary discussions for their direct and indirect reports. Without this, visibility to pay disparities is limited to only a few.”
The Intercept / Lee Fang
Facebook presents tool that would allow employers to blacklist words like "unionize” in their workplace chat →
“The company has long been criticized for selectively regulating what's posted on its platforms, allowing paid ads to remain online no matter what. The laissez-faire approach to potential political misinformation contrasts sharply with the powerful tools for employers to monitor and control discussions in the workplace.”
Nieman Reports / Vladimir Radomirovic
Countries locking up journalists may have a new slogan: “It happens in America, too” →
“Have no illusions: Scenes of American police shooting rubber bullets at journalists, arresting and beating them will serve as a pretext for every strongman across the world to suppress the free press.”
Vice / Laura Wagner
Is one of journalism’s top ethics experts overly concerned with courtesy? →
“Even on these highly limited terms, though, [Kelly] McBride’s analysis and counsel is often confused, overly concerned with optics and tone and centered not on what’s right, but what can be passed off as right.”
TechCrunch / Brian Heater
Hoping to attract younger viewers, “60 Minutes” launches a short-form series on Quibi →
“The new take on America's oldest newsmagazine goes under the banner ’60 IN 6′ — slightly confusing, given that its producers are committing to a broader definition of short-form content at ’10 minutes or less.’ In the first episode, Wesley Lowery sits down with George Floyd's brother and Reverend Al Sharpton in Minneapolis.