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Wednesday, June 3, 2020
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VizPol takes a cue from bird-watching apps to help journalists identify unfamiliar political symbolsBuilt by researchers at Columbia University’s journalism and engineering schools and launched as an invite-only beta this week, VizPol can currently recognize 52 symbols. By Sarah Scire. |
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KPCC is finding a new role as LA’s COVID-19 help desk. Here’s what it’s learned along the way.Since early March, our newsroom has received more than 3,300 pandemic-related questions. To date, we have personally answered more than 2,900 of those questions. By Caitlin Hernandez. |
What We’re Reading
American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU has filed a class action lawsuit against Minneapolis police for attacking journalists →
"The power of the people is rooted in the ability of the free press to investigate and report news, especially at a time like this when police have brutally murdered one of our community members.”
Poynter / Kristen Hare
The pandemic led to newsroom furloughs. Then protests started. Are reporters coming back? →
One local journalist told Poynter his bosses were allowing him to delay his furlough by a week “due to the historic nature” of the story.
The Atlantic / Anne Applebaum
Resist the urge to simplify the story →
“The proliferation of false stories and fake narratives doesn't mean that truth doesn't exist, or that Americans will never find out what really happened. But it does mean that the full story has to be told in quite a complicated way, from different angles, by many people.”
The Verge / Casey Newton
Snapchat will stop promoting Trump’s account after concluding his tweets incited violence →
"We are not currently promoting the president's content on Snapchat's Discover platform," the company said in a statement. "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America."
The New York Times / Taylor Lorenz
People can’t stop watching videos of police and protesters. That’s the idea. →
“As of Monday night, the video had amassed more than 45 million views from Mr. Uhl's tweet alone. After he posted a Dropbox link so that anyone could download and share the video, it garnered tens of millions more views.”
The Washington Post / Margaret Sullivan
Saturday’s protests were big news. Why did these Gannett newspapers push them off the front page? →
“The paper's front page was dominated by a blue rectangle bearing the words ‘Rebuilding America’ — the Gannett newspaper chain's business-friendly collaboration between its newsrooms and ad departments. The protest coverage, except for a small teaser box at the top of the front page, was relegated to the metro section. Anyone who surveyed the front pages of the chain's Sunday papers would be greeted by a sea of bright blue graphics with words like ‘We're in this together’ — but, in many cases, with precious little indication that the nation has been roiled by protests on a scale we haven't seen in decades.”
9to5Mac / Filipe Espósito
This is what the new Apple News+ audio versions of stories will look like →
“While the Audio tab shows up for all users, only Apple News+ subscribers will have access to full stories. If you are not a subscriber, you can only listen to previews of the latest news available.”
San Francisco Chronicle / Owen Thomas
San Francisco Chronicle editor-in-chief Audrey Cooper, the first woman to hold the position, will leave the paper →
When Cooper, 42, took the role in 2015, she also became the youngest woman ever to lead a major metropolitan newsroom in the U.S.
Axios / Sara Fischer
Grist takes over Pacific Standard’s assets, will maintain its archives →
“Grist will be taking over 20,000+ stories from the Pacific Standard’s archives, as well as all of its audio and video assets. The content still generates a small but notable monthly audience of 1 million readers per month, which still brings in a small amount of ad revenue as well ($2,000–$3,000 monthly). It’s looking at relaunching the brand, and it plans to reinvest that revenue to grow its freelance budget to support reporters doing work on social and environmental justice.”
Axios / Sara Fischer
All 30 McClatchy properties are using the Washington Post’s ad software →
“The deal comes roughly a week after The Post inked a partnership with the Local Media Consortium, which represents 3,500 local media outlets from 90 media companies. The Post already works with several local TV stations and newspapers, like the Dallas Morning News and Seattle Times.”
The New York Times / Charlie Warzel
Watching the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, one tweet at a time →
“So often these awful instances of violence are framed and treated as one-off events. A tragedy in isolation, an unfortunate escalation. But experiencing these protests in dozens of cities and neighborhoods, night after night and witnessing the endless stream of videos, the pattern is undeniable. The system has long been broken, but it is now impossible to hide from the reality.”
CNN / Kerry Flynn
“I volunteered because somebody has to sleep sometime”: Gutted newsrooms juggle pandemic and protests →
“On Sunday, Amber Hunt, investigative reporter at The Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote about the protests in her community in a story titled, ‘Another nightfall brings more tear gas, arrests as Cincinnati protests escalate for the 3rd day.’ But as of 12 a.m. on Monday, Hunt must halt her coverage: she’s on furlough for a full week.”