 |
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
 |
Here’s how CUNY’s new Black Media Initiative aims to elevate and serve Black publications“Black press has always been hyperlocal. But for whatever reason, the Black press has never gotten some of those [buzzword] labels…That plays into how the perception of these places within the larger sphere.” By Hanaa' Tameez. |
 |
Apply now for the Nieman Foundation’s new visiting fellowships on racial justice and public health in the U.S.These fellowships are open to a broad range of people. If you’re wondering if you should apply, you should. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
 |
Race and the newsroom: What seven research studies sayDiffering notions of objectivity in Black and mainstream white newspapers, how white reporters see their ethical obligations in covering race, the ways that reporters’ race affects their coverage of political candidates, and more. By Clark Merrefield. |
What We’re Reading
Columbia Journalism Review / Lauren Harris
More than 100 news outlets have decreased print production since the beginning of the pandemic →
“Tow found that more than a hundred outlets scaled down their print production since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of these publications announced a suspension of print publishing — noting temporary economic constraints or logistical limitations. Others altered their print run from daily to weekly, or consolidated sections in the print edition. Some outlets announced their intention to stop print production entirely.”
Al Jazeera / Asad Hashim
Prominent Pakistani journalist free after day-long disappearance →
“A prominent Pakistani journalist known for his criticism of the country’s powerful military is safe with his family 12 hours after he disappeared on Tuesday.”
Dunya News
Pakistan’s Supreme Court hints at banning YouTube →
“During the hearing, Justice Qazi Amin remarked ‘we are not against freedom of expression and masses have right to discuss our performance and decisions as we take salaries from public money but constitution also provides us right of personal life but users of social media and YouTube are targeting our families,’ he said. ‘Masses are being provoked against country's army, government and judiciary.'”
The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
NPR may be “public” radio, but it’s feeling the economic pain of the pandemic. More trouble lies ahead. →
“For decades, the P in NPR stood for ‘public,’ as in publicly supported, noncommercial radio and digital news. Yet with its growing dependence on corporate advertising, NPR has found itself on equally troubled footing as its for-profit competitors, all of them reliant on the same pool of advertising dollars that have dried up during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, ratings have taken a hit, with stay-at-home orders keeping many devoted listeners out of their cars, and thus away from their radios, raising concerns about the effect on public donations to hundreds of member stations.”
The Verge / Casey Newton
Why no one knows which stories are the most popular on Facebook →
“Ultimately, in exasperating Facebook into sharing more data, [Kevin] Roose has done us all a service.”
CNN / Donie O'Sullivan and Marshall Cohen
Facebook begins labeling, but not fact-checking, posts from Trump and Biden →
“After President Donald Trump posted an unfounded claim to Facebook on Tuesday that mail-in voting could lead to a ‘corrupt election,’ the social network slapped a label on it. But the label did not attempt to fact-check the post as true or false. Instead, it directed users to a government website to learn more about how to vote.”
InsideHook / Eli London
The 80 best single-operator newsletters on the internet →
“In recent years, a third cohort of email sender has cropped up: the individually authored, mass-distributed email. Or, as we're calling it for our purposes here, the single-operator newsletter. These are entrepreneurial folks going at it alone, independent of media organizations.”
The New York Times / Katie Robertson and Ben Smith
Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire employees say Hearst boss Troy Young created a toxic culture →
“One incident involving Mr. Young came during a visit to the Cosmopolitan office when he was the digital head, according to two people who were present. Mr. Young picked up one of the sex toys that had been sent to the magazine and asked if he could keep it, the people said. Referring to the openings of two toys, he said he would ‘definitely need the bigger one,’ the people said. Mr. Young also emailed pornography to a high-level Hearst editor.”
National Geographic / David Beard
Photo of Covid-19 victim in Indonesia sparks fascination — and denial →
“The image, taken for Nat Geo as part of a National Geographic Society grant, struck a chord in the nation of 270 million people. Indonesia had been slow to fight the global pandemic, with President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo touting an unproven herbal remedy in March. Some of the reactions to Irwandi's image, which humanized the suffering from the virus, have been hostile.”
Vanity Fair / Tom Kludt
Reporters inside the NBA’s Covid-free bubble are hoping it doesn’t burst →
“If a reporter in the bubble has a confirmed case, it's straight back into quarantine, jeopardizing a costly and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime assignment. It also carries the risk of unraveling the entire event.”
Medium / Solutions Journalism
Write about how your community is rebuilding and reviving just as well as you cover breakdowns, problems, and collapse →
“Your audiences' informational needs don't stop at identifying problems … The people who are experiencing a problem already know what's wrong. They want to know what can be done about it. That doesn't mean journalists will or should decide what solutions should be. We can ask 'Who's doing it better,' and report on models our communities should consider as they work to move forward.”
New York Times / Edmund Lee
The New York Times Co. names Meredith Kopit Levien as chief executive →
Levien, 49, said she would continue to expand the company's strategy of subscription-first journalism. “The market for additional subscribers was vast — potentially as many as 100 million people, she said. ‘The Times has a big opportunity to go after it.'”