Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest

Apple brings free call recording and transcription to iPhones; journalists rejoice

“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.” By Joshua Benton.

What can The Wall Street Journal’s new ad campaign tell us about its future?

The new brand campaign is aimed at younger versions of existing Journal readers. The various “It’s Your Business” ads center some of the newsroom’s edgier and more evergreen journalism. By Sarah Scire.
What We’re Reading
404 Media / Jason Koebler
Elon Musk tweeted a thing →
“Writing an article about a thing that Elon Musk said about a PR event that most tech websites were already live blogging alongside mass social media attention means that a large portion of the remaining human beings doing journalism have been in effect doing free PR for the richest man in the world and the richest company in the world.”
Axios / Sara Fischer
“Pink slime” news outlets outpacing local daily newspapers →
“There are least 1,265 websites identified as being backed by dark money or are intentionally masquerading as local news sites for political purposes, according to a new report from NewsGuard. As of last year, there were only 1,213 daily local newspapers in the U.S. That number may have gone down significantly in the time since”
Adweek / Kathryn Lundstrom
You can now shop New York Times Cooking recipes with its Instacart tie-up →
“A handful of recipes are available in the Instacart application and on its website, letting foodies order the ingredients from a local grocer for same-day pickup. On the NYT Cooking website, people can add the ingredients for any recipe to an Instacart order. Later this summer, that capability will also roll out on the NYT Cooking app.”
404 Media / Emanuel Maiberg
Hackers are targeting AI users to protest “art theft” →
“We are sorry we had to do that to you, but we only do it if you have committed one of our sins.”
Los Angeles Times / Laurel Rosenhall
California lawmakers revive debate over bill requiring tech platforms to pay for news →
“California lawmakers have revived legislation to charge online platforms for the news articles they publish, a proposal that stalled last year amid divisions within the journalism industry and intense opposition from Google and other tech companies. New amendments published Monday to Assembly Bill 886 are meant to address concerns from small publishers and make the plan more similar to the way Canada charges platforms for distributing news content.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
Publishers alarmed over IPSO ruling against report of evidence heard in open court →
“Publishers including The Sun, The Telegraph and The Times have raised the alarm over a ruling from the UK’s biggest press regulator that, they say, threatens the ability to report on open court proceedings…In a leader column, The Telegraph said the decision on what to publish from court proceedings should be a judgment made by editors, not a ‘taste test’ imposed by The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).”
Rest of World / Varsha Bansal
The rise and fall of Koo, India’s once-thriving Twitter alternative →
“Experts told Rest of World that Koo was unable to disassociate itself from being dubbed a ‘right-leaning’ platform, due to its early users being top politicians from the ruling party. ‘After early attempts to appeal to right-wing audiences in India, it was unable to shake the perception of being dominated by right-wing voices and narratives, which potentially limited major avenues for growth.'”
TechCrunch / Sarah Perez
AI news reader Particle adds publishing partners and $10.9M in new funding →
“Similar to Artifact, Particle will offer a personalized news experience. But to ensure people don’t get stuck in their own “filter bubbles,” Particle will take a different approach to the unit of content. In Particle, that unit is not an individual news article, but the story as a whole, as told by multiple outlets. This allows readers to see a multi-perspective view of a story and then easily click through to the various sources of the reporting.”
Punchbowl News / Dave Clarke
Punchbowl News is expanding into tech policy →
Punchbowl will hire two new reporters “focused on the intersection of Washington and tech.” The Facebook-funded American Edge group will serve as the new vertical’s launch partner.