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Wednesday, February 5, 2025
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How ProPublica reported on homeless encampment sweeps in 11 citiesHomelessness is at a record high, and there are many investigative stories to tell. ProPublica compiled some of the tips and lessons its reporters learned. By Asia Fields. |
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Meet the first-ever policy and advocacy director at LION Publishers“If policy is being crafted that impacts our members, I think it’s important that we are making efforts to help shape it to their benefit. The sausage-making is going to happen whether we choose to be a part of it or not.” By Sophie Culpepper Sarah Scire. |
What We’re Reading
The Verge / Emma Roth
Will ESPN win the sports streaming war? →
Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company would make ESPN available “however the consumer wants it, wherever the consumer wants it” in an earnings call on Wednesday. He also said a planned standalone ESPN streaming service will have “some form of betting and fantasy and a high degree of customization and personalization.”
The Handbasket / Katelyn Burns
Covering Trump’s second term as a trans journalist →
“There’s a common misconception pervading the editors in the American press industry that trans reporters are simply too biased to fairly cover trans issues, which means I am one of the few trans reporters who is able to actually cover national trans issues for mainstream press outlets. But that also means I feel the weight of my whole community. I want to cover every new problem with the depth my people deserve.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher
The Financial Times warns U.K. government against watering down copyright law to help AI companies →
“The U.K. government is currently consulting on proposals to introduce an ‘opt-out’ copyright regime for AI companies which would automatically permit the tech businesses to scrape publisher and creatives’ content from the web unless those rightsholders explicitly forbade it.”
CNN / Liam Reilly
Small news outlets focused on federal staffers are landing big scoops, and traffic is surging →
“The Federal News Network — which markets itself as a nonpartisan destination for federal managers — has seen traffic five to six times greater than a normal week in 2024, deputy editor Jared Serbu told CNN … The same is true at Government Executive, one of five publications for federal employees and contractors owned by GovExec. Others include NextGov/FCW, Defense One, Washington Technology, and Route Fifty.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher
A third of New York Times subscribers do not pay for its news product →
“In its full-year results for 2024 The New York Times Company reported ending the year with 10.8 million digital subscribers — an increase of 1.1 million compared with the end of 2023. Of those 10.8 million subscribers, 3.5 million (or 32%) subscribed only to either its Games, Cooking, Wirecutter, Audio or The Athletic products.”
WSJ / Anne Steele
Spotify reported its first full-year profit after growing paid subscribers by 11% →
Price increases on subscriptions and cutting costs also helped the audio giant pivot.
Mediaite / Kathryn Wilkens
The media industry is in crisis. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei sees a massive opportunity. →
“For the first time in our lifetimes, I would argue that the media ecosystem favors the right more than the left,” VandeHei said.
Washington Post / Nitasha Tiku and Gerrit De Vynck
Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance →
“In a blog post published Tuesday, Google’s head of AI Demis Hassabis and the company’s senior vice president for technology and society James Manyika said Google was updating its AI principles because the technology had become much more widespread, and because there was a need for companies based in democratic countries to serve government and national security clients.”