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The Weekly Wrap: May 17, 2024
If you like being edited, you’ll love this
“If it is a bottleneck, it will be a failure,” NPR editor-in-chief Edith Chapin told Sarah Scire this week, in response to questions about NPR’s announcement that it is adding layers of editorial review across the entire organization. “It is not designed to clog the system. It is designed to be an extra set of editing and eyes and ears.” The organization is adding 11 new positions.
yo dawg we heard you like edits so we put an editor on your editor so your edits can get edited
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) May 15, 2024
We published lots of other great stuff this week — on “journalism will die” subject lines, “news mirages,” GOAT Rachel Aviv, and more. Check it all out below.
— Laura Hazard Owen
From the week
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After criticism over “viewpoint diversity,” NPR adds new layers of editorial oversight“We will all have to adjust to a new workflow. If it is a bottleneck, it will be a failure.” By Sarah Scire. |
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“Impossible to approach the reporting the way I normally would”: How Rachel Aviv wrote that New Yorker story on Lucy Letby“So much of the media coverage — and the trial itself — started at the point at which we’ve determined that [Lucy] Letby is an evil murderer; all her texts, notes, and movements are then viewed through that lens.” By Sarah Scire. |
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Increasingly stress-inducing subject lines helped The Intercept surpass its fundraising goal“We feel like we really owe it to our readers to be honest about the stakes and to let them know that we truly cannot do this work without them.” By Hanaa' Tameez. |
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In an increasingly fractured Europe, this project is betting on one-on-one talks as a way to find common ground“We get requests from all over the world, and everyone says that their country is experiencing unprecedented levels of polarization or a breakdown in social cohesion.” By Eduardo Suárez. |
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After The Messenger’s collapse, Jimmy Finkelstein seems to be itching for a do-over“May I suggest to any potential investors just setting your money on fire instead? Faster, less traumatic, same outcome.” By Joshua Benton. |
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Apple News adds a new original game to boost News+ subscriptionsThe news aggregator app has focused on puzzles and games that are “more welcoming to newcomers.” By Sarah Scire. |
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People who got off Facebook for 6 pivotal weeks in 2020 may have been less likely to vote for Trump“We do think our results can inform readers’ priors about the potential effects of social media in the final weeks of high-profile national elections.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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How NPR and Floodlight teamed up to uncover fossil fuel “news mirages” across the country“It’s information. But it’s not news.” By Neel Dhanesha. |
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This journalism professor made a NYC chatbot in minutes. It actually worked.“The step that we need to make as a society is moving from, ‘This came from a machine, it must be correct,’ to, if I’m talking to a friend of mine who says something crazy, ‘I need to double check that, I need to cross reference it to make sure that it is accurate.'” By Colin Lecher, The Markup. |
Highlights from elsewhere
Gothamist / Jon Campbell
New York’s $90 million tax break for local news outlets leaves out TV and nonprofits →
“The state’s economic development agency will be tasked with writing regulations for the new program, which will determine, among other things, whether for-profit, digital-only outlets will be included. Meanwhile, those who pushed for the tax credit are still trying to figure out whether changes can or should be made to make the law apply to a broader array of media outlets that people rely on for local news.”
Digiday / Sara Guaglione
Gannett’s new contract language around AI unsettles local union →
“In a previous draft sent to members on April 11…the clause stated that AI ‘may be used to generate news content that is supplementary to local news reporting and is not a replacement for it.’ But on April 24, an updated draft sent by Gannett to the local paper’s guild removed that stipulation. ‘Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to generate news content,’ it read.”
Semafor / Max Tani
Hedge fund/news org Hunterbrook didn’t disclose its publisher’s investment in the rival of a product it wrote about critically →
“In a text, [publisher and cofounder Sam] Koppelman noted he invested in ZBiotics well before Hunterbrook was created, and said his stake in the company is fairly insignificant. He also emphasized that the investment was a personal one, and Hunterbrook Capital was not invested in Zbiotics. ‘It was such a small personal check, the ZBiotics team ghosts my emails,’ Koppelman said.”
