Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest

If you want Americans to pay attention to climate change, just call it climate change

Americans are more familiar with — and more concerned about — “climate change” and “global warming” than they are about “climate crisis,” “climate emergency,” or “climate justice,” according to a new survey. By Wändi Bruine de Bruin and Gale Sinatra.

Repetition makes climate misinformation feel more true — even for those who back climate science

“As our social media feeds fill up with AI-driven bots, sheer repetition of lies may erode the most essential resource for action on climate change — public support.” By Yangxueqing Mary Jiang, Eryn Newman, Kate Reynolds and Norbert Schwarz.
Did Taylor Swift really call Florida “racist”? (No she didn’t, no matter what that TikTok “news alert” says)
What We’re Reading
Global Investigative Journalism Network / André Duchiade
Combining ethnography and journalism into an award-winning investigation in Central America →
“The most important thing is the intention to spend as much time as possible with the populations we intend to study. We are talking about months, or even years, to understand the places.”
Adweek / Mark Stenberg
Publishers boost their presence on Reddit as the platform gains search visibility →
“Some, such as Yahoo, Puck, and New York Times Opinion, have launched new Reddit accounts in the last several months. Others, such as Rolling Stone, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Independent, the AP, and Newsweek, have restarted existing accounts or dedicated more resources to them.”
The Verge / Lauren Feiner
What do other tech companies think Google should be forced to change after its antitrust loss? →
Among the proposals asking device users (repeatedly) which search engine they want to use; a panel of “truly independent” experts to monitor the company’s compliance; spinning off services that benefit from the search monopoly; a ban on exclusive search deals with browser makers; disconnecting user data that comes from Chrome and from search.
Bloomberg / Charlie Wells
LinkedIn’s oldheads don’t like Gen Z turning the site into Facebook →
“Today on LinkedIn, it’s hard to miss Boomer, Millennial and Gen X executives oversharing bicep photos from the gym; former colleagues posting haikus; musings about the Venn diagram of love, loss and leadership; questionably qualified ‘wellness gurus’ recycling workout-routine video content; and even complaints from disgruntled candidates trying to cancel companies that rejected or ignored them.”
The Washington Post / Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill
Elon Musk’s Twitter feed has gone from 2% politics to 17% politics in three years →
“Nearly three years later, with Musk at the helm of the site he renamed X, the billionaire’s feed often reads more like a right-wing activist account, with alarmist posts about immigration and missives against ‘woke’ ideology.”
The Washington Post / Will Oremus
The friendliest social network you’ve never heard of →
“It exists and even thrives — in Vermont. Front Porch Forum counts nearly half the state’s adults as active members. More than Facebook, Nextdoor, Craigslist or their local newspaper, the site is where Vermonters go to interact with their neighbors online — generally without disparaging each other.”
The Guardian / Jim Waterson
A spirited defense: Psychic News magazine tries to ward off closure →
“The editor of Psychic News has to admit that, no, he did not see his magazine’s financial crisis coming.”
Press Gazette / Thomas Hunter
Perplexity — like a long line of tech companies with PR problems — donates to research on the future of news →
“The new donation will aim to explore ‘how AI companies can collaborate with news publishers to promote a thriving internet ecosystem,’ according to chief executive Aravind Srinivas.”
The Wall Street Journal / Megan Graham
Reddit’s ad business grew 41% last quarter. Marketers still want it to do more. →
“Ad revenue growth was aided by the arrival of new users and deepening engagement, according to the company. More than half of the growth came from performance advertising, it added, referring to ads focused more on generating clicks or purchases than building a brand.”
Axios / Ina Fried
How Getty beamed all those incredible Olympic images around the world within seconds →
“Getty’s goal is that for key moments photos hit their wire in as little as 26 seconds from when they were taken — a feat that requires a tremendous combination of technology and human efficiency.”
The New York Times / Matt Flegenheimer
Bari Weiss knows exactly what she’s doing →
“She has created, or at least created space at, a cool kids’ table all her own, positioning herself as a teller of dangerous truths while becoming a kind of brand ambassador for the views and passions of her audience, which often seem to track neatly with her own: that elite universities have lost the plot; that legacy outlets have lost their minds; that Ms. Weiss knows the way forward.”
The Wall Street Journal / Sabela Ojea
Playboy will bring back its print magazine — as an annual — after a Covid shutdown →
“We were forced to accelerate a conversation we’ve been having internally: the question of how to transform our U.S. print product to better suit what consumers want today.”
Mediaite / Sarah Rumpf
It’s now impossible to search for old Trump tweets in certain ways →
“Vice President Kamala Harris’ tweets remain searchable as usual.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
News Corp has begun legal moves against “AI aggressors,” CEO reveals →
“Meanwhile, we have begun to take legal steps against AI aggressors, the egregious aggregators, who are predatory in the confiscation of our content. ‘Open source’ can never be a justification for ‘open slather.'”
The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
The reporters who have covered Tim Walz seem to like him — with caveats →
“‘I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and have the press here,’ he said at the time. ‘We have to got to ensure that there is a safe spot for journalism to tell the story.'”
The Washington Post / Frances Vinall, Victoria Bisset, and Brian Murphy
Susan Wojcicki, former YouTube chief and Silicon Valley power, dies at 56 →
“She had been part of Google since the company’s beginnings in the late 199os. She was working at the chipmaker Intel at the time and rented the garage of her Menlo Park, Calif., home to friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin for $1,700 a month.”
Deadline / Nellie Andreeva
Hearst Television’s streamer Very Local hit by dozens of layoffs →
“Launched in 2021, Hearst Television’s free, add-supported streaming service Very Local offers 24-hour access to local news, weather and original series from Hearst and its local stations. Available in the 26 U.S. media markets the company operates in, it also provides access to Very Local original series on-demand.”
The Wall Street Journal / Melanie Evans
Why is a New York hospital setting up its own movie studio? →
“Spurred by the success of documentaries streaming on Hulu, Max and Netflix that have been set at Northwell Health’s network of 21 hospitals and hundreds of clinics across New York City and Long Island, the system recently established a production company of its own to work on more projects.”
The Wall Street Journal / Megan Graham and Patience Haggin
Elon Musk’s X sued a nonprofit advertising initiative. It shut down days later. →
“The initiative, called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, was formed in 2019 by the World Federation of Advertisers, major marketers, social-media companies and ad agency groups to tackle hate speech, bullying and divisive fake content.”