KPCC and LAist are shifting the focus of their politics coverage from politicians to voters. Here’s why.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

KPCC and LAist are shifting the focus of their politics coverage from politicians to voters. Here’s why. Our goal is to reenergize demoralized readers and listeners who’ve given up on civic involvement amid all the vein-popping vitriol. By Tony Marcano.

How old laws are being used to shut down independent journalism in Hong Kong Hong Kong’s sedition laws were introduced in the early 20th century and had been unused since the 1970s. Now they are being used to charge Apple Daily and Stand News journalists. By Yan-Ho Lai and Yuen Chan.

How big a threat is The Athletic to local newspapers under The New York Times? Should the combination keep local publishers up at night? Or are they different markets altogether? By Joshua Benton.

The New York Times debuts a fellowship for crossword constructors NYT Games editorial director Everdeen Mason on building a more diverse set of puzzle constructors and an “ecosystem” for solvers. “I don’t want people to just come in and play a game and leave.” By Sarah Scire.

Should we spend less time fighting misinformation and more time “fighting for information”? What We’re ReadingThe New York Times / Katie RobertsonGrid, a “fuller picture” news site, goes live →“The digital publication’s magic bullet is a story format that [executive editor and Nieman Lab alum Laura McGann] calls ‘a 360,’ which examines a single topic from a variety of viewpoints. An article published Wednesday, for instance, looks at the issue of Covid-19 vaccination refusals by pregnant people with contributions from reporters who specialize in science, misinformation, politics and race.”The Texas Tribune / Evan SmithEvan Smith, the leader of The Texas Tribune, says 2022 will be his last year as CEO →“I feel luckier each day to have had the chance to launch and lead this amazing org. I believe in public interest journalism more than ever. But it’s time to hand off the reins.”Press Watch / Dan FroomkinWhat’s in the election bills? Reporters should care and should tell you →“The contents of the bills should still be a much bigger part of the coverage. News reporters should be describing the various elements, the reasoning behind them, who opposes them, and why.”TechCrunch / Natasha LomasGoogle offers to keep News Showcase out of search results in Germany as antitrust probe rolls on →“The German Federal Cartel Office announced today that the company has proposed several measures in response to its antitrust concerns.”Columbia Journalism Review / Kirstin McCudden2021 was another record year for press freedom violations in the U.S. →“While we did not see the scope of national social-justice protests of 2020—a year in which journalists were arrested or assaulted on average more than once a day—2021 still outpaced the years before it for press-freedom violations.” Associated Press / David BauderWhy Omicron is changing how media outlets report on Covid-19 data →“’We definitely wanted people to go a little deeper and be more specific in reporting,’ said Josh Hoffner, the news editor who helps oversee AP’s virus coverage.”The New Yorker / Peter CanbyThe murder of Mexican journalists spreads to a magical town →“A magazine editor in San Cristóbal de las Casas, a mecca for tourists and expats, falls victim to a relentless wave of violence against the press.”The Guardian / Dan MilmoYouTube is major conduit of fake news, fact checkers say →“A letter signed by more than 80 groups, including Full Fact in the UK and the Washington Post’s Fact Checker, says the video platform is hosting content by groups including Doctors for the Truth, which spread Covid misinformation, and videos supporting the ‘fraud’ narrative during the US presidential election.”NPR / David FolkenflikNPR hosts’ departures fuel questions over race. The full story is complex. →“Hosts have complained to the network’s leadership of pay disparities along racial and gender lines. Some say the network does not keep its promises and makes contract negotiations unnecessarily contentious. And several hosts concluded they were made to be the public face of NPR but did not have the network’s full support. Yet the interviews also yield a more complex picture.”The Guardian / Lorenzo TondoFanpage: the Italian website that went from gossip to award-winning scoops →“Over the last four years dozens of people involved in illicit activities have been arrested after Fanpage investigations and numerous politicians have resigned. The site continues to turn a profit and has opened newsrooms in Rome and Milan.”Columbia Journalism Review / Jon AllsopTen days of turnover →“The first few months of 2021 had been particularly busy for high-profile media moves. The same has been true of the first few days of 2022.” The Texas Tribune / Erin DouglasThe Texas GOP’s voting meme shows how Trump-style messaging wins internet’s attention →“The goal is to further divide people, but divide them by making them feel they’re part of a group,” said Sam Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin who also serves as the project director for propaganda research at the Center for Media Engagement.Off The Record / Andrew FedorovHow underground nightlife reporters shine a light on places where people don’t always want to be seen →“‘Underground content thrives in the underground media, and underground media is strengthened by staying a little bit secretive from prying eyes that might assume bad faith, or even be law enforcement,’ said Michelle Lhooq, previously an editor at Vice’s defunct electronic music site Thump, who started her largely paywalled counterculture newsletter Rave New World at the beginning of the pandemic.”The Wall Street Journal / Joseph PisaniWordle has turned fans of word games (and Media Twitter) into argumentative strategy nerds →“Players paste the Wordle game on social media, which has filled Facebook and Twitter timelines with a sea of green and yellow squares. In the game, when a guess is made, the color of tiles change to show you how close you are to the secret word. If you guess ‘weary,’ as the instructions say, and the ‘W’ turns green, the secret word starts with a W. If the E turns yellow, the letter is in the word, but is in the wrong spot. Letters that turn gray aren’t in the word.”

Nieman Lab / Fuego / Encyclo

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