Thursday, August 8, 2024 |
| “It’s an incredible place to launch a local news outlet because people always want to know more about the world around them. It’s a town full of nerds.” By James Salanga. |
What We’re ReadingBBC / Marianna Spring
The real story of the website accused of fuelling Southport riots →“What connects a dad living in Lahore in Pakistan, an amateur hockey player from Nova Scotia – and a man named Kevin from Houston, Texas? They’re all linked to Channel3Now – a website whose story giving a false name for the 17-year-old charged over the Southport attack was widely quoted in viral posts on X. Channel3Now also wrongly suggested the attacker was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year.”The New York Times / Matthew Goldstein, David Yaffe-Bellany and Stuart A. Thompson
Where are the Trumpiest ads? All over Truth Social. →“An examination by The New York Times found that the company, which is a major source of Mr. Trump’s wealth, is increasingly reliant on revenue from an obscure corner of the ad market: a niche, sometimes called ‘the patriotic economy,’ that caters to hard-core Trump fans and Christian conservatives.”Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
Journalists facing “appalling harassment and abuse” amid riots across England →“Sky’s North of England producer
Hope Yeomans also reported seeing other journalists targeted. She wrote: ‘We have seen other journalists targeted by rioters – telling us that we are all working for the government and are preventing the truth. We have had colleagues who have had their camera equipment smashed and stolen.'”Substack / Parker Molloy
The people’s court reporter: Meghann Cuniff on bridging law and pop culture →“One of the biggest challenges is maintaining momentum while figuring out how to translate that into sustainable income. I have a big presence on Twitter, but the monetization there doesn’t compare to YouTube and TikTok. For example, with the Young Thug trial in Atlanta that I’ve been covering, I’ve focused more on TikTok and YouTube over Twitter because of the greater monetization potential.”Rest of World / Stan Alcorn
How Spotify started — and killed — Latin America’s podcast boom →“This is one small example of the global fallout from Spotify’s haphazard rush into — and out of — podcasting… In Latin America, the company was so dominant that its name is synonymous with the podcast boom itself, as well as the bust that podcast producers find themselves in today.”Columbia Journalism Review / Priyanjana Bengani
The non-profits and PACs that spent $14 million on the Metric Media network in 2021-22 →“A new Tow Center analysis of campaign finance records and nonprofit filings reveals four political action committees and four nonprofit organizations paid a network of
partisan pay-for-play news sites controlled by Metric Media over $14 million in 2021-2022. The investigation demonstrates millions more flowing to partisan ‘pink slime’ news sites than previously reported. The payments can be traced to organizations tied to conservative megadonors, including shipping magnate Richard Uihlein, billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, and oil and gas billionaire Tim Dunn.”The Atlantic / Charlie Warzel
Dad is on the ballot →“All of these posts celebrate and elevate a particular idea of a person: a normal guy who is uncomplicated and decent. He isn’t cool, and he knows it—a self-awareness that brings a kind of liberation. From a strategic standpoint, the Harris campaign seems to understand that the Dad is exactly the right meme to counter the alienating and extremely online tendencies of the right wing.”Financial Times / Stephen Morris and Hannah Murphy
Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers →“The Instagram campaign deliberately targeted a group of users labelled as ‘unknown’ in its advertising system, which Google knew skewed towards under-18s, these people said. Meanwhile, documents seen by the FT suggest steps were taken to ensure the true intent of the campaign was disguised.”The Verge / Tim Stevens
Why are so many car YouTubers quitting? →“‘It’s not possible, really, ever, to grow at the rates that investment firms want,’ King said. ‘The people creating stuff say, ‘Hey, that’s not possible.’ The people funding the stuff say, ‘We don’t really care. Do more.’ And you just end up with this conflict of ideas and expectations.'” The Boston Globe / Aidan Ryan
“Living paycheck to paycheck”: Hearst journalists in Connecticut announce they’re starting a union →“‘I make $55,000 a year covering, arguably, our most important sports beat,’ said Maggie Vanoni, 27, a Hearst reporter who covers the powerhouse University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team. ‘I can’t afford my rent right now.'”Semafor / Max Tani
Cam Heyward is leaving ESPN to relaunch his podcast with Vox Media →“Vox Media’s deal with Heyward is an acknowledgement of the company’s increasing reliance on a multi-platform strategy for its growing audio business. Like other podcast companies, Vox Media has in recent months increasingly focused on ramping up the video component to many of its chat shows to tap into the massive audiences for those on platforms like YouTube and TikTok.”Zeteo / Justin Baragona
How did a pro-Trump Fox anchor end up on a panel of Black journalists interviewing the Republican candidate? →“It was later revealed that Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, one of the co-moderators of the Trump panel, wasn’t even an NABJ member – despite the organization appearing to require other hosts and interviewers to maintain a current membership.”The New York Times / Michael Grynbaum
CNN’s media chronicler strikes out on his own →“Darcy’s new venture,
called Status, will be similar to the daily media digest that he helped lead for four years at CNN, with a mix of reporting and analysis. Topics will range from Silicon Valley to presidential politics to the effects of artificial intelligence technology on news consumption.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
Twitter / Facebook
View email in browser
Unsubscribe
You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org.
Nieman Journalism LabHarvard University1 Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138
Add us to your address book
