The Boston Globe revisits an infamous murder — and confronts its own sins along the way

Thursday, February 29, 2024

The Boston Globe revisits an infamous murder — and confronts its own sins along the way “They’ve never said, ‘We got that wrong.'” By Sarah Scire.

How Black women get their political news matters for this election A new study investigates the ways Black women use social media, TV news, and other sources to engage with politics. By Nadia Brown, Camille Burge and Christine Slaughter.

The future of news is print! (In France, once every four years) What We’re ReadingThe Washington Post / Kim BellwareThe Marshall Project, Pulitzer-winning nonprofit criminal justice newsroom, to unionize →“The Marshall Project Guild will be part of the NewsGuild of New York, CWA Local 31003, and as a ‘wall-to-wall’ union will represent about 50 staffers on the editorial and business sides. The union, which has the support of more than 80 percent of the staff, is receiving voluntary recognition.”Vanity Fair / Charlotte KleinNew York Times launches leak investigation over report on its Israel-Gaza coverage →“It’s highly unusual for the Times to conduct a leak investigation, with multiple staffers saying this is the first such internal probe they can recall taking place. ‘It’s not something we do,’ said one. ‘That kind of witch hunt is really concerning.'”The Verge / Kevin NguyenTinyLetter, in memoriam →“TinyLetter has languished over the past decade. But it’s hard not to be a little sad when even a humble little service is sunsetted, especially one that contributed to such a strong and particular moment of internet culture. How many platforms had a distinct voice?”The Washington Post / Drew HarwellTrump Media co-founders sue company, alleging a scheme to dilute shares →“The case could complicate a long-delayed bid by the owner of Truth Social to go public — and deliver former president Donald Trump a financial lifeline.”The Intercept / Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim, and Daniel BoguslawThe story behind The New York Times’ October 7 exposé →“At every turn, when The New York Times reporters ran into obstacles confirming tips, they turned to anonymous Israeli officials or witnesses who’d already been interviewed repeatedly in the press. Months after setting off on their assignment, the reporters found themselves exactly where they had begun, relying overwhelmingly on the word of Israeli officials, soldiers, and Zaka workers to substantiate their claim that more than 30 bodies of women and girls were discovered with signs of sexual abuse.”Columbia Journalism Review / Mathew IngramIndictment of Florida journalist raises troubling questions →“One of the unfortunate aspects of the U.S. attorney’s case, [Tim Burke’s lawyer Mark] Rasch said, is that it implies that unless someone works for an outlet like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, ‘the government treats you as if you’re not a journalist. And that has got to stop.'”Axios / Sara FischerWashington Post tech columnist Taylor Lorenz launches video podcast with Vox Media →“More journalists are creating portfolio careers where they work full-time writing for one publication, but do television, podcasts or events for other outlets that may reach a different audience or have more expertise in a particular medium.”Press Gazette / Jim EdwardsThe Duopoly may have peaked, but watch out — here comes Amazon →“Ad spend gains are now going to a ‘third wave’ of ‘retail media’, such as Amazon and Walmart, and to Tiktok, the data shows. The first two historic waves of ad spend were search (which mostly went to Alphabet’s Google) and then social (dominated by Meta’s Facebook and Instagram), according to Alex Brownsell, head of content at WARC Media.”Reuters / Foo Yun CheeGoogle hit with $2.3 billion lawsuit by Axel Springer, 31 other media groups →“The move by the group – which include publishers in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden – comes as antitrust regulators also crack down on Google’s ad tech business.”The Guardian / Nick Robins-EarlyThe Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet sue OpenAI for copyright infringement →“The Intercept’s suit lists both OpenAI and its most prominent investor Microsoft as defendants, while the joint suit filed by Raw Story and AlterNet only lists OpenAI. The complaints are otherwise nearly identical, and the law firm Loevy & Loevy is representing all three outlets in the suits. Raw Story and AlterNet’s suit did not include Microsoft because of a partnership with MSN that helps fund their investigative reporting, according to [CEO John] Byrne.”The Wall Street Journal / Alexandra BruellEssence in talks to buy Refinery29 from embattled publisher Vice Media →“Refinery29, founded in 2005, was one of the early digital-media players to gain relevance among millennial women, with revenue generated through ads, events and licensing deals. Vice was drawn to Refinery29 as a way to complement its male-heavy audience and draw in new advertisers.”404 Media / Samantha ColeFanfiction communities rocked by Etsy sellers turning their work into bound books →“Onyx Elm, a popular writer of Dramione fanfiction, recently announced that they’re deleting all of their writing from the internet.”The Boston Globe / Kimberly Atkins StohrBring back the public editor →“Such a position is not a panacea for restoring the public trust, but it’s a good start.”Aftermath / Riley MacLeodMedia execs don’t want the news sites, they just want the names →“They think you are a moron who will go to any website or party or TikTok with ‘Sports Illustrated’ or ‘Vice’ or ‘Deadspin’ slapped on it, even if the things you find there are made by underpaid contractors or ad teams or wholly fake people.”BBC / Rhodri Talfan DaviesThe BBC has launched 12 generative AI pilots, most of which are internal-only →Tests include a “headline helper” to give journalists headline options, a pilot to convert news articles into multiple languages, and an experiment to let generative AI label content. The Washington Post / Philip BumpReporting precinct results is the new reporting early returns →“Television news has different demands than print. If nothing’s happening, they still need to show something. And, technically, precinct-level results are real results, real tallies of votes. It’s something to show until vote counting is done: the mechanics of how that process works and some updates on it. But there’s no point in reading out those results as though they are indicative of statewide (or even county!) patterns. There’s not even any point in reading out statewide results with, say, 10 percent of votes in; without a sense of where those votes came from and what’s outstanding, that doesn’t tell you much either.”The New York Times / Benjamin MullinCenter for Public Integrity weighs merger or shutdown amid dire financial straits →“The financial peril facing the Center for Public Integrity threatens to extinguish a newsroom of about 30 journalists that has watchdogged powerful institutions for decades…Before [chief executive Paul] Cheung resigned, he was the focus of a complaint that included a Slack message he sent to another employee saying they needed to ‘fudge some $$$’ for a presentation to a foundation.”

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