The Boston Globe / Aidan Ryan
How blogger Aidan Kearney – a.k.a. “Turtleboy” – turned the Karen Read case into a true crime spectacle →“‘I’m an entertainer, but I’m also a journalist, and I’m also an activist,’ Kearney said. ‘People like this new, whatever thing I’ve created, where you wear all three of these hats.’ But
prosecutors allege that Kearney and his fans are disrupting a live investigation where neither the victim, nor the defendant, have yet had a shot at justice. The chaos he and his followers have caused have sparked debate over how the public’s obsession with true crime in an era of rampant online misinformation can complicate the criminal justice system. ‘If you had to design a case that would demonstrate the problem with social media and true crime, you couldn’t have invented a case that’s better than this one,’ said David Schmid, an associate professor at the University of Buffalo in New York who researches true crime in American pop culture.”
TechCrunch / Natasha Lomas and Romain Dillet
Digiday / Kayleigh Barber
How Fortune is expanding its European footprint →“The company is rolling out new content specifically covering the region; increasing its print distribution to cities including London, Paris, Zurich and Milan with unique covers for Europe; and is adding more lists and event franchises.”
The Atlantic / Anne Applebaum
There was no Russian election →“Some Western media nevertheless covered this orchestrated drama as if it really were an election. Reporters interviewed voters, cited ‘exit polls,’ even commented on the ‘results,’ as if these things mean anything in a country whose leadership lies openly about everything: economic statistics, war casualties, Russian history. Reuters ran a
headline declaring Putin had won ‘in a landslide.'”
The New York Times / Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson
Gannett and McClatchy cut back relationship with A.P. →“The A.P. once relied primarily on licensing fees from newspapers but now has a variety of other revenue streams, including a news website, an e-commerce site, and software and production services. According to
an article on its website, fees from U.S. newspapers account for roughly 10 percent of The A.P.’s income.”
Platformer / Casey Newton
Reddit goes public →“For Reddit…going public feels less like a new beginning for the company than a lifetime achievement award.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Sarah Grevy Gotfredsen
Unpacking Gan Jing World →“A ‘wholesome’ video platform linked to a Chinese spiritual movement and right-wing newspapers looks a lot like YouTube.”
Boston.com / Molly Farrar
Six Gannett papers in Massachusetts are closing their newsrooms and going remote-only →“Gannett still pays for physical newsrooms for their biggest daily papers in Massachusetts, the Cape Cod Times and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. They said in a statement that two other daily papers still have access to an office: The Gardner News and The New Bedford Standard-Times…That leaves the Milford Daily News, MetroWest Daily News, The Brockton Enterprise, The Fall River Herald News, and the Taunton Daily Gazette working without newsrooms, along with the The Patriot Ledger.”