Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest

“They have not been able to silence us”: Exiled Nicaraguan journalists go digital to keep their journalism alive

“When the embargo [on ink and paper] started, we began to work hard on strengthening the digital side.” By Hanaa' Tameez.
What We’re Reading
NPR
Public media vet Tonya Mosley named co-host of “Fresh Air” →
Longtime host Terry Gross’ role remains “unchanged,” according to the announcement. Mosley is a correspondent and former host of Here & Now, the midday radio show from NPR and WBUR Boston.
Newmark J-School / Newmark J-School
A new certification in News Product Management is available from the News Product Alliance and Newmark J-School →
“The News Product Management Certification will focus on developing technical and strategic decision-making skills in a cohort model, with experiential learning. The program will be part-time, online, and participants will produce and present a final project that showcases their ability to lead strategic decision-making for a news product.”
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
A white editor alleges racial discrimination in termination lawsuit against Gannett →
“[Steven] Bradley was among those who lost their jobs in May 2020, six months after Gannett and GateHouse Media merged to become the nation’s largest newspaper chain.”
POLITICO / JOSH GERSTEIN
A federal judge has thrown out libel suits filed by Devin Nunes over an Esquire article →
The 2018 Esquire article by Ryan Lizza alleged that a dairy farm owned by Nunes’ family members hired undocumented workers. A federal judge ruled that the claims at issue in the article — “Devin Nunes’s Family Farm is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret” — were essentially accurate.
TechCrunch / Sarah Perez
News app Artifact can now summarize stories using AI, including “fun” styles like emojis-only or “explain like I’m five” →
“It’s important to note that summaries don’t replace the utility of having the full text of the article. AI is powerful, but from time to time can make mistakes, so it’s important to verify the summary matches the article as you read the full text,” a company blog post warns.
Report for America / Sam Kille
28% of new Report for America corps members will work for digital-only newsrooms →
“The corps members will begin their new assignments in July, arriving in newsrooms like the recently-launched Baltimore Banner, which is bringing back desperately needed coverage following cuts by hedge fund ownership at the city’s legacy newspaper; the Uvalde Leader-News, serving a Texas community still reeling from a devastating school shooting; Metro Puerto Rico, which looks to deepen its health reporting as the island faces an aging population and struggles to recover from recent hurricanes; and the People-Sentinel in Barnwell, S.C., which will open a bureau in a nearby county that no one’s covered in 10 years.”
The Nation / Maria Bustillos
The shuttering of BuzzFeed News is more evidence of a corporate culture hostile to the act of journalism →
“Readers found that the people behind the bylines, whom they’d come to like and trust, were liable to have more interesting and more relatable perspectives on, say, the wild allegations of the Steele Dossier than anything they might find in the well-mannered pages of The New York Times or The Washington Post. For many younger readers, news itself now means something different, something more elastic, more intimate, and less distantly institutional, because of BuzzFeed.”
The Texas Observer / Michelle Pitcher
Meet the muckraking prison journalist facing threats from officials and fellow inmates →
“In 2018, [Jason] Walker’s reporting from inside the Telford Unit in far northeast Texas turned him into a pseudo-celebrity within TDCJ. That year, K2, a synthetic cannabinoid whose effects can include hallucinations, permeated the units. Walker reported that inside, it accumulated nicknames: tune, toochie, and—most ominously—drop-dead.”
New York Times / Julia Moskin and Elizabeth A. Harris
Dawn Davis resigns as Bon Appétit editor →
Davis is a veteran book editor who was hired in 2020 to put Bon Appétit magazine back on track after mass resignations and allegations of racism at its parent company, Condé Nast. She’ll return to Simon & Schuster.
Lenfest Institute for Journalism / Charles Jun
“What I learned unsubscribing from 22 newspapers” →
“I found it a bit odd that I am even required to have a conversation about a decision I’ve already made — but there’s a reason publishers want to direct readers like me to customer service.” (More on the new “click to cancel” rules here and here.)