Tuesday, February 20, 2024 |
| “Never get comfortable; always assume that the world is conspiring to take down the industry and that we will have to move heaven and earth to overcome those forces to blaze a path forward for quality journalism.” By Joshua Benton. |
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| A study of 498 Australians and New Zealanders finds “no evidence that individual beliefs in conspiracy theories increased on average over time.” By Matt Williams, John Kerr and Mathew Marques. |
Six weeks after abrupt Houston Landing firings, staffers unionizeGoogle promotes sketchy product “reviews” from big publishers at the expense of small indie sites, a small indie site argues What We’re ReadingPolitico
Politico launches “Berlin Playbook” newsletter in Germany →“As the largest economy in Europe and a political heavyweight in the EU, Germany is a natural fit for Politico,” said Goli Sheikholeslami, CEO of Politico.Rest of World / Russell Brandom
Tech platforms are suffocating opposition media in Russia →“…outlets like The Insider are already facing intense censorship from within Russia. The Insider’s website is blocked in Russia, and only accessible through a VPN. On YouTube, The Insider’s videos are swarmed by trolls sympathetic to Putin, who keep the videos out of recommendations by mass-reporting them. Online platforms are among the few ways to get around that censorship — but they’ve shown little interest in helping journalists like Dobrokhotov reach his audience.”Columbia Journalism Review / Jon Allsop
Milei, the media, and the market →“As for Milei’s plans for public media, it’s hard to say what might happen next. At least in theory, plowing ahead with privatization would require congressional approval; recently, Milei tried to push through a bill giving him expansive powers to privatize state-owned companies, among other things, only to send it back to the drawing board after it became clear that lawmakers did not fully support it.”Axios / Sara Fischer
The New York Times plans to debut new generative AI ad tools later this year →“The new technology, which is being created internally at the Times, will deliver a recommendation for where an ad campaign could perform best based on its message or objectives.”The Hollywood Reporter / Rick Porter
HBO is delaying posting “Last Week Tonight” segments on YouTube →“HBO says the decision to hold back on posting Last Week Tonight segments to YouTube is an effort to get more people to stream the show on its sibling streaming platform, Max.”The Economic Times
The Misinformation Combat Alliance and Meta are launching a WhatsApp helpline in India to fight deepfakes →“Meta said people will be able to flag deepfakes by sending them to the WhatsApp chatbot which will offer multilingual support in English and three regional languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu). The alliance will set up a central ‘deepfake analysis unit’ to manage all inbound messages they receive on the helpline.” The New York Times / Elizabeth A. Harris
A celebrity dies, and new biographies pop up overnight. The author? AI. →“Amazon declined to answer questions about sales for these books, but their publication does not appear to be a robust business. Few of them had any customer reviews, and those that did fared poorly. Disappointed readers described one book as ‘a 60-page pamphlet,’ another as ‘a glorified brochure’ and a ‘rip-off.’”Medill Local News Initiative / Mark Caro
New Illinois bills propose incentives to fund news organizations and repopulate newsrooms →“The Journalism Preservation Act would require Big Tech companies such as Google and Facebook to compensate news organizations for the content that they share, display or link to on their platforms. The Strengthening Community Media Act offers a broad array of incentives, tax breaks and scholarships intended to repopulate local newsrooms. Included in that bill is a provision that calls for 120 days’ written notice before a local news organization may be sold to an out-of-state company.”POLITICO / Jack Shafer
“The investment firms leave behind a barren wasteland”: A journalism professor blames Wall Street for the newspaper industry’s collapse →“The point of the book is that if private investment funds kept their paws off these papers, our local newspaper ecosystem would be better off.”The Washington Post / Sarah Ellison
Sinclair’s recipe for TV news: crime, homelessness, and illegal drugs →“As Sinclair increasingly fills the void, it offers its viewers a perspective that aligns with Trump’s oft-stated opinion that America’s cities, especially those run by Democratic politicians, are dangerous and dysfunctional.”404 Media / Joseph Cox
On Facebook, scammers are copying real funeral announcements and asking people to pay to watch fake livestreams of services →“Facebook is awash with scams that direct visitors to fake live streams of funeral services, preying on relatives and friends of the deceased when they might be at their most vulnerable, 404 Media has found. The scams involve pulling details of real deceased people from legitimate funeral services pages and then making copycat announcements, before pushing victims to a site that asks for their credit card information allegedly in order to watch the funeral of their loved one.”Rest of World / Zuha Siddiqui
Pakistani workers wanted careers in tech. They’re stuck as TikTok moderators. →“Over a dozen Pakistani professionals who worked in content moderation jobs as a temporary resort due to a lack of employment options told Rest of World they were stuck in a career that was unfulfilling — one that felt like working at a ‘sweatshop,’ because their experience was not transferable. They have degrees in project management, environmental science, engineering, and business administration, and believe that working as content moderators has stunted their careers.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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