3 to read: The angry, witty life of Kang | In defense of reporter neutrality | Trump’s message is sinking in

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Nov. 11, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

1. The angry, witty, adventurous life of journalist Jay Caspian Kang: I’ll be upfront: I’d never heard of Kang before this sprawling (and wonderful) profile by Karen K. Ho for CJR. Kang writes on topics ranging from sports to race. His excerpts are full passion and voice (below). After reading this bio, I’ll be digging deep into his work, starting with his profile of the inimitable boxing promoter Don King.

Jay Caspian Kang: “The Chinese aren’t creative enough, the Nips don’t have the balls or the specific brand of Korean crazy, which is really just the same as Irish crazy, because both peoples come from small countries oppressed for hundreds of years by assholes across the way. Both peoples grew up under the eye of the crown or the fucking emperor and learned to suppress everything, especially anger, until they no longer could distinguish what was what, and could walk around angry without recognizing anger as anger. And the prescription for whatever else was drinking.”

2. In defense of neutrality: Why news orgs are right to crack down on social media: Let’s face it: How journalists and newsrooms handle posts to social media is a landmine just waiting to blow. But it’s also clear that policies vary widely from newsroom to newsroom. Dan Kennedy, a colleague of mine at Northeastern U, argues that the NYT and WSJ are right to keep their reporters on the straight and narrow. And leaving opinions out of it is just fine with Dan.

3. Trump’s message of mistrust is sinking in, even in journalism’s new ‘golden age’ Sorry to depress you a bit, but this is smart piece from Margaret Sullivan at the WaPo about how the brilliant journalism being done these days is not nearly enough to offset how many people trust the media less and less. Ugh, but important.

FYI: No ‘3 to read’ next week.

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Matt Carroll teaches journalism at Northeastern University.

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3 to read: NPR? What the heck? | Breaking down Russia’s FB ads | Civil war at WSJ?

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Nov. 4, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

  1. Behind the scenes: What the heck happened at NPR?: Michael Oreskes, the senior VP and editorial director of NPR, was ousted for sexual harassment at the liberal bastion, caught up in the Weinstein whirlwind. But while some details have been released, much remain murky: What happened behind the scenes? Who knew what when? Megan Garber of The Atlantic does a nice job creating a tick-tock of events — including what top NPR officials knew several years ago.

2. How Russian Facebook ads worked so effectively: An excellent data viz showing how the Russians used Facebook ads so well — and how the bad actor ads were spotted. In a nutshell, they created divisiveness by manipulating strong emotions and wrapping their subjects in the American flag. Great work by Leslie Shapiro at the WaPo.

3. Is civil war breaking out in WSJ over the editorial board’s coverage of Mueller?: Oh boy, it’s getting ugly at the Journal. Joe Pompeo at Vanity Fair writes an intriguing story about how the WSJ’s whacky editorials over Mueller are helping drive an exodus of top talent. Or as one former high-ranking Journal writer tweeted: “WSJ edit page has gone full bats — t.”

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Matt Carroll teaches journalism at Northeastern University.