By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Jan. 20, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

1. Inside the secretive world of Julian Assange & WikiLeaks: Wikileaks impact on journalism has been immense, from releasing hacked Democratic emails to US documents tied to Afghanistan. Yet surprisingly little is know about the world that has been created by its founder, Julian Assange. Washington Post reporter Ellen Nakashima talks and tags along with a quirky, paranoid German hacker, one of Assange’s few friends, gaining some insight into a dark and secretive corner of the world. Interesting take.

2. Figuring out if a membership plan is your newsroom’s best path forward (or not): Newsrooms increasingly are looking with envy at those sites that have blossoming membership plans. But Emily Goligoski of the Membership Puzzle Project throws cold water on newsrooms that are not willing or able to work intensely with their audiences. Creating a successful membership model is a serious, time-intensive commitment. Good stuff.

3. ‘The End of the Awl and the Vanishing of Freedom and Fun from the Internet’: OK, I grant you: The hedline (not mine) is an overstatement. But it’s still a wonderful read by Jia Tolentino for The New Yorker on how special quirky places for writers are getting squashed flat by the mega-corporate platforms. Read it and lament the loss of The Awl, even if you were not a reader.

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Matt Carroll teaches journalism at Northeastern University. Twitter: @MattCData. Instagram: mattcarroll54.