By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

July 28, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

1. Why the NYT’s Haberman has dropped Twitter… for now: Maggie Haberman of the NYT is one of the star reporters covering the Trump White House. She’s also become adept on Twitter, helping raise her profile. But she feels the platform has gotten toxic: “For me, it had become an enormous and pointless drain on my time and mental energy.” A very personal view of why someone would step away from a highly visible soapbox.

2. 12 prototypes: What worked in BBC’s quest for new storytelling forms: The BBC spent two months experimenting with 12 different storytelling prototypes. Here’s what worked, and didn’t. An interesting look at where storytelling might be headed.

3. Who loses when local news disappears: In the wake of the job slashings at the New York Daily News, Kyle Pope for CJR writes about what everyone loses when local news goes uncovered. Tough commentary.

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By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

July 21, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

Fake news. That’s the theme of this week’s “3 to read.” Two stories are profiles — one of a top digital sleuth who is dedicated to uncovering fake news of all stripes and the other on a fake-news troll whose life derailed into murder. The third is about how conservatives in the US helped support Macedonians who created a tsunami of fake news on Facebook in the runup to the presidential election.

1. Dirty secret: The role US conservatives played in the Macedonian “fake news” boom that helped elect Trump: Craig Silverman and others at BuzzFeed peel back the layers of how conservatives in America helped Macedonians create a whirlwind fake news factory of conspiracy theories and crazy stories that helped elect Trump. It’s not a pretty picture. But it is fascinating.

2. Meet Jonathan Albright, the digital sleuth blowing up fake news: Albright may be the biggest name in the battle against fake news. He has helped reporters at the NYT, WaPo, BuzzFeed and others on stories ranging from how Facebook played down the influence and number of Russian ads to how Cambridge Analytica was a bad actor. A wonderful profile by Issie Lapowsky of Wired.

3. From alt-right troll to father killer: The unraveling of Lane Davis: Some trolls push whacko conspiracy theories because of the fun that comes from stirring the pot. Others are true believers. Lane Davis was a true believer, and it led down a very dark road. Joe Bernstein of BuzzfeedNews tells the story of his one-time source — an alt-right hero with no income who lived in his parents’ house — who finally cracked and killed his own father. An intense but great read.

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By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

July 21, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

Fake news. That’s the theme of this week’s “3 to read.” Two stories are profiles — one of a top digital sleuth who is dedicated to uncovering fake news of all stripes and the other on a fake-news troll whose life derailed into murder. The third is about how conservatives in the US helped support Macedonians who created a tsunami of fake news on Facebook in the runup to the presidential election.

1. Dirty secret: The role US conservatives played in the Macedonian “fake news” boom that helped elect Trump: Craig Silverman and others at BuzzFeed peel back the layers of how conservatives in America helped Macedonians create a whirlwind fake news factory of conspiracy theories and crazy stories that helped elect Trump. It’s not a pretty picture. But it is fascinating.

2. Meet Jonathan Albright, the digital sleuth blowing up fake news: Albright may be the biggest name in the battle against fake news. He has helped reporters at the NYT, WaPo, BuzzFeed and others on stories ranging from how Facebook played down the influence and number of Russian ads to how Cambridge Analytica was a bad actor. A wonderful profile by Issie Lapowsky of Wired.

3. From alt-right troll to father killer: The unraveling of Lane Davis: Some trolls push whacko conspiracy theories because of the fun that comes from stirring the pot. Others are true believers. Lane Davis was a true believer, and it led down a very dark road. Joe Bernstein of BuzzfeedNews tells the story of his one-time source — an alt-right hero with no income who lived in his parents’ house — who finally cracked and killed his own father. An intense but great read.

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By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

July 13, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

1. 9 core ideas around journalistic innovation: If you visited 50-plus journalism innovators across America and Europe, what common factors would you find? Start with that the most successful at engaging audiences and growing revenue are breaking a host of old newsroom true-isms. For instance, how about challenging the idea of staying neutral and instead working hard at informing people what they stand for. Or actively involving readers in everything from coming up with ideas to research, helping to become more transparent. These are some of the nine core ideas found by Per Westergaard and Soren Schultz Jorgensen who spent a year visiting newsrooms. Interesting stuff here.

2. Matter of conscience: Why a journalist revealed her source to the FBI: In the argumentative world of journalism, where any two reporters can’t even agree on what pizza to order, there is one rule that everyone agrees on: Never reveal your sources. But that’s exactly what was done Marcy Wheeler, who writes the emptywheel blog, which focuses on national security. Wheeler, startlingly, turned in her source to the FBI. Her reasons are still murky, but it involves Russian interference with the election. A fascinating read by Margaret Sullivan of the WaPo, with more to come, I’m sure.

3. Reporters’ guide: Why semi-open platforms like WhatsApp are replacing open platforms like Facebook: Facebook is losing ground as a place for news. But other closed and semi-open platforms like WhatsApp, subreddits, and closed Facebook groups are gaining ground. A guide by Mark Frankel, social media editor at the BBC, on how reporters can crack the code and find stories and sources.

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