By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Sept. 29, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

1. Free speech: why editors can no longer publish and be damned: The always interesting Emily Bell of The Guardian notes that the economic pressures of a subscriber-based revenue model and social media means that editors need to think twice (or three times) about upsetting readers. Case in point: Tone-deaf Ian Buruma, former editor of the New York Review of Books, who lost his job after his bumbling attempts to defend a contributor who’d been abusive toward women. Bell notes: “Making heinous mistakes of fact or opinion is not an option for editors in a subscriber-driven world. Upsetting readers and sponsors in economically perilous times weighs more heavily on editorial decisions….”

2. What will happen to readers when print goes all online?: Well, it’s not pretty, according to this story. The Independent, a Brit paper, switched to fully online in 2016. It had a devoted print readership, which spent big gobs of time every day reading. Their online readers (like online readers for most sites), spend far less time on the site. So the question Josh Benton of Nieman Labs asks is: Would those print readers invest the same amount of time in an online product? In a word, the answer is … no. Those once dedicated readers became just as twitchy as other online readers.

3. Publisher love Apple News — but where’s the revenue?: As Facebook pulls back from the news business, Apple News is surging. Publishers are seeing huge gains in readership. But there’s a major problem. Publishers are seeing little revenue from the relationship. An interesting take on the problems face as they deal with platforms such as Apple News. By Will Oremus for Slate.

+======+

AI, Media and the Threat to Democracy

Interested in the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and the Media?

We have just the conference for you.

Registration

When: Friday, Oct. 12

Where: Northeastern University, Boston

Cost: Free & open to the public

My unsolicited advice: Register now. Seats filling faster than anticipated.

Keynote: Danielle Citron, Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Panels:

1. AI on the Beat: How journalists are using — and covering — bots, algorithms and whatever comes next

2. AI, big data, and bias in sociotechnical systems

3. Legal and Policy Responses to AI and the Media

• 3 to Read: Get notified about new issues via email: Send an email: 3toread (at) gmail.com
• Check out the ‘3 to Read’ web site.
• Logo by Leigh Carroll (Instagram: @leighzaaah)

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Sept. 22, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

Cautionary tale of The Outline: Why venture capital & high-flying newsrooms can fail: The Outline had it all — big name founders (Joshua Topolsky of Bloomberg), a roster of high-profile writers, and plenty of VC cash. But by earlier this month, the site had no staff writers. So what went wrong? Mathew Ingram in CJR writes: “The answer is partly editorial ambition (or hubris) and partly poor timing, and provides yet another example of how venture capital funding and building a digital media business rarely go well together.” A good read.

#MeToo China inspires user-generated investigative journalism: In China, traditional investigative reporting is withering under an assault from the Communist Party. But a grass-roots form of investigative reporting is springing up, at least in the case of the #MeToo movement. Thousands of women are posting their stories about sexual harassment and assault on popular platforms, often in “excruciating” detail and with supporting documents. Then reporters are picking through social media to find the facts and report them. And it’s working, as a number of prominent people have been investigated. By Ying Chan for Global Investigative Journalism Network.

Why news weeklies like Time lost so much of their value: Time magazine — once great, now irrelevant — was just sold. How did giants like Time and Newsweek go from dominance to afterthoughts? Mainly because they were the Huffington Posts of their day, argues media critic Simon Owens. Once a week, they took news from around the country and turned into easily digestible news chunks. Where’s the market for that now? Nowhere. An interesting take on how the mighty have fallen.

+======+

AI, Media and the Threat to Democracy

Interested in the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and the Media?

We have just the conference for you.

Registration

When: Friday, Oct. 12

Where: Northeastern University, Boston

Cost: Free & open to the public

My unsolicited advice: Register now. Seats filling faster than anticipated.

Keynote: Danielle Citron, Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Panels:

1. AI on the Beat: How journalists are using — and covering — bots, algorithms and whatever comes next

2. AI, big data, and bias in sociotechnical systems

3. Legal and Policy Responses to AI and the Media

• 3 to Read: Get notified about new issues via email: Send an email: 3toread (at) gmail.com
• Check out the ‘3 to Read’ web site.

• By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

  Sept. 15, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

  1. So Facebook is the “uncool uncle.” What’s next?: If it seems like Facebook is slipping as a the default platform, here’s some evidence to support that. Which leads to the obvious question: What are people switching to? Well, many are moving to messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, or Instagram or Facebook Messenger. All, of course, owned by Facebook. It is interesting to note, though, how fast people can use, then abandon wildly successful platforms. Laura Hazard Owen for Nieman Lab.

  

  2. If it’s ‘news’ on Twitter, is it ‘news’ everywhere else?: Interesting, thoughtful take on what happens when a crazy tweetstorm takes root — even when its, well, crazy, with no substance. How should newsrooms react? Should they cover it as a story, ignore it, or do something else? A vexing problem, written about by Chris Deaton for the Weekly Standard.

  3. Conspiracy theories made Alex Jones very rich. They may bring him down: The headline says it all. Troll-meister extraordinaire Alex Jones made a name for himself by extolling wacky conspiracy theories. Tttt anyone? Now, as social media platforms start realizing the uncomfortable truth that they are in part responsible for the grip this man has on a certain segment of the population, a backlash is swinging back. It’s been too long in coming. An excellent read by Elizabeth Williamson and Emily Steel for the NYT.

  +======+

  AI, Media and the Threat to Democracy

  Interested in the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and the Media?

  We have just the conference for you.

  Registration

  When: Friday, Oct. 12

  Where: Northeastern University, Boston

  Cost: Free & open to the public

  My unsolicited advice: Register now. Seats filling faster than anticipated.

  

  Keynote: Danielle Citron, Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

  Panels:

  1. AI on the Beat: How journalists are using — and covering — bots, algorithms and whatever comes next

  2. AI, big data, and bias in sociotechnical systems

  3. Legal and Policy Responses to AI and the Media

  • 3 to Read: Get notified about new issues via email: Send an email: 3toread (at) gmail.com
  • Check out the ‘3 to Read’ web site.

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Sept. 8, 2018: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail.  

The mystery of Tucker Carlson: From thoughtful writer to king of the TV trolls: So who is Tucker Carlson? Former colleagues editors from his early years describe a brilliant, nuanced writer. Now he comes across as a bombastic, blowhard Fox News troll — as a rich, arrogant snot. It’s been an interesting evolution, and Lyz Lenz does a nice profile for CJR.

The Athletic: Reinventing sports coverage or same old box scores in a shiny suit?: The Athletic is on a hiring and growth spree. It’s hiring local sports reporters in undercovered markets and building market share fast — 250 employees in 38 markets. But its boast that it’s reinventing sports coverage is overblown, says Aaron Gordon for Slate. It’s the same old stories, just in a nicer package. Good story on a fast-growing sports startup.

“Misinfodemics”: The viral spread of misinformation: I learned a new word this week, always a cool thing: “misinfodemics.” It’s “the spread of a particular health outcome or disease horrible facilitated by viral misinformation.” Sound familiar? Nat Gyenes and An Xiao Mina write a compelling piece for The Atlantic about the horrors that happen through the viral spreading of misinformation. Their focus is on health, but it’s relevant to news and how it spreads through platforms. An excellent read. (Transparency alert: Nat and Xiao were colleagues at the MIT Media Lab.)

• Get notified via email: Sign up by sending a note: 3toread (at) gmail.com
• Check out the ‘3 to Read’ web site.