media criticism

3 to read: Gamifying Facebook’s ‘hate speech’ | Kill comments? No way | Soul-destroying platforms

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By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Oct. 14, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

  1. Gamifying the decision process: What does Facebook consider ‘hate speech’?: The NYT created a wonderful quiz, which illustrates how Facebook decides what is or is not hate speech — and I guarantee Facebook’s reasoning will leave you shaking your head. But it also shows how creating a game can frame an issue far more effectively than a text story. Check it out, not just because of what it shows about Facebook’s sometimes bizarre reasoning, but because it’s a marvelous use of gamification.

2. Actually, do read the comments — they can be the best part: Andrew Losowsky of Mozilla’s Coral Project argues (convincingly) that newsrooms which drop comments are shortsighted. Yes, trolls require a lot of time to police. But civil commenters are your most engaged readers. Why close comments and let social media reap the benefit by exiling that wonderful community? Newsrooms need to do a lot more to build community, not destroy it. A good read.

3. Oh joy: How platforms are eating the souls of newsrooms: Franklin Foer, former editor of the New Republic, argues that the very identity of newsrooms is being destroyed by the platforms they embrace to drive traffic. It’s an interesting thought. Foer has some has serious cred on the topic because he was brought into The New Republic by a billionaire co-founder of Facebook. But heady early days turned into nightmares. Foer argues that the creative force of magazine was blunted by a stultifying embrace of data and algorithms. An Q&A with Hope Reese of NiemanLab.

Bonus: Facebook’s blind tinkering with democracy: Atlantic writer Alexis Madrigal’s terrifying yet thoughtful take on Facebook’s effect on democracy. A chilling read.

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Matt Carroll teaches journalism at Northeastern University.

3 to read: David Carr: A memorable teacher | Political tide rising against Facebook? | Anatomy of murder

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By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Sept. 18, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

  1. David Carr: An appreciation of a super mentor: The late David Carr of the NYT led an incredible life — media critic, editor of the alt-weekly Washington City Paper, and a crack addict who wrote a searing memoir about his own addiction and recovery. He was also a wonderful, memorable mentor to a generation of talented writers. Here’s the words from a dozen of those he helped, cajoled, pushed — and made better journalists. A wonderful read by Mikaela Lefrak for The Atlantic.

2. Is the political tide turning against Facebook & Google?: Facebook is the social platform journalists love to hate. It’s huge, non-transparent, refuses to acknowledge its out-sized role as a media company — and pockets all that advertising cash that used to pay reporter salaries. It’s also essential for driving mega traffic (hence revenue) to news sites. It turns out that a growing number of people don’t much love FB (or Google or Amazon) either. Ben Smith of BuzzFeed takes a thoughtful look at how a loose coalition of powerful figures is slowly raising the anti-trust flag, and asking whether some of these companies should be broken up.

3. Anatomy of murder: How The Economist does data journalism: A fascinating data viz of murder in the US — and great insight into how the Economist does this kind of work. Well worth a (long) look. Addictive. An interview with The Economist’s David Fransham on Medium.

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Matt Carroll teaches journalism at Northeastern University.

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3 to read: Where Trump gets his theories | We’re not the enemy, Trump | 500 years of graphic design

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By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Sept. 2, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail.

  1. Where Trump gets his crazy alt-right theories: An interesting take on how Trump gets his “information,” and the weird sources he uses. In essence, a strange brew of alt-right sites have become the administration’s think tanks. A fascinating read by Astead W. Herndon of the Boston Globe.

2. “We’re journalists, Mr. Trump, not the enemy”: A megaphone defense of journalists and our work, as well as a blowtorch takedown of Trump by Nicholas Kristoff of the NYT. Bottom line: Trump does not have a clue as to what journalists do or are supposed to do. He just doesn’t get it, and Kristoff takes him to task for it. A heartening read in a grim time for media.

3. What 500 years of graphic design in print looks like: Just plain cool. If you are interested at all in print design, this book review of “Graphic: 500 Designs that Matter,” works for you. The review contains a generous sampling of powerful, interesting print designs, from logos to posters. Can’t wait to get a look at the book itself.

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Matt Carroll is a journalism professor at Northeastern University.

Logo by Leigh Carroll (Instagram: @leighzaaah)