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February 28, 2014 media notes: Doc Searls on selling news, Clay Shirky on the death of TV, PolitiFact on fact-checking

2/28/2014

For Friday, February 28, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Doc Searls, the insightful Internet veteran, posts a typically shrewd note on the struggle news organizations are having with finding the right way to price their digital and print offerings. His idea: price them the same, charge for the news, and give away anything older than a day online free. He thinks the apps should be less complicated and fettered by welcome pages. And he believes there should be no charge for archival access: it's a waste of effort to charge and gets peanuts in return.
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Clay Shirky, another insightful Internet veteran, contributes an essay to Politico on what the splintering of television has done to politics. The array of offerings in the cable/satellite age vanquished "reasonable" debate and gave rise to more radical camps. Television treats the audience as targets, not participants, and new tools are emerging that campaigns would be wise to enlist to corral committed voters to spread the word.
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The American Press Institute site features a question-and-answer session with Angie Drobnic Holan, the top editor at PolitiFact, the fact-checking/finger-wagging service from the Tampa Bay Times. She argues that fact-checking is, or at least ought to be, at the core of every organization. There is no secret about the approach, just a consistent effort.

February 27, 2014 media notes: Al Jazeera day of protest, LinkedIn's publishing move, phone-hacking trial evidence

2/27/2014

For Thursday, February 27, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Al Jazeera today deemed a global day of action to protest the trials of four of its journalists in Egypt accused of supporting the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The four have been held since December. Their arrests prompted an international outcry, so far to no avail.
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Adam Lashinsky, writing for Fortune, examines the move by LinkedIn to open its blogging platform (eventually) to all its members. He wonders if the company is becoming a publisher. LinkedIn prefers to see itself differently, with its publishing tool as a stronger connector within its network, a better driver of advertising revenue and recruitment information, and an inducement for more premium accounts. Lashinsky believes its next move may be to hire journalists.
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Three News Corp. reporters, a prison guard and a former police official have been charged in the U.K. probe into bribing public officials. Meantime, the phone-hacking trial has heard owner Rupert Murdoch wanted Rebekah Brooks as editor to make the Sun more fun and less about politics and that Brooks consented to payment to a public official for information when she believed there was an overwhelming public interest.

February 26, 2014 media notes: Andreessen on news, Facebook starts posting, Garfield on native advertising

2/26/2014

For Wednesday, February 26, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Marc Andreessen, the veteran Internet developer and founder of Netscape, argues in an essay on his blog that the future is immensely bright for news --- as in exponentially larger, due to the ability to reach audiences. But he prescribes significant change: better ads, an aversion by business to free provision of good content, a tier of paid high-end content, philanthropy as support, crowdfunding and bitcoin payments, among others. The result will be a commingled media, one large Twitter stream. He argues some factors hold back the business: bloated cost structures, a focus on objectivity, among others. It won't be easy, he says.
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The days of simply grazing among your Facebook friends are over. CNET notes the social media platform is beginning to insert more than advertising into your NewsFeed: posts it feels you might want to consume. If you've Liked a page, chances are Facebook will show you something it tags as a way to widen your view.
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Bob Garfield, the host of NPR's On The Media, writes of the Faustian pact native advertising offers journalism in its existential crisis. He wonders why advertisers, if they're so confident of their brands, feel it necessary to emulate journalism to sell themselves. He also wonders why journalism is taking this short-term return with long-term consequences.

February 25, 2014 media notes: U.S. DOJ guidelines, production orders and journalism, newspaper reader habits

2/25/2014

For Tuesday, February 25, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Ellyn Angelotti, writing for Poynter, thoroughly examines the new U.S. Department of Justice guidelines that aim to ease the government's intersection with journalists in investigations. Rather than use law enforcement tools to seek information from journalists routinely, there now must be extraordinary circumstances to prevent their newsgathering activities. Angelotti identifies several attributes that improve conditions for journalists, but also notes there will be times that the hand of the law reaches in. The new guidelines arrive after considerable attention on surveillance practices and government efforts to compel journalists to divulge sources.
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Thomas Rose, writing for J-Source, notes what might be a growing trend in Canada for authorities to issue "production orders" by courts that compel journalists to surrender material obtained in their newsgathering. The practice undermines journalism, Rose writes, and risks public trust of its independence.
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Rick Edmonds, also writing for Poynter, delves into a Newspaper Association of America report suggests more than half of readers are print-only consumers. While digital audiences grow, the mainstay of the paper's reach is ink-on-paper. Mobile-only audiences are quite small, the report notes.

February 24, 2014 media notes: Spain convicts over Tweets, NYT profile gender pitfalls, Upworthy apologizes and corrects

2/24/2014

For Monday, February 24, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

A Spanish woman has been convicted of inciting terror through Twitter. The 21-year-old student called for a left-wing organization to resume its killings of politicians. The New York Times notes the case is the first of its kind in Spain and one of the first worldwide that deals with the extent of free speech in social media.
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The New York Times Magazine has lately published two controversial political profiles of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, and they fell into the stereotypical pit of describing physical appearances or wondering if they could have it all. Margaret Sullivan, the Times public editor, trains her eyes on these profiles and questions some of their approaches. She concludes they fell below the standards of the Times and hopes the next batch of political profiles of women avoid the gender missteps.
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Upworthy got itself an earful in recent days from its feature about McDonald's McNuggets. It put them under a microscope and concluded they were trouble. Public comments were not terribly supportive, so Upworthy fell on the sword, let its audience tell the story of the problem with the piece, and created a more worthy Upworthy video from someone who knows science.

February 21, 2014 media notes: Venezuela and Iran and their media, an Olympic prediction on media and women's sport

2/21/2014

For Friday, February 21, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The violence in Venezuela, somewhat overshadowed by attention on the Ukraine, has taken on a new dimension as the country threatens to expel CNN for its coverage of protests. BBC reports President Nicolas Maduro says the CNN journalists will be sent out of the country if the organization does not "rectify" its coverage. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is reporting on the systematic shutdown of media by the government in regions of the country. The Atlantic reports on how Twitter is a force in the protests in the country.
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The New York Times reports that a new pro-government newspaper has been closed by the judiciary, possibly for carrying a quote about the eye-for-an-eye principles of Islamic law. The Times speculates that the closure might be designed to ensure the reform-minded president does not have access to media beyond the official government newspaper and news agency.
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At my slow-to-get-off-the-ground beta site, www.presswatching.com, my latest post deals with the incongruent media coverage of women in sport.

February 20, 2014 media notes: women underrepresented in newsrooms, Brooks starts trial defence, Greenwald will return

2/20/2014

For Thursday, February 20, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The annual Status of Women in the Media report is out from the U.S.-based Women's Media Center. Not surprisingly, it found underrepresentation of women in newsrooms (an American Society of News Editors study, one of many the Center examined, indicated only 36 per cent of employees were women). A particularly weak area: sports journalism (90 per cent male, 90 per cent white). The report identifies some practical paths to progress, including mentoring programs, hiring practices, and a more serious consideration of the work/life balance by employers.
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Rebekah Brooks started her defence today at the phone-hacking trial. Before she did, a judge instructed the jury to acquit her on one of the five charges she faced for lack of evidence, a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. Brooks told the court she had no knowledge of phone-hacking during her editorship of News of the World.
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Glenn Greenwald insists he will return to the U.S. to press the issue of whether he faces charges. He may do so to receive the Polk Award. U.S. authorities have indicated those who helped Edward Snowden disclose surveillance secrets may face prosecution, but Greenwald (who now runs The Intercept at First Look Media) says he refuses to be an exile from his own country.

February 19, 2014 media notes: Ukraine violence and journalists, terrorism and journalism, new net rules coming

2/19/2014

For Wednesday, February 19, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The resumption of street conflict in the Ukraine has taken an enormous toll as authorities attempt to suppress demonstrations violently. Andrew Beaujon, writing for Poynter and citing Reporters Without Borders, notes that one journalist has died (a correspondent for Vesti) and several (at least 27 at last count) have been injured in the clashes in Kiev.
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Glenn Greenwald's new publication, The Intercept, weighs in on today's British Supreme Court ruling that upheld the detention of Greenwald's partner last August at Heathrow Airport. The court equates journalism resulting from surveillance leaks with terrorism, Greenwald writes, and even though it noted the detention was an indirect interference with journalism, it sided with the government's anti-terrorism arguments.
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There are new rules coming on net neutrality in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission intends to craft new regulations that would prevent Internet service providers from slowing or blocking access to websites or from charging high-bandwidth users additionally. The move comes after a court ruling weeks back that left open the door to a tiered system of access, something that would have had significant impact on journalism.

February 18, 2014 media notes: newspapers and civic engagement, NSA and Assange, trial of Al Jazeera journalist

2/18/2014

For Tuesday, February 18, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Andrew Beaujon, writing for Poynter, reviews a study by a Portland State University professor on the impact of two newspaper closings on civic engagement. Not surprisingly, the study found declines in civic engagement in Seattle and Denver that may be "plausibly" linked to the loss of one of their newspapers. While several outlets can serve that engagement, the impact of a paper can often only be understood once it is lost, the report suggests.
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The early efforts of First Look Media involve The Intercept, the digital magazine overseen by Glenn Greenwald, who has leaked surveillance documents from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. A new batch of documents indicates the NSA was conducting surveillance on WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange and pressuring supporters of WikiLeaks. Meantime, Guardian media columnist Roy Greenslade notes press freedom groups are urging the British prime minister to call off an investigation into The Guardian's conduct in publishing the earlier leaks.
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For nearly two months now, Al Jazeera journalists have been held in Egypt and sent to trial, the first of which is imminent. Such leading media organizations as BBC, NBC and Reuters have written a statement of support for Peter Greste and are calling on Egyptian authorities to abandon the legal chase and release him and his colleagues.

February 17, 2014 media notes: Media quiet on Venezuelan protests and Sochi problems, WNET returns foundation grant

2/17/2014

Here are some media stories of note for Monday, February 17, 2014:

While it appears that the Twitter photo blackout has been lifted in Venezuela, the same can't be said for television coverage of the largest protests in recent memory. Government leaders have appeared on state television to accuse opposition leaders of fomenting violence, but media have not been significantly covering the protests in which three have died. Press freedom groups believe government intimidation is suppressing the journalism.
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The Verge reports on how journalists in Russia are being muzzled in their attempts to portray Sochi and the Olympics realistically. Russians have been getting a very rosy picture, not the one international audiences are getting about hotels, empty stadiums and poor sanitation.
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WNET, the New York public television broadcaster, has decided to return a $3.5-million grant and put an ambitious series on the economic sustainability of public pensions on hold following a PandoDaily report that identified a possible ethical concern about the activities of a foundation underwriting the project.
The report said hedge fund manager John Arnold, the co-sponsor of the John and Laura Arnold Foundation, had taken a specific position on pension sustainability. WNET initially dismissed the report but has changed its mind in recent days. The station will continue to report on the subject but is looking for another funding source for the larger project, which has been featured since September.
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