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June 9, 2014 media notes: the second media apocalypse; U.S. Supreme Court and online comments; press freedom threats

6/9/2014

For Monday, June 9, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Forget the last apocalypse. A second apocalypse is upon media. Tom Foremski, writing for ZDNet, says the strikingly low advertising rates for mobile are a new, much more menacing threat to conventional and digital media. He has found that mobile rates are about one-tenth desktop rates, which are as we know already quite lower than broadcast or print rates. How bad is it? Even Google is taking engineers off other projects to find ways to monetize mobile. Foremski paints a picture that, if you're looking to start your work on an optimistic note, is best left unread for the time being.
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The U.S. Supreme Court could decide as early as today if it wishes to hear appeals from people sent to jail when their online comments were deemed illegal. Those appeals could establish standards that determine where free speech ends and hate crime begins online, writes Sam Hananel for Associated Press.
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Lots of press freedom news today. The Columbia Journalism Review writes on the crackdown and pushback in Hungary, where the government has been meddling with the main public television station and shuttering the main opposition radio station. It also examines the forced departure of foreign correspondents from Yemen. Nigerian forces have raided newspaper depots. The two killers of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 were sentenced to life, while three others were sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison.

May 8, 2014 media notes: Amazon, Netflix, Facebook on net neutrality; DIY media ethics; big sites garner better loyalty

5/8/2014

For Thursday, May 8, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The process by which the U.S. Federal Communications Commission intends to explore new rules on Internet access has many worried, including such giants of Internet commerce and communications as Amazon, BitTorrent, Facebook and Netflix. In a rare sign of unity for competitors, they've written the FCC to defend the principle of net neutrality and argue the FCC should not introduce rules that permit Internet Service Providers to charge firms to deliver packets of data at faster rates. GigaOm reports on this. Two commissioners of the FCC, meanwhile, are asking that the FCC chairman slow the process. A meeting next week will advance the process intended to introduce rules by the end of the year.
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Tom Kent, the standards editor for The Associated Press, writes for PBS' MediaShift about a project he is heading (disclosure: I am an early signee to contribute) that helps individual journalists and fledgling organizations develop their own codes of ethics and frameworks for decision-making. Kent, working with the Online News Association, has assembled a large group of ethicists and other journalism leaders to help identify best practices. The aim is to support those who are not able to receive it otherwise.
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A new report by the analytics firm Parse.ly suggests the power of large news sites in cultivating loyalty. Sam Kirkland, writing for Poynter, said the report examined 500 million visitors and two billion page views in March and found that people returned on average about 11 per cent within 30 days. It determined that sites with more than one million visitors had a return rate of 16 per cent. Those with fewer than one million visitors had a return rate of only nine per cent.
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March 13, 2014 media notes: Russian editor replaced, Myanmar papers struggle, Pew news site engagement study

3/13/2014

For Thursday, March 13, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The editor of Lenta.ru, an independent news site, has been replaced with an editor more sympathetic to the Kremlin. The New Yorker's editor-in-chief, David Remnick, has written a between-edition look at Russian president Vladimir Putin's war on information and his movement against the press. Galina Timchenko's site recently ran a profile of a prominent Ukrainian nationalist. The Guardian reports she has been replaced by the former editor of a pro-Kremlin site now serving as the deputy director general of the company that holds Lenta.ru.
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The journalistic struggle in Myanmar is less about freedom than about economics. The Associated Press reports on the challenges for private newspapers to stay afloat. State-owned papers have been garnering the advertising support necessary to fuel the journalism that the independents are striving to produce. The result is closure of some titles after a short period of economic failure.
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A new study from the Pew Research Journalism Project examines the degree of engagement readers have with news sites. Not surprisingly, those who visit directly --- that is, those who aren't referred to a site through social media --- spend more time and read more avidly the content than those who arrive "sideways." The report examines the engagement levels at 26 leading news sites. Andrew Beaujon, writing for Poynter about the findings, says the report points to challenges for sites to convert these occasional and referred readers into loyalists.

March 10, 2014 media notes: Crimea's press crusader, news personalization challenges, U.S. libel ruling 50 years later

3/10/2014

For Monday, March 10, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Timothy Karr, writing for FreePress, profiles Dunja Mijatovic, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's representative for press freedom. She has been shuttling between the Crimea and the rest of the Ukraine in recent days to attempt to restore operations of media services shuttered and to demand authorities investigate the murder of a journalist. Her role, admittedly challenged in these circumstances, is to enforce press freedoms in the OSCE's 57 member states.
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Casey Newton, writing for The Verge, argues that news personalization services have flailed, if not failed, in the media landscape. He cites the recent all-stock sale of Zite to Flipboard, and the closure of several such sites by others, as evidence that the category isn't lifting off. Flipboard may yet solve the challenge of delivering content, but the conversations and serendipitous qualities other sites deliver is an advantage. "The truth is that the news remains stubbornly impersonal," he writes. "Algorithms have proven brilliant in many things, but newsgathering isn't one of them."
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Jessica Gresko, writing for The Associated Press, examines the landmark Sullivan libel ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court 50 years later and finds its impact endures in the digital era. The ruling came as a result of officials' efforts to reduce the civil rights coverage by The New York Times. It made it much harder for public figures to win lawsuits and money over false statements that damaged reputations. Even if technology today permits more people to write damaging statements, there is also a greater opportunity to reply. Courts have come to consider how false statements are a reality in an environment of open debate.

February 11, 2014 media notes: the time-shifting digital consumer, Amazon's impact, Facebook's NewsFeed algorithm

2/11/2014

Here are some media stories of note for Tuesday, February 11, 2014:

A new Nielsen report on the digital consumer suggests time-shifting and second-screen use continue to grow in the U.S. In the last year Americans on average time-shifted 13 hours monthly of television, an increase of about two hours, and their live television viewing declined nearly three hours to 134 hours monthly. Americans average four devices per household and 84 per cent said they use their tablets or smartphones while watching television. AP notes an offbeat finding: 40 per cent of those 18 to 24 use social media in the bathroom.
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The New Yorker's George Packer examines the impact of Amazon on the publishing business and on the digital marketplace. Packer chronicles the effort by Amazon to be the retailer of practically everything, including some of its industry tactics, and how its early-stage book business (now a minor element) built the leverage with personal information for Amazon to capitalize in other sectors. Packer, himself a bestselling author, is not bullish on what the company has done for its founding function.
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Journalism evolves, but it has been interesting to watch the evolution of an article in the last day about Facebook's algorithm and its impact on several viral-seeking sites, particularly the impact on Buzzfeed. Business Insider contributor Nicholas Carlson initially said the impact was dramatic on sites like Upworthy but that Buzzfeed was not particularly hurt by Facebook's changes because it regularly bought Facebook ads to support certain content. He changed that (and, to be fair, communicated he had) to give greater credit to Buzzfeed's contributors after Buzzfeed's CEO complained. In all it has been a bit of a backslide from an initial shot, something Gawker has been more than willing to chronicle.
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January 23, 2014 media notes: AP severs ties with photographer, Sochi challenges, covering China

1/23/2014

Here are some media stories of note for Thursday, January 23, 2014:

The Associated Press has severed ties with a freelance photographer who used software to remove the image of a colleague's video camera in a photo of protests in Syria. The AP said he breached its requirements for truth and accuracy. It has also removed all images from him in its archive.
Gawker's Adam Weinstein wonders if it went too far.

Alice Speri, writing for Al Jazeera America, looks at the intimidation of and violence against journalists in advance of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. The self-censorship and threats have created a "timid press" rarely willing to venture into independent territory.

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William Wan, the Beijing-based correspondent for the Washington Post, tackles the subject of journalist challenges there in a post for Poynter. He argues that, while visas can be denied and websites put out of reach for difficult reporting, self-censorship is the most insidious of the threats.

media notes 11.30-12.1.13

11/30/2013

For the weekend of November 30-December 1, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

The editor of a magazine in India that has pushed for an end to sexual violence has been arrested in a sexual assault case. The Associated Press reports Tarun Tejpal, editor of Tehelka, is accused of assaulting a female colleague earlier in November. He had earlier stepped down for what he said was a lapse in judgment.

Meanwhile, the Indian vice president has released a book on media ethics, a series of essays by prominent journalists and officials. Hamid Ansari indicates that a stronger form of media self-regulation is needed to restore credibility or there will need to be government intervention to effect improvements. He argues media have lost their way into excessive commercialism, glamour and sensationalism.

The government of Pakistan is indicating further measures are forthcoming on its freedom of information law. A code of conduct is also emerging in the country for its journalists. At a conference Friday, the government affirmed its commitment to free expression and to a strengthening of ethical practices.

media notes 11.29.13

11/29/2013

For Friday, November 29, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

The months-long quest for British press regulation shows no sign of imminent settlement. The latest chapter features a letter from 100 prominent figures from the arts, science, academia and elsewhere who encourage publishers to sign on to a royal charter system. One year after the Leveson inquiry, there are no signs of consensus on the next steps.

Roy Greenslade, the venerable Guardian media columnist, notes that this new letter adds to the pile. Those who have been victims of press misbehaviour have already suggested the royal charter, rather than the industry-created self-regulatory body, is the route to pursue. Among the signatories to the letter are some prominent journalists, including former editors and Nick Davies of the Guardian.

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Human Rights Watch reports that four journalists have been killed in Iraq in the last month. Meanwhile, journalists there are facing prosecution for defamation for their activities and are subjected to increased harassment. Journalists report confiscation of equipment and arrests when they cover politically sensitive topics.

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Alaa Abdel-Fatah, one of Egypt's most prominent bloggers, has been arrested under a new law that restricts protests in the country. A warrant had been issued for his arrest and Abdel-Fatah had indicated he would turn himself in to authorities, but instead his home was raided late Thursday. The AP reports his wife was beaten in the raid and laptops were seized. Among other things, the new law requires a three-day notification of any protests.

media notes 10.28.13

10/28/2013

For Monday, October 28, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

Bill Keller, the columnist for The New York Times and its former executive editor, and Glenn Greenwald, the (soon-departing) columnist for The Guardian who has been the driver on revelations on National Security Agency surveillance unfurled by Edward Snowden, have a featured exchange of correspondence in the Times. Hard to summarize, but they discuss the character of journalism, what is its mission, and how will it be financed.

Reporters at two Somali radio stations were beaten and detained over the weekend after security agents stormed their Mogadishu offices following reports the stations aired on government corruption. Reuters reports the stories aired on SkyFM and Radio Shabelle, part of the Shabelle Media Network. Thirty-six journalists were detained in the raids, which the government said was actually an eviction related to the stations' unlawful occupation of government buildings.

The New Express newspaper in China has apologized for the reporting of Chen Yongzhou only days after defending him and standing by his stories of malfeasance at a construction machinery firm partly owned by the state. The Associated Press said the paper said Sunday that Chen had been incited by others who paid him to report inaccuracies.

media notes 10.22.13

10/22/2013

For Tuesday, October 22, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

Facebook is taking a quick clobbering from critics for permitting video of a beheading to appear on its platform. The British prime minister, among others, has denounced the move. Given its efforts to keep the social network pristine (no adult content, for example, and a recent ban on a breastfeeding video), Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian writes of its boundaries: "In Facebook's world, a beheading is OK but an exposed nipple is not." While it might be troublesome to its financial state to permit free expression, once it adopts "community standards" it has a challenge in drawing the line. In this instance, he argues, Facebook got it "spectacularly wrong." Facebook has committed to revisiting its approach. UPDATE: Late Tuesday it reversed its stance and took the video down.

Mistakes happen in journalism, but the punishment is typically a reprimand or a rather public embarrassment that comes with a correction. Not so this week at The Associated Press, where Huffington Post reports three employees have been fired for an erroneous report alleging that a Virginia gubernatorial candidate had lied to federal investigators.

Olga Khazan, writing for The Atlantic, dispels the notion that journalism schools should be teaching students how to write digital code. Journalists aren't necessarily any good at programming, she writes, and their precious learning time would be better spent learning how to write, edit and present. Leave the coding to the coders, she argues. It's nice if some of them want to be journalists, but journalists shouldn't be driven to be them.

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