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May 20, 2014 media notes: Sulzberger's regrets; the supposed death of the home page; First Look supports press freedom

5/20/2014

For Tuesday, May 20, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The New York Times, says he would have done things differently in choosing his executive editor. His candid interview with Vanity Fair attempts to explain his perspective on the events that led to the dismissal last week of Jill Abramson, but the remarks are not bound to let any dust settle. He indicated there was a pattern of managerial problems, mostly interpersonal, with Abramson and her team, and that her offer of a co-managing editor's role to Janine Gibson of The Guardian without her incumbent managing editor's understanding was effectively the start of a chain of events that led Abramson out the door.
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Sam Kirkland, writing for Poynter, examines the recent decline of the home page. More and more people are engaging the website through the side door of social media. Kirkland argues that the home page remains a valuable asset. The most valuable asset, though, might be the mobile app, and the extent of its value is yet known.
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The Pierre Omidyar-financed First Look Media is extending support to press freedom organizations with $550,000 US in grants to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. First Look has launched The Intercept under Glenn Greenwald and plans a range of digital magazines. To help pay for this investment, it intends to create newsroom software technology it will introduce and sell.

April 8, 2014 media notes: Wolff on the media; Salmon on wonk journalism; Omidyar's First Look Media and its focus

4/8/2014

For Tuesday, April 8, 2014, some media stories of note:

Michael Wolff pulls few if any punches as a media columnist. In conversation, no different. Digiday transcribes some of his observations at a discussion with the president of Hearst Magazines. Among them: online journalism will not pay for itself, print has been given up too soon, and the new ventures by journalists who want to be entrepreneurs will falter.
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Felix Salmon, writing for Politico, approaches this a little differently. He sees the rise of data-driven journalism as a healthy, positive sign for the craft. The wonkish world is small but extremely dedicated and loyal, it expands the scope of journalism, and it appeals to digital natives, he says.
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Stephen Buckley, writing for Poynter, provides some insight into a weekend session held by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar about his new First Look Media firm and its direction. Omidyar brought the new employees and some others together to chart the course a little and discuss the possibilities a lot. Some of the takeaways Buckley could disclose (the session was closed, so reporting on it was restricted by mutual agreement): it's a bit early to find the focus, there will be plenty of publications, it'll be aimed at a mass audience and at both problem-pointing and problem-solving.

March 3, 2014 media notes: consensus on journalism's future, Crimean journalism centre seized, First Look and standards

3/3/2014

For Monday, March 3, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Dean Starkman, writing for the Columbia Journalism Review, identifies what he argues is the consensus view on journalism's future. Among them: paywalls are necessary but not a panacea for serious news organizations; the traditional news story retains its primacy; crowdsourcing has its place, but not a substantial one; coverage of state and local governments has suffered and is appalling.
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The situation in the Ukraine poses immense challenges for foreign reporting, but there is no small distress for domestic journalists, either. Masked gunmen broke into and seized the Crimean Investigative Journalism Center. No one was injured, but the center no longer is functioning at its office.
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PandoDaily last week wrote that First Look Media founder Pierre Omidyar had been supplying support to Ukrainian groups opposed to the government. That set off a slanging match with Glenn Greenwald, who noted this was not any grand revelation and that, more importantly, this was not any big deal, in that his journalism was unfettered. Jeff Jarvis, meanwhile, weighed in by declaring First Look could help itself by being less defensive and more assertive in this space. It should declare its principles to assure its audience. Others indicate, though, that Greenwald has already done that.
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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 10, 2014 media notes: First Look's first look, deportation in Turkey, and the pending golden age

2/10/2014

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

The first yield of First Look Media, Pierre Omidyar's substantial investment in journalism, surfaced today. The Intercept is the effort of Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill and will focus on further revelations from the surveillance secrets spirited away by Edward Snowden. The initial contributions include a story on the imprecise use of drones to assassinate and an aerial photographic essay on security operations.
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Mahir Zeynalov, writing for Al Arabiya, chronicles his travails under the Turkish government: smears, persecution, deportation. He looks at the effort to trump charges and deny rights in the country, all over one anti-prime ministerial Tweet, that forced him back to Azerbaijan.
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Paul Steiger, the founder of ProPublica, delivered a speech last week in receiving a foundation award. In it he argues that the period of the 1950s to 1970s was the closest thing America had to a golden age of journalism. About today's situation, he says: We are not quite there yet. He buys into digital-first thinking. But he worries about economics. Significantly lacking is an understanding of how journalism will be financed.

media notes 12.20.13

12/20/2013

Here are some media stories of note for Friday, December 20, 2013:

The New York Times has boldly moved into the native advertising arena. Before it goes there, it has explained to its audience and employees the principles that will guide the activity: clear labelling of a Paid Post, a different look than its editorial content, and its creation by the sales department and not the newsroom, among other things. The Times' public editor, Margaret Sullivan, immediately wrote about it Thursday and identified some of the results of her reporting, including the eight-figure revenue expectation and the allocation of some key online real estate to the effort.

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger looks at the differences between Britain and the U.S. on the National Security Agency surveillance issue. In America, a healthy debate is under way. In Britain, apathy abounds. This follows what Rusbridger calls a thoughtful and well-informed U.S. report this week commissioned by the President into the revelations largely unfurled by his newsroom. That report calls for changes in how the NSA does its work and argues for a strong defence of journalism to do its work.

Cory Haik, the Washington Post executive producer for digital, provides her predictions for 2014 in the Nieman Journalism Lab series. She argues that this will be the year of news that anticipates the audience's needs, something she calls adaptive journalism, available whenever and however. It will be a time of great experimentation with a device-first ethos.

Pierre Omidyar's new media company has a name: First Look Media. It has committed its first $50 million to the operation. And it is starting to take shape as a hybrid for-profit technology firm and a non-profit journalism company. Profits from the former will help the latter. Company advisor Jay Rosen, the NYU scholar, provides some details in his latest Pressthink column.