Category: Nieman

June 10, 2014 media notes: World Press Trends report; a political media critique; BBC uses chat apps to spread news

6/10/2014

For Tuesday, June 10, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The annual World Press Trends report has several revelations: digital news audiences are up 23 per cent from a year ago, newspaper circulation is up two per cent, print advertising revenue comprises 93 per cent, print advertising declined nine per cent, and digital circulation revenue grew 60 per cent (albeit from a low starting point). The report was released at the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers conference. As journalism.co.uk reports, while audiences for digital news are on the rise, companies are not making the most of them.
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Gregory Rodriguez, a guest writer for the Baltimore Sun, says the public has turned away from media partly because they vilify politicians as crooks. He asks: What is there left to learn? Media aren't inclusive and rarely tap into regular citizens to discuss issues. Rodriguez says media need to think beyond being democracy's watchdog and become "an active participant in its making."
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Caroline O'Donovan, writing for Nieman Journalism Lab, examines the rise of chat apps to spread news. She notes how the BBC is using WhatsApp and WeChat, among others, and viewing these tools as mobile-first news distributors more than chat products. In a particular country, it looks for a market in which it's prominent, an app with good distribution there, and a big story. Once that triangulates, it's on.

April 9, 2014 media notes: SPJ's ethics code challenge, secret-sharing apps, and the reporter as aggregator

4/9/2014

For Wednesday, April 9, 2014, some media stories of note:

Jim Bach, writing for the American Journalism Review, examines the challenge for the Society of Professional Journalists as it tries to transform its venerable code of ethics into a more digitally relevant form. Bach focuses on earlier criticisms of the draft changes in not reflecting the communal creation of content and the shifting contexts for transparency and independence.
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Caroline O'Donovan, writing for the Nieman Journalism Lab, examines the rise of secret-sharing apps like Whisper and Secret and their value for journalists. While secret-sharing and anonymity are nothing new, O'Donovan says the new apps are tapping into a clear market need.
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Joel Achenbach, writing for the Washington Post, muses on his revelation: He is an aggregator. He writes about the value of interviews, compared to the relative lack of value in grabbing material from online research. Nothing beats reporting, he says.

media notes 12.23.13

12/23/2013

Here are some media stories of note for Monday, December 23, 2013:

It hasn't been the best of times for CBS' 60 Minutes. The controversy involving its segment on Benghazi has shifted now into concern about its uncritical segment on the National Security Agency. In his latest Media Equation column for The New York Times, David Carr wonders if the program has temporarily lost its mojo or more permanently lost its skepticism.

The native advertising phenomenon is subjected to a range of predictions in a thorough set of soundbites from AdWeek. Several ad and marketing executives suggest the future of native advertising will involve greater integration with editorial content, clearer adjacency, higher standards and better pricing.

Can a news organization ethically report on Internet content? Reuters blogger Felix Salmon, in this contribution to the Nieman Journalism Lab, suggests it's a challenge. Verifying the information is no easy feat now that technology helps fake things go viral.

media notes 12.21-22.13

12/21/2013

Here are some media stories of note for the weekend of December 21-22, 2013:

All week the Nieman Journalism Lab has been running a series of predictions for 2014. Some have been fascinating, some in themselves predictable, and some just a little aspirational.

Henry Blodget suggests 2014 will be the year that, finally, we appreciate the differences of digital journalism and stop fighting or criticizing them. Staci Kramer, meanwhile, thinks the year ahead will spur a realization that there is firepower to throw at problems and that we will better connect than ever.

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For years many have been pushing media to restrain themselves from publishing the names of violent perpetrators, in particular the gunmen responsible for mass shootings in such places as Aurora, Colorado, and Newtown, Connecticut. They view the attention on the shooters as disproportionate and a further injustice to the victims. Now a victim's mother in the Colorado theatre shooting has formally asked media to focus on her son, not on the man who killed him. Al Tompkins, writing for Poynter, has a sensitive and thorough examination of the issue and prescribes some harm-minimization ideas for media as they navigate this delicate matter.

Freepress notes the passing of the final black-owned full-power television stations in America. Consolidation of the industry and some financial challenges coupled to either take control or shutter the few remaining such stations.

media notes 12.19.13

12/19/2013

Here are some media stories of note for Thursday, December 19, 2013:

In recent weeks concerns have grown about official China's treatment of foreign journalists. But the Foreign Correspondents Club based there today press credentials have been extended for Bloomberg News and for several correspondents for The New York Times, an indication of an easing of tensions. There were fears foreign correspondents would not be able to continue working in the country.

Which is not to say China's treatment of its own journalists is any better. The Guardian reports on a new ideology exam that domestic journalists must take starting next year. The test is based on an extensive textbook and is designed to prevent comments that run counter to the government position.

Another installment in the series of 2014 predictions for the Nieman Journalism Lab comes from Lauren Rabaino of the Seattle Times. She suggests next year will see greater contextualization of news: more depth in links attached to stories, more backgrounding, and greater technical use that marries to non-narrative structure.

media notes 12.17.13

12/17/2013

Here are some media stories of note for Tuesday, December 17, 2013:

The Nieman Journalism Lab every year asks experts for their predictions for journalism in the coming year. Philip Bump suggests 2014 will unfurl technology to produce better location data to verify journalism in new ways. He notes there is a curious element of the public that loves to trick the press, so this technology will add authenticity to the mix to thwart that conduct.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post detects a resurgence of the anonymice. He argues that all sorts of anonymous quotes are emerging in stories at high-profile media, including his organization's, with no seeming good reason. While in some cases there are legitimate whistleblowing reasons to shield identity, mostly it's just a convenience.

Rick Edmonds, writing for Poynter, looks at the annual Borrell Associates advertising forecast and detects challenging times ahead for newspapers' digital sites in retaining their supremacy of share of ads. Their share will drop from 7.1 per cent this year to 3.3 per cent in 2018. That doesn't mean their revenue will decline, Edmonds notes. In fact it will grow by a modest 1.8 per cent. But the larger pie will largely be consumed by pure-play digital operations.

media notes 10.18.13

10/18/2013

Here are some media notes for Friday, October 18, 2013:

Josh Stearns, in a paper for Freepress, attempts to define the acts of journalism that law should shield. He argues journalism is rooted in our ethics, how we act, and how we serve, and he believes the debate needs to involve the audience as allies in the fight to protect journalism.

Henry Farrell, a political scientist at George Washington University, argues that the new journalism venture financed by Pierre Omidyar could change the relationship between information, knowledge and politics. The serious investment, which has already lured Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras into the fold, stands to be a serious player, he concludes.

Eric Newton, a senior advisor to the Knight Foundation, argues that journalism education isn't shifting quickly enough to keep pace with technological change. Newton writes for the Nieman Journalism Lab that journalism continues to acquire new techniques through innovation while retaining such basics as hard work, reaching audiences their way, and staying current, honest and factual. He suggests many journalism students aren't receiving the education they need and they need to pull their schools into the digital age.

Ricardo Bilton, writing for VentureBeat, examines the demise of the keyword and the rise of so-called "dark search" in which higher-quality content is recognized and ranked more highly by Google. The implications for publishers are significant: no longer will keyword-stuffed content succeed, but better work might.

media notes 10.04.13

10/4/2013

Here are some media notes for Friday, October 4, 2013:

Twitter filed details for the securities regulator late Thursday to prepare for its initial public offering. In it, Reuters reports, the company reveals substantial year-over-year revenue growth and unsurprising, ongoing operational losses. Twitter indicates its revenue sources are ostensibly the advertising market. The company is aiming to raise $1 billion in the offering, GigaOm reports, but where it will be offered is still unclear. One fact from the filing Thursday: there were 218 million active users in the three months ending June 30, three-quarters of them mobile users.

Tom Kent, the Associated Press standards editor, writes for Huffington Post on providing greater definition to who is a journalist. Among many things he argues for a basic ethics test that involves determining if someone's work is for the public, if it is verifiable, if it conveys various points of view, and if it avoids or declares conflict.

Two journalists have been suspended and an investigation is under way at the Mail on Sunday after a reporter from the organization showed up at the funeral for the uncle of the British Labour Leader. The Guardian reports the paper has apologized to the political leader, who had complained to its proprietor about an invasion of privacy.

Ken Doctor, writing for the Nieman Journalism Lab, looks at the "tipping year" in Germany as its print media shifts concertedly to digital. He looks at the recent major media transaction involving newspapers and how the country's major media are recognizing the necessity of freeing themselves from "legacy constraints."

media notes 09.11.13

9/11/2013

For Wednesday, September 11, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

Jeff Jarvis, in his latest Buzzmachine post, looks back on events of 9/11 and says this is the first year in which he has felt hopeless about his nation. He looks at the invasion of privacy, the prosecution of those who report about it, and the use of 9/11 to threaten freedom and build fortresses. He says it is difficult but necessary to search for hope.

Colin Freeman, writing for The Daily Telegraph, argues that prosecuting journalists for paying for news is bad for everyone. Freeman says there is a "class prejudice" about paying for content. It is increasingly difficult to gain access to information, and he asserts that paying for it is not nearly as bad as prosecuting about it. "You may not approve of paying for information, but as things stand, it is increasingly one of the only ways in which non-sanitized stories come out," he writes. Prosecution only helps the institutions trying to shield the content, he says.

Earlier this week three Shorenstein Center Fellows released Riptide, a lengthy report on digital disruption of legacy media. The reaction hasn't been universal acclaim. Andrea Peterson, writing in The Washington Post, represents a cohort that found considerable limitations in the extensive research, principally in the lack of diversity of those interviewed. She argued that the report failed to recognize how the Internet gave a range of under-represented voices an opportunity to reach audiences with their work.

media notes 09.09.13

9/9/2013

For Monday, September 9, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

A major study published Sunday by the Nieman Journalism Lab examines the digital disruption of legacy media. Three Shorenstein Fellows oversaw the oral study, title Riptide, and they note the effort by established media to break through in digital with only middling successes. They interviewed 60 industry executives who acknowledge they saw the digital rise ahead but could not easily contend with it. It examines business model breakdown and the confusion about the next economic steps for journalism. Rick Edmonds, in a lengthy treatment on the study for Poynter, notes the lack of a conclusion or a sense of the near future from the study.

Facebook is introducing two new features that permit journalists a better reading on social conversations. The New York Times' Bits blog suggests this will be particularly helpful around large events, television shows and sports. It will also be helpful to marketers. The features will permit aggregation of public posts and anonymous aggregation of demographic data on private posts.

The New York Times examines the plight of AM radio. Not only has it long since lost its advantage as a platform to unveil new music (a move that forced it into talk formats mainly) but in recent years it has witnessed a diminution of its technical signal from smartphone and electronic interference. The Times looks at the quest by the lone Republican on the Federal Communications Commission to revive the signal.

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