Category: Propublica

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.

January 28, 2014 media notes: CPJ on Sochi suppression, Guardian on ProPublica, WSJ on the crowded digital field

1/28/2014

Here are some media stories of note for Tuesday, January 28, 2014:

The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a report in advance of the Sochi Winter Games that focuses on Russia's efforts to suppress the chronicling of corruption, environmental problems and human rights abuses. The report cites "official repression and self-censorship" in the run-up to the Games on such issues as migrant worker exploitation, forced evictions and environmental degradation.

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The Guardian profiles Richard Tofel, the head of ProPublica, the investigative journalism non-profit underwritten by philanthropy. In it Tofel notes the mission of the organization is to end abuses of power, to change and reform. He acknowledges it is difficult to measure the impact of journalism to satisfy some donors who want a clear result of their contributions. That being said, he wants to demonstrate the need for journalism to be financially assisted in the digital age of business model change.

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The Wall Street Journal examines the stretch on digital advertising dollars and the effort by organizations to diversify their offerings to capture revenue. Several new outlets have been launched in recent months to further crowd the field, and some have started to stage conferences to build new sources of funds.

The Atlantic on Tumblr for newsrooms

8/3/2010

There is increased interest in newsrooms I know in how to encourage something larger than Twitter but smaller than Wordpress --- pithy information that serves a role.

Which is why Tumblr seems to be getting more attention in recent weeks. It's an easy-to-use platform and it serves a good niche as a format. Alex Madrigal, a senior online presence at TheAtlantic.com, identifies the new ProPublica Tumblr concept --- Officials Say The Darndest Things --- as a great example of how newsrooms could use it.

Madrigal notes five key attributes: it's not duplicative (ProPublica's focus is on other forms), it's in keeping with the platform (it's not super-serious, but has a purpose), it's low-maintenance (the platform is easy to launch), it's interactive (users can submit), and it's viral (sharing is simple).

It's a good role model for others trying to find the right way to deliver such information.

ProPublica's Paul Steiger on investigative journalism's future

10/14/2009

The conventional wisdom is that the challenging financial state of newspapers will irrevocably harm journalism's capacity to investigate. Historically newspapers have led the craft in enterprise work; as goes they, so goes enterprise, it is thought.

But Paul Steiger, the former Wall Street Journal executive now running the ProPublica non-profit fund for investigative journalism, offers a different argument in a post for McKinsey.

Steiger suggests that a trade-off is occurring --- a loss of some firepower in some places, a gain in others --- and that new models of financing high-quality investigation is emerging.

Among other things, Steiger believes his organization can empower other journalists by providing them tools like databases to explore on their own. He thinks there are many examples surfacing of strong public-minded journalists who simply need other mechanisms to help them excel.

ProPublica: Investigative journalism launched, underwritten

6/11/2008

In an age of challenged resources for investigative work, it is no surprise that great interest greets the launch of ProPublica, the non-profit public-interest operation headed by former Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger.
The service launched this week.
ProPublica's first batch of articles are still some distance away, and the staff of more than a dozen will eventually blossom to a reporting staff of 25.
Meantime, brewing is a smart aggregation of U.S. investigative work and a promise to analyse and track scandals. Its business model is still somewhat of a question, but it launches with Sandler Foundation and other funds.

February 10, 2014 media notes: First Look's first look, deportation in Turkey, and the pending golden age

January 28, 2014 media notes: CPJ on Sochi suppression, Guardian on ProPublica, WSJ on the crowded digital field

The Atlantic on Tumblr for newsrooms

ProPublica's Paul Steiger on investigative journalism's future

ProPublica: Investigative journalism launched, underwritten

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