Here are some media stories of note for January 29, 2014:
It has gotten quite serious for the 20 Al Jazeera journalists, including four foreigners, under arrest in Egypt. They have been referred to trial on charges of joining or assisting a terrorist group or for spreading false news that endangers national security. British media have joined forces today to call for their release, while other media worldwide have denounced the detentions.
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It is not exactly a full rebound, but the slumping ratings for local television news in the U.S. appear to have stabilized and inched up again. New data from Pew Center's FactTank suggest morning ratings are up six per cent, early evening ratings are up three per cent, and late-night ratings are up one per cent. Considering the previous trend lines, these are hopeful signs for the format. The reasons aren't clear, although there were several large local stories at the time the ratings were taken.
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Twitter is a wonderful platform, but wading through Tweets for the substance of news is often a tricky task for newsrooms. Twitter, CNN and Dataminr announced today a partnership that will deliver alerts into newsrooms (the rollout to news agencies starts later this year) that will essentially not disrupt workflow. An algorithm will identify and deliver the content. Twitter's head of news, Vivian Schiller, says the new tool will "help surface relevant content" more quickly and lead to a better news experience.
It has gotten quite serious for the 20 Al Jazeera journalists, including four foreigners, under arrest in Egypt. They have been referred to trial on charges of joining or assisting a terrorist group or for spreading false news that endangers national security. British media have joined forces today to call for their release, while other media worldwide have denounced the detentions.
---
It is not exactly a full rebound, but the slumping ratings for local television news in the U.S. appear to have stabilized and inched up again. New data from Pew Center's FactTank suggest morning ratings are up six per cent, early evening ratings are up three per cent, and late-night ratings are up one per cent. Considering the previous trend lines, these are hopeful signs for the format. The reasons aren't clear, although there were several large local stories at the time the ratings were taken.
---
Twitter is a wonderful platform, but wading through Tweets for the substance of news is often a tricky task for newsrooms. Twitter, CNN and Dataminr announced today a partnership that will deliver alerts into newsrooms (the rollout to news agencies starts later this year) that will essentially not disrupt workflow. An algorithm will identify and deliver the content. Twitter's head of news, Vivian Schiller, says the new tool will "help surface relevant content" more quickly and lead to a better news experience.
