Category: Journalism

  • Down and Out in the Gig Economy | The New Republic

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    Down and Out in the Gig Economy Journalism’s dependence on part-time freelancers has been bad for the industry—not to mention the writers themselves. via The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/153744/gig-economy Journalism’s dependence on part-time freelancers has been bad for the industry—not to mention writers like me.

  • A hedge fund’s ‘mercenary’ strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings – The Washington Post

    A hedge fund’s ‘mercenary’ strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings – The Washington Post

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    A hedge fund’s ‘mercenary’ strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings Alden Global Capital says it is saving newspapers. Records show its subsidiaries are profiting from the remnants of their demise. via Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/a-hedge-funds-mercenary-strategy-buy-newspapers-slash-jobs-sell-the-buildings/2019/02/11/f2c0c78a-1f59-11e9-8e21-59a09ff1e2a1_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.af40237ce28c But Twenty Lake Holdings is not just another commercial real estate investor. It is a subsidiary of Alden Global…

  • How Google and Facebook Are Slowly Strangling Their Digital Offspring | Vanity Fair

    How Google and Facebook Are Slowly Strangling Their Digital Offspring | Vanity Fair

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    How Google and Facebook Strangled Their Digital Offspring The conventional wisdom used to be that digital natives were the only journalism businesses that would thrive. But big layoffs at BuzzFeed and HuffPost show that the Web’s dominant companies can’t be trusted to build a news business on. via Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/01/how-google-and-facebook-are-strangling-their-digital-offspring The conventional wisdom used…

  • The digital winter turns apocalyptic – Columbia Journalism Review

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    The digital winter turns apocalyptic This week, as a long-predicted collapse seemed to hit digital media, we saw a few of the tried-and-true ways managers use to explain to employees why they’re  laying them off. BuzzFeed chose the language of corporation-as-family, with founder Jonah Per via Columbia Journalism Review: https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/buzzfeed-verizon-layoffs.php THIS WEEK, AS A LONG-PREDICTED…

  • Does Journalism Have a Future? | The New Yorker

    Does Journalism Have a Future? | The New Yorker

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    Does Journalism Have a Future? In an era of social media and fake news, journalists who have survived the print plunge have new foes to face. via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/28/does-journalism-have-a-future In an era of social media and fake news, journalists who have survived the print plunge have new foes to face.

  • With Foreign Bureaus Slashed, Freelancers are Filling the Void – At Their Own Risk

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    With Foreign Bureaus Slashed, Freelancers are Filling the Void – At Their Own Risk Freelancers – much cheaper to employ – have largely taken the place of salaried correspondents. The implications of this are very serious. via PDNPulse: https://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2019/01/with-foreign-bureaus-slashed-freelancers-are-filling-the-void-at-their-own-risk.html Since then, freelancers have increasingly filled the void. These include both Western journalists working in conflict…

  • The Fresno Bee and the War on Local News | GQ

    The Fresno Bee and the War on Local News | GQ

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    The Fresno Bee and the War on Local News Zach Baron spent time with the reporters fighting to keep news alive in an age when the forces they cover are working equally hard to destroy them. via GQ: https://www.gq.com/story/fresno-bee-and-war-on-local-news Local newspapers like The Fresno Bee have long been an endangered institution in America, and that…

  • Cost of government rises when local newspaper closes, study finds | Media | The Guardian

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    Cost of government rises when local newspaper closes, study finds A study inspired by a John Oliver segment has analysed data from 1,266 US counties and tallied the cost of losing a print watchdog via the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jun/10/cost-of-government-rises-when-local-newspaper-closes-study-finds A study inspired by a John Oliver segment has analysed data from 1,266 US counties and tallied…

  • End the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

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    End the White House Correspondents’ Dinner It’s an embarrassment to journalism. via Longreads: https://longreads.com/2018/04/30/end-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/ The White House Correspondents’ Dinner happened this weekend and mostly no one cared, rightly, until some journalists thought it was a good idea to criticize a comedian for telling the truth, which is what both comedians and journalists are supposed to…

  • What the 2018 Pulitzers tell us about the state of American journalism | Poynter

    What the 2018 Pulitzers tell us about the state of American journalism | Poynter

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    What the 2018 Pulitzers tell us about the state of American journalism – Poynter From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers. via Poynter: https://www.poynter.org/news/what-2018-pulitzers-tell-us-about-state-american-journalism The 14 Pulitzer prizes for American journalism can be a form of tea leaves…

  • What the 2018 Pulitzers tell us about the state of American journalism | Poynter

    What the 2018 Pulitzers tell us about the state of American journalism | Poynter

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    What the 2018 Pulitzers tell us about the state of American journalism – Poynter From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers. via Poynter: https://www.poynter.org/news/what-2018-pulitzers-tell-us-about-state-american-journalism The 14 Pulitzer prizes for American journalism can be a form of tea leaves…

  • Google and Facebook can’t help publishers because they’re built to defeat publishers – Recode

    Google and Facebook can’t help publishers because they’re built to defeat publishers – Recode

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    Google and Facebook can’t help publishers because they’re built to defeat publishers Guess who’s winning? via Vox: https://www.recode.net/2018/3/20/17144128/google-facebook-news-subsidy-competition Here’s the problem: No matter how hard Google and Facebook try to help publishers, they will do more to hurt them, because that’s the way they’re supposed to work. They’re built to eviscerate publishers.

  • The Man Who Knew Too Little – The New York Times

    The Man Who Knew Too Little – The New York Times

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    The Man Who Knew Too Little The most ignorant man in America knows that Donald Trump is president — but that’s about it. Living a liberal fantasy is complicated. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/style/the-man-who-knew-too-little.html The most ignorant man in America knows that Donald Trump is president — but that’s about it. Living a liberal fantasy is complicated.

  • For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Here’s What I Learned. – The New York Times

    For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Here’s What I Learned. – The New York Times

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    For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Here’s What I Learned. Our tech columnist tried to skip digital news for a while. His old-school experiment led to three main conclusions. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/technology/two-months-news-newspapers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss This has been my life for nearly two months. In January, after the breaking-newsiest year in recent memory, I decided…

  • How Facebook Is Killing Comedy – Splitsider

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    [contentcards url=”http://splitsider.com/2018/02/how-facebook-is-killing-comedy/”] How Facebook Is Killing Comedy – Splitsider Facebook is essentially running a payola scam where you have to pay them if you want your own fans to see your content. If you run a large publishing company and you make a big piece of content that you feel proud of, you put it…

  • Tackling the Internet’s Central Villain: The Advertising Business – The New York Times

    Tackling the Internet’s Central Villain: The Advertising Business – The New York Times

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    Tackling the Internet’s Central Villain: The Advertising Business From Russian propaganda to tech addiction, the incentives and excesses of the digital ad business are the cause of much of what ails online discourse. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/technology/internet-advertising-business.html?partner=rss&emc=rss But the online ad machine is also a vast, opaque and dizzyingly complex contraption with underappreciated capacity for misuse —…

  • Goodbye, Contributor Network. And thanks for nothing | Poynter

    Goodbye, Contributor Network. And thanks for nothing | Poynter

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    Goodbye, Contributor Network. And thanks for nothing – Poynter From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers. via Poynter: https://www.poynter.org/news/goodbye-contributor-network-and-thanks-nothing When HuffPost announced on Jan. 18 that it was shutting down its unpaid contributor network, my freelancer’s heart grew…

  • HuffPost, Breaking From Its Roots, Ends Unpaid Contributions – The New York Times

    HuffPost, Breaking From Its Roots, Ends Unpaid Contributions – The New York Times

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    HuffPost, Breaking From Its Roots, Ends Unpaid Contributions The site was an early example of amateur journalism online, but it will dissolve its self-publishing platform in an attempt to minimize unverified stories. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/business/media/huffpost-unpaid-contributors.html?partner=rss&emc=rss The decision was rooted as much in a move to declutter the site as in Ms. Polgreen’s desire to focus on…

  • Facebook is done with quality journalism. Deal with it.

    Facebook is done with quality journalism. Deal with it.

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    Facebook is done with quality journalism. Deal with it. by Frederic Filloux via Medium: https://mondaynote.com/facebook-is-done-with-quality-journalism-deal-with-it-afc2475f1f84 For Facebook, journalism has been a pain in the neck from day one. Now, bogged down with the insoluble problems of fake news and bad PR, it’s clear that Facebook will gradually pull the plug on news. Publishers should stop…

  • Fickle Facebook demotes news in another blow to publishers | Poynter

    Fickle Facebook demotes news in another blow to publishers | Poynter

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    Fickle Facebook demotes news in another blow to publishers – Poynter From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers. via Poynter: https://www.poynter.org/news/fickle-facebook-demotes-news-another-blow-publishers Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last night that content from family and friends will be given…