Old media and new media – part 2

I write about issues going on in transition from traditional print media to on-line digital media in my posting Old media and digital media – part 1. This post is a continuation to it. The situation does not look too good for traditional media. Traditional media has been able to solve it’s challenges with aggregation or pay-wall. The future seems to be quite bad for traditional print media that can’t adapt to changed situation.

Despite two decades of trying, no one has found a way to make traditional news-gathering sufficiently profitable to assure its future survival. Only about a third of Americans under 35 look at a newspaper even once a week, and the percentage declines every year. A large portion of today’s readers of the few remaining good newspapers are much closer to the grave than to high school. Today’s young people skitter around the Internet. Audience taste seems to be changing, with the result that among young people particularly there is a declining appetite for the sort of information packages the great newspapers provided.

What is the future of media? There is an interesting article on future of media written in Finnish on this:  Median tulevaisuus ja 13 trendiä – mitä media on vuonna 2030? It shows 13 trends that I have here translated to English, re-arranged, added my comments and links to more information to them. In 2030, the media will look very different than today.  

The new gerations no longer want to pay for the media: Since the same information, benefits, entertainment provided free of charge, they are not prepared to pay. Older generations support the traditional media for some time, but they are smaller each year. Media consumption continues to rapidly change, and advertisers will follow suit digital and mobile channels, which will affect the media sales because advertisers no longer need the intermediary role of the media companies to communicate with their customers.

This does not look good for media companies, but situation even worse than that: When media personnel, production and distribution costs are rising every year and so the order than the ad revenue will be reduced year by year, deprivation twist to push media companies to the rest of the best authors, owners become impatient and expected returns are reducedCompanies are moving their marketing investment priorities for the purchased media.Corporate communications professionals continues to grow and the number of suppliers will continue to fall.

Technological developments enhance the above trends: Technology eliminates  the barriers to entry to the traditional media sector and at the same time create new sectors. Technological media competition winner takes all because new scalable technology to create competitive advantages. Very many news writing tasks can be automated with near real-time and reliable enough translation technology The media world is undergoing a wholesale shift from manual processes to automated systems that strip out waste and inefficiency (The Future of Programmatic: Automation + Creativity + Scale).

Strong continuous technological change and automation mean that media consumption will continue to change for the next decade at least as strong as the previous ten years, whether we like it or not. Critical journalism makes searching for new alternative ways to do their work and to fund its work.

Media’s direction is sure to bring, and an ever increasing rate - in an increasingly digital, more mobile, more and more tailor-made …  The newspapers will be read mostly on mobile devices. Information is obtained much earlier, in an increasingly digital and real-time. A lot has changed now already. 

871 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Axel Springer boss defends Facebook in fake news controversy
    Zuck finds a friend
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/02/axel_springer_boss_defends_facebook_in_fake_news_controversy/

    One of Silicon Valley’s harshest and most powerful critics has leapt to its defence over the “fake news” controversy.

    Mathias Döpfner, CEO of the German giant publishing group Axel Springer says Facebook must retain the liability privileges it enjoys as an internet platform – rather than be reclassified as a publisher.

    Döpfner carries the kind of weight in publishing that Martin Sorrell enjoys in advertising. Policy makers jump – at least in Europe – and the rest of the industry takes it cue.

    he thinks platforms should remain platforms, without the liabilities of publishers. Turning Facebook into a media giant “would be completely the wrong approach, for many reasons,” he now opines.

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Facebook:
    Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube will create a database to share hashes of terrorist images and recruitment videos removed from their services — Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are coming together to help curb the spread of terrorist content online.

    Partnering to Help Curb Spread of Online Terrorist Content
    http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/12/partnering-to-help-curb-spread-of-online-terrorist-content/

    Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are coming together to help curb the spread of terrorist content online. There is no place for content that promotes terrorism on our hosted consumer services. When alerted, we take swift action against this kind of content in accordance with our respective policies.

    Starting today, we commit to the creation of a shared industry database of “hashes” — unique digital “fingerprints” — for violent terrorist imagery or terrorist recruitment videos or images that we have removed from our services. By sharing this information with each other, we may use the shared hashes to help identify potential terrorist content on our respective hosted consumer platforms. We hope this collaboration will lead to greater efficiency as we continue to enforce our policies to help curb the pressing global issue of terrorist content online.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tweet analysis of #SLUSH2016
    https://themartti.wordpress.com/2016/12/05/tweet-analysis-of-slush16/

    Desktop is the new print.
    Mobile is the new black.
    Data is the new oil.
    And this is just a beginning…change is the only constant.

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
    Ipsos survey: about 75% of US adults who remembered a particular fake headline believed it; nearly 33% recalled seeing at least one fake headline from election — Fake news headlines fool American adults about 75% of the time, according to a large-scale new survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for BuzzFeed News.

    Most Americans Who See Fake News Believe It, New Survey Says
    https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fake-news-survey?utm_term=.gq56JZQyq#.wt7n5l9Yo

    An exclusive Ipsos poll conducted for BuzzFeed News found that 75% of American adults who were familiar with a fake news headline viewed the story as accurate.

    The survey also found that people who cite Facebook as a major source of news are more likely to view fake news headlines as accurate than those who rely less on the platform for news.

    The new data comes from an online survey of 3,015 US adults conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.

    “The 2016 election may mark the point in modern political history when information and disinformation became a dominant electoral currency,” said Chris Jackson of Ipsos Public Affairs, which conducted the survey on behalf of BuzzFeed News. “Public opinion, as reflected in this survey, showed that ‘fake news’ was remembered by a significant portion of the electorate and those stories were seen as credible.”

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Alex Hern / The Guardian:
    Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says he has “complicated” feelings over Donald Trump’s use of the service, especially as it puts a spotlight on the company — Jack Dorsey says he has mixed feelings about the president-elect’s use of the social media service

    Twitter founder feels ‘complicated’ about Donald Trump’s tweeting
    Jack Dorsey says he has mixed feelings about the president-elect’s use of the social media service
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/07/twitter-donald-trump-tweeting-jack-dorsey

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mark Scott / New York Times:
    European Commission report: IT companies, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft only review 40% of material flagged as hate speech within 24 hours — European officials pushed on Tuesday for American technology giants to do more to tackle online hate speech across the region …

    Europe Presses American Tech Companies to Tackle Hate Speech
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/technology/europe-hate-speech-facebook-google-twitter.html?_r=0

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
    As media faces more criticism and fake news causes real trouble, it’s tempting to tune out, but this moment requires keen awareness and critical thinking — In another strange time in American history, the counterculture guru Timothy Leary urged people to “turn on, tune in, drop out.”

    Sick of the news? This is no time to tune out.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sick-of-the-news-this-is-no-time-to-tune-out/2016/12/08/97ff1e70-bd61-11e6-91ee-1adddfe36cbe_story.html?utm_term=.040bbacc46f8

    In another strange time in American history, the counterculture guru Timothy Leary urged people to “turn on, tune in, drop out.”

    Five decades later, it’s time for quite a different formula. In the era of fake news causing real trouble, and of the news media under fire for sins both justified and exaggerated, the better advice is this: Tune in and stay that way.

    Since the election of Donald Trump one month ago, and the rush of news that has followed, I’ve heard many people say they need to take a break from what’s happening day-to-day.

    Call it news fatigue. They don’t want to hear the latest upsetting developments: For example, the president-elect has nominated for national security adviser a general who pushes conspiracy theories, and a climate change denier to head the EPA. And, separate from the news itself, many people don’t trust the media to be an impartial messenger.

    As if more proof were necessary of the pollution in the media ecosystem, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg agreed, in a TV appearance Thursday, that fake news and willful propaganda are a serious issue, and that social media platforms need to take action.

    What’s a responsible citizen to do?

    There are positive signs that some Americans are tuning in. The New York Times and The Washington Post say subscriptions have soared since the election. The investigative outfit ProPublica, as well as other journalism nonprofit groups, report a flood of donations.

    None of this is to suggest that the mainstream media, the “legacy press,” is faultless.

    Keen awareness — and critical thinking — will matter more than ever in the days ahead. It might be tempting, but whatever you do, don’t drop out.

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Shan Wang / Nieman Lab:
    Wall Street Journal grows digital subscriptions from 948K in August to 1M+ now, pitching subscriptions when staffers or subscribers share non-paywalled links — Despite a bad fall shadowed by news about ad revenue declines and layoffs, the Journal has ridden what seems to be a post-election wave of interest in paid media.

    The Wall Street Journal is confident its “bendier” paywall will draw the paying readers it needs to survive
    http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/the-wall-street-journal-is-confident-a-loosened-paywall-will-draw-the-paying-readers-it-needs-to-survive/

    Despite a bad fall shadowed by news about ad revenue declines and layoffs, the Journal has ridden what seems to be a post-election wave of interest in paid media. It’s counting on changes in paywall strategy to bring in even more digital subscribers.

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:
    A new study finds that the Associated Press’ automated coverage of company’s earnings releases has increased firms’ trading volume and liquidity — The Associated Press’ automated coverage of company’s earnings releases has increased firms’ trading volume and liquidity …

    The AP’s automated coverage of the stock market increases trading, a new study says
    http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/the-aps-automated-coverage-of-the-stock-market-increases-trading-a-new-study-says/

    The Associated Press’ automated coverage of company’s earnings releases has increased firms’ trading volume and liquidity, according to a new study that compared stock performance of companies that the AP only started covering after it began using algorithms to write earning report stories in 2014. (The AP collaborated with the study’s researchers.)

    By late 2015, the AP was covering more than 4,000 earnings report stories per quarter, up from about 400 before it began using algorithmically written stories.

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
    NBC News’ alert app Breaking News to shut down at the end of the year due to lack of revenue; all 20+ staff to remain on payroll until January 20 — Breaking News, the popular alert app from NBC News, is shutting down at the end of the year.

    Breaking News is shutting down
    http://www.poynter.org/2016/breaking-news-is-shutting-down/441896/

    Breaking News, the popular alert app from NBC News, is shutting down at the end of the year.

    The entire staff at Breaking News — more than 20 editors, developers and administrative staffers — will stay on payroll at NBC News until Jan. 20

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Casey Newton / The Verge:
    Facebook filed a patent last June for a system that partly uses machine learning to vet objectionable content; system could help remove fake news

    Facebook is patenting a tool that could help automate removal of fake news
    A project in the works since 2015
    http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/7/13868650/facebook-fake-news-patent-tool-machine-learning-content

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Peter Sterne / Politico:
    Experts: expansion of prosecutions using Espionage Act, started under Obama, could be a larger threat to media during Trump’s presidency than libel law changes

    Donald Trump’s Real Threat to the Press
    Worry about the Espionage Act, not libel laws.
    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trumps-real-threat-to-the-press-214517

    Anyone who doubts that Donald Trump could use the levers of the presidency to strike back at the media should talk to Chip Babcock.

    “There is no statute that says, if journalists break the law, they don’t have to pay for it,” Babcock told POLITICO, remembering the moment. “But there is a regulation that says, if you’re going to indict a journalist, we need the senior-most law enforcement officer of the United States to sign off on it.”

    “If [U.S. Attorney General Edwin] Meese had been willing to sign off, then I have no doubt whatsoever that the reporter would have been indicted and he would have gone to trial,” Babcock said.

    Would Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, be willing to approve an indictment of a journalist?

    But the incident illuminates the fact that the media relies to a degree not widely appreciated on support and cooperation from the Justice Department, among other government agencies, to perform its duties.

    Now, in the wake of Trump’s election to the presidency, many lawyers who represent journalists and media organizations are worried. While many reporters think their First Amendment rights guarantee a broad swath of freedom to operate professionally, many interactions between government and the press are lightly regulated and not specifically protected by the Constitution. They have persisted more out of tradition and potentially reversible regulations than through statutes. In other words, press protections as most have understood them over the past half century depend to a large degree on observance of longstanding political tradition.

    To say that Trump has certainly shown a willingness to disregard tradition when it comes to the media would be an understatement.

    What specifically could a Trump White House do to blunt the press’ check on his government?

    “I hate to give them a list of things to do!” Floyd Abrams, the legendary First Amendment attorney who represented The New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case, told POLITICO.

    But it’s not hard to guess.

    During the Obama administration, the Justice Department brought more criminal charges under the Espionage Act—a vague 1917 law that makes it illegal to share information related to national security—than it had under all previous presidents combined. It used the Espionage Act seven times against government employees who spoke to reporters. If Trump continues to aggressively prosecute reporters’ sources, it will make it much tougher for journalists to report on the government.

    This could be especially damaging to journalists because confidential sources and government leakers are likely to be the best source of exposing potential wrongdoing in Trump’s government.

    The Trump administration could even try to use the Espionage Act to bring criminal charges against journalists, according to First Amendment experts.

    No presidential administration in modern times has used the Espionage Act against journalists, but the Obama administration did come dangerously close once.

    “There is no First Amendment defense to criminal conduct,”

    Handman agreed that it would be difficult for the Trump administration to win an Espionage Act case against a journalist.

    Trump and his supporters could still exploit existing libel laws; even frivolous libel suits can cost a lot of money for news organizations to defend. Peter Thiel, a billionaire venture capitalist who is part of Trump’s transition committee, secretly bankrolled a number of libel and invasion of privacy lawsuits that effectively bankrupted Gawker Media.

    “That is a real danger, because the cost of defending these things is just out of sight,”

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
    Trump tweets another attack on the press on Monday, criticizes NBC Nightly News; it may have been in response to segment about Russian interference in election

    Trump Attacks NBC, CNN on Twitter: ‘So Biased, Inaccurate and Bad’ (UPDATED)
    http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-attacks-nbc-cnn-on-twitter-so-biased-inaccurate-and-bad/

    President-elect Donald Trump saw someone say something about him on TV that he didn’t approve of, so naturally, he’s making sure everyone on Twitter knows about it.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
    The Craig Newmark Foundation, charity founded by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, donates $1M to Poynter to fund faculty chair in journalism ethics position — Some exciting news on the homefront: The Craig Newmark Foundation, the charitable organization established by Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark …

    Craig Newmark Foundation gives Poynter $1 million to fund chair in journalism ethics
    http://www.poynter.org/2016/craig-newmark-foundation-gives-poynter-1-million-to-fund-chair-in-journalism-ethics/442301/

    Some exciting news on the homefront: The Craig Newmark Foundation, the charitable organization established by Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark, is giving Poynter $1 million to fund a faculty chair in journalism ethics.

    The gift will support a five-year program at Poynter that focuses on verification, fact-checking and accountability in journalism. It’s the largest donation Poynter’s ever received from an individual foundation.

    “I want to stand up for trustworthy journalism, and I want to stand against deceptive and fake news,” Newmark, founder of Craigslist and the Craig Newmark Foundation, said in a statement.

    Newmark’s gift comes at a challenging time for journalism. The spread of propaganda masquerading as news, turbocharged by social media, has led many to confuse fact with fiction. The flourishing of hyperpartisan news has further fragmented audiences, sowing mistrust of journalists reporting accurate information. Meanwhile, trust in the media is at an all-time low after an election result that was largely unforeseen by pundits and pollsters.

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: Prediction: under Trump presidency, big investigations will serve as fuel for the political divide, and DOJ guidelines regarding treatment of press will vanish

    Winter is coming: what it will be like for the press under Trump
    https://twitter.com/i/moments/808169181694849024

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
    The persistent questioning by CNN’s Jake Tapper of Mike Pence should be the rule on TV news, not the exception, as false assertions and deflections grow — Too often television news, especially on cable, serves as a megaphone for politicians who use it to forward lies and propaganda …

    In Trump Era, Uncompromising TV News Should Be the Norm, Not the Exception
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/business/media/rutenberg-donald-trump-tv-news-propaganda.html

    Too often television news, especially on cable, serves as a megaphone for politicians who use it to forward lies and propaganda while so effortlessly ignoring questions they’re supposedly there to answer.

    But every now and then, there are those happy exceptions.

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Adrienne LaFrance / The Atlantic:
    News outlets have simultaneously lost cultural power and the public’s trust, which represents both a cause and an effect of the fake-news problem

    The Cynical Gambit to Make ‘Fake News’ Meaningless
    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/12/the-fight-to-make-fake-news-meaningless/509888/

    As journalists push back against hoaxes and conspiracies, media skeptics are using charges of “fake news” against professionals.

    For a term that is suddenly everywhere, “fake news” is fairly slippery.

    Is “fake news” a reference to government propaganda designed to look like independent journalism? Or is it any old made-up bullshit that people share as real on the internet? Is “fake news” the appropriate label for a hoax meant to make a larger point? Does a falsehood only become “fake news” when it shows up on a platform like Facebook as legitimate news? What about conspiracy theorists who genuinely believe the outrageous lies they’re sharing? Or satire intended to entertain? And is it still “fake news” if we’re talking about a real news organization that unintentionally gets it wrong? (Also, what constitutes a real news organization anymore?)

    Finally, do any of these distinctions matter if the end result—widespread confusion and disagreement over what’s real and true—is the same? The problem, as many see it, is that the ubiquity of “fake news”—misinformation shared widely on Facebook, Reddit, YouTube, and elsewhere—is creating a culture of deception and deepening the country’s partisan divide.

    But if the proliferation of bad information online is indeed the dangerous driving force of a post-fact society—a society in which made-up stories inspire real incidents

    It’s no coincidence that the public’s faith in the media is abysmal at a moment when the institutions that were once our primary informational gatekeepers are no longer the only ones distributing the news. The fact that news outlets have simultaneously lost cultural power and the public’s trust represent both a cause and an effect of the fake-news problem: The idea that media can’t be trusted is bolstered by the ubiquity of alternative information sources, many of which aren’t credible themselves, which further diminishes trust of news sources overall.

    The distrust is so deep, the ideological lines so stark, that even reporting about fake news as a problem is being called into question by many of those who distrust the traditional media institutions reporting about it.

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Washington Post:
    An anatomy of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, as it mutated from an online rumor to a hashtag on social media to actual gunfire in Washington, DC

    Pizzagate: From rumor, to hashtag, to gunfire in D.C.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pizzagate-from-rumor-to-hashtag-to-gunfire-in-dc/2016/12/06/4c7def50-bbd4-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.ce432716dc18

    What was false were the rumors he had read, stories that crisscrossed the globe about a charming little pizza place that features ping-pong tables in its back room.

    The story of Pizzagate is about what is fake and what is real. It’s a tale of a scandal that never was, and of a fear that has spread through channels that did not even exist until recently.

    Welch did not shoot anyone in the disturbance on Connecticut Avenue NW, but he delivered a troubling message about the shattering of trust in a troubled time.

    The owner of 4chan, Hiroyuki Nishimura, said in an email to The Post that “Pizzagate reminds me that a country indicated [there were] stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and many people and countries were deceived. It is same old story.”

    “Some people, who believe they do something good, may be deceived by false information.” But, he said, their motive was good; they “did it for saving children.”

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Emoji translator wanted – London firm seeks specialist
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-38287908

    A company in London has advertised for an emoji translator in what is thought to be the first such job worldwide.

    The role will involve explaining cross-cultural misunderstandings in the use of the mini pictures, and compiling a monthly trends report.

    Agency boss Jurga Zilinskiene said emojis were a “potential growth area” as “inconsistencies” had developed in their use.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Powerless People of Aleppo Are Tweeting for Help
    https://www.wired.com/2016/12/powerless-people-aleppo-tweeting-help/

    “SaveAleppo,” the hashtag reads, but with every anguished tweet today its message seems more futile.

    The tweets come from civilians in the last rebel-held neighborhoods of Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo, and from those hoping in vain to help them from afar as government forces advance closer.

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
    Memo from publisher Fred Ryan: Washington Post is profitable, and traffic increased nearly 50% with digital subscription revenue more than doubling in past year

    The Washington Post is ‘profitable and growing,’ publisher says
    http://www.poynter.org/2016/the-washington-post-is-profitable-and-growing-publisher-says/442683/

    The Washington Post is a profitable and growing enterprise, the newspaper’s publisher announced in a memo to staffers Tuesday evening.

    Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 and invested $50 million into the newspaper in 2015, according to a June story from New York magazine.

    “On the subscription front, we’ve more than doubled digital subscription revenue in the past 12 months with a 75% increase in new subscribers since January.”

    Jeff has encouraged us to seek out “positive surprises” and to experiment in multiple ways. Today, we are witnessing progress as many of those experiments are yielding strong results.

    “In addition to reinforcing our belief that there is a viable business model in quality journalism, this will provide additional funding for several new initiatives that build upon the successes of this year.”

    “Our newsroom is larger this year than last year, and it will grow even more next year. Among the additions will be a new rapid-response investigative team, enhancing our already strong investigative unit. We will substantially expand our video journalism”

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:
    Infowars takes down some content that pushed Pizzagate conspiracy theory after one video was cited in a criminal complaint stemming from Washington DC shooting

    Alex Jones Scrubs Pizzagate Content; Complaint Reveals New Tie Connecting Shooter To Jones
    http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/12/13/alex-jones-scrubs-pizzagate-content-complaint-reveals-new-tie-connecting-shooter-jones/214809

    Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is scrubbing online content pushing the false and dangerous conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton’s campaign trafficked children through a D.C. pizzeria. A man who recently entered the pizzeria with a rifle and fired shots reportedly shared a piece of Jones’ content before the shooting; the video he shared is still on the website.

    Jones and his Infowars website have promoted the false conspiracy theory dubbed “pizzagate,” which alleges that top Clinton associates such as campaign manager John Podesta are trafficking children through the Comet Ping Pong restaurant.

    The false claims took a dangerous turn when Edgar Maddison Welch fired an assault rifle inside the pizzeria because he was trying to “self-investigate” the conspiracy theory.

    While Jones has removed content related to pizzagate, his website still contains false articles promoting the conspiracy theory.

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Backpage.com CEO and co-founders cleared of pimping charges
    A judge ruled the operators of the classified listings site could not be held accountable for users’ content
    http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/13/13934818/backpage-com-ceo-and-co-founders-cleared-of-pimping-charges

    The executives of classified listings site Backpage.com have been cleared of criminal charges relating to adult services advertised on the site. CEO Carl Ferrer and Backpage’s founders, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, faced various charges related to pimping and the pimping of minors, with prosecutors accusing the trio of profiting from prostitution and sex trafficking.

    It’s unlikely, though, that the site — or even just its adult section — will be closed under current legislation, which has repeatedly protected its creators from criminal charges.

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Felix Salmon / Nieman Lab:
    In 2017, headlines will matter more than ever and journalists will need to wrest control of headline writing from social-optimization teams

    Headlines matter
    http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/headlines-matter/

    “Even with the best-crafted headline in the world, for every person who clicks on it, there are hundreds, if not thousands, who see it, digest it, and simply move on. People get their news from headlines now in a way they never did in the past.”

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
    Commenting platform Disqus lays off 20% of its workforce, or 11 people, as it shifts business models to focus on data services for publishers and advertisers

    Disqus lays off 11 as it plans a deeper focus on data
    https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/13/disqus-lays-off-11-as-it-plans-a-deeper-focus-on-data/

    Some downsizing and refocusing is underway at Disqus, the startup incubated at Y-Combinator that became an early mover in the business of offering a plug-in to help online publishers manage comments on stories. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that the company has laid of 11 people, about 20 percent of its small staff, as it prepares to shift its business deeper into data services for publishers and advertisers.

    The cuts have been made in several departments, from sales through to engineering as part of the company “rebalancing” its priorities in light of that shift.

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
    Pew report: 64% of American adults believe fake news is sowing confusion about basic facts, while 23% of Americans say they’ve shared a made-up story

    Fake news is sowing confusion, two-thirds of Americans say
    http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/15/media/fake-news-pew-report/

    Nearly two-thirds of American adults (64%) believe that fabricated news stories have caused a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current events, a new report from the Pew Research Center says.

    “In the wake of the 2016 election, everyone from President Obama to Pope Francis has raised concerns about fake news and the potential impact on both political life and innocent individuals,” the Pew report states.

    “This sense is shared widely across incomes, education levels, partisan affiliations and most other demographic characteristics,” the report says.

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mike Isaac / New York Times:
    To fight fake news, Facebook tests easier hoax reporting, partners with fact checking organizations to flag disputed stories, more — For weeks, Facebook has faced questions about its role in spreading fake news. The intense scrutiny has caused internal divisions at the social network …
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/technology/facebook-fake-news.html

    Josh Constine / TechCrunch:15 minutes ago
    Facebook is relying on unpaid third-parties, such as Snopes and AP, to assess fake news, which will get a warning label and lower ranking in the News Feed — Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, and ABC News will help Facebook make good on four of the six promises Mark Zuckerberg …

    Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers
    https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-now-flags-and-down-ranks-fake-news-with-help-from-outside-fact-checkers/

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    New York Times:
    The New York Times launches a confidential tips page with secure communication channels for sources, including SecureDrop, Signal, and WhatsApp — A strong news tip will have several components.

    Got a confidential news tip?
    https://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2016/news-tips/

    Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. No communication system is completely secure, but these tools can help protect your anonymity.

    What Makes a Good Tip?

    A strong news tip will have several components. Documentation or evidence is essential. Speculating or having a hunch does not rise to the level of a tip. A good news tip should articulate a clear and understandable issue or problem with real-world consequences. Be specific. Finally, a news tip should be newsworthy. While we agree it is unfair that your neighbor is stealing cable, we would not write a story about it.

    Examples of good tips include:

    Here is evidence that this government representative is breaking the law.

    Here is proof that this company is conducting itself unethically.

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
    Fake stories flagged by two or more unpaid third-parties like Snopes and AP will get warning labels, lower ranking on News Feed, but will remain shareable — Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, ABC News, and AP will help Facebook make good on four of the six promises Mark Zuckerberg …

    Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers
    https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-now-flags-and-down-ranks-fake-news-with-help-from-outside-fact-checkers/

    Snopes, FactCheck.org, Politifact, ABC News, and AP will help Facebook make good on four of the six promises Mark Zuckerberg made about fighting fake news without it becoming “the arbiter of truth.” It will make fake news posts less visible, append warnings from fact checkers to fake news in the feed, make reporting hoaxes easier and disrupt the financial incentives of fake news spammers.

    “We’re not looking to get into the grey area of opinion,” Facebook’s VP of News Feed Adam Mosseri tells me. “What we are focusing on with this work is specifically the worst of the work — clear hoaxes that were shared intentionally, usually by spammers, for financial gain.”

    Oliver Darcy / Business Insider:
    Prominent conservatives express alarm at Facebook’s move against fake news, worrying their voices will be suppressed and fact checking won’t be applied evenly

    Conservatives react with swift alarm to Facebook’s announcement on combatting fake news
    http://nordic.businessinsider.com/facebook-fake-news-conservatives-2016-12?op=1&r=US&IR=T

    Conservatives reacted with alarm to Facebook’s announcement that it will partner with fact-checkers to combat so-called fake news, expressing extreme skepticism the fact-checking will be applied equally to both sides of the political spectrum.

    The social-media giant said Thursday it would draw on an international fact-checking network led by Poynter, a nonprofit school for journalism, to label and bury “fake news” in the news feed. Such outlets included Snopes, ABC News, and the Associated Press.

    “Fact-checkers all seem to be from the left,” tweeted Evan Siegfried, a Republican strategist. “Not good for conservatives.”

    Other conservatives quickly agreed, hammering Facebook for the move.

    Reply
  30. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Facebook to start putting warning labels on ‘fake news’
    http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/15/media/facebook-fake-news-warning-labels/

    Facebook says it will start applying warning labels to some “fake news” stories that users share on the social network.

    Articles that are known to be false — seemingly published with the intent to trick people — will be marked with what Facebook is calling a “flag.”

    Below the headline there will be a red label that says “disputed by 3rd Party Fact-Checkers.”

    Users will be able to click on a “learn why this is disputed” link to get more information.

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    International Fact-Checking Network fact-checkers’ code of principles
    http://www.poynter.org/fact-checkers-code-of-principles/

    The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter is committed to promoting excellence in fact-checking. We believe nonpartisan and transparent fact-checking can be a powerful instrument of accountability journalism; conversely, unsourced or biased fact-checking can increase distrust in the media and experts while polluting public understanding.

    By signing up to this code of principles, the fact-checking initiatives agree to produce a public report indicating how they have lived up to each of the five principles within a year from their signature, and once a year thereafter. The report will allow readers and others to judge to what extent the fact-checker is respecting the code of principles and will be linked to from this page.

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Oliver Darcy / Business Insider:
    Prominent conservatives express alarm at Facebook’s move against fake news, worrying their voices will be suppressed and fact checking won’t be applied evenly

    Conservatives react with swift alarm to Facebook’s announcement on combatting fake news
    http://nordic.businessinsider.com/facebook-fake-news-conservatives-2016-12?op=1&r=US&IR=T

    Conservatives reacted with alarm to Facebook’s announcement that it will partner with fact-checkers to combat so-called fake news, expressing extreme skepticism the fact-checking will be applied equally to both sides of the political spectrum.

    The social-media giant said Thursday it would draw on an international fact-checking network led by Poynter, a nonprofit school for journalism, to label and bury “fake news” in the news feed. Such outlets included Snopes, ABC News, and the Associated Press.

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    David Skok / Nieman Lab:
    Publishers could use machine learning, predictive and anticipatory analytics to give readers real-time, user-specific options instead of outdated paywalls — For over a decade, digital publishers have been wrestling with an existential strategic question: Should we pursue consumer or advertising revenue as our primary revenue stream?

    What lies beyond paywalls
    http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/what-lies-beyond-paywalls/

    “We can combine machine learning, predictive, and anticipatory analytics to optimize the value exchanged from this reader, on this device, coming from this platform, on this article, at this exact moment in time.”

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Molly de Aguiar / Nieman Lab:
    Philanthropists for news should provide operating support with no strings attached and encourage newsrooms to take creative risks, collaborate with partners — 2017 is the year that philanthropy stops asking, “Why should we fund news and information?” and starts asking, “How do we get started?”

    Philanthropists galvanize around news
    “Foundations should provide operating and project support with few or no strings attached.”
    http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/philanthropists-galvanize-around-news/

    Reply
  35. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Jack Shafer / Politico:
    Newspapers failed to compete with Craigslist on price and product quality — It’s fun to beat up on Craig Newmark for the end of classifieds, but papers were greedy, too. — The journalistic world’s sniping at Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, recommenced yesterday after he announced …

    Don’t Blame Craigslist for the Decline of Newspapers
    It’s fun to beat up on Craig Newmark for the end of classifieds, but papers were greedy, too.
    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/craigslist-newspapers-decline-classifieds-214525

    The journalistic world’s sniping at Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, recommenced yesterday after he announced on Twitter his $1 million donation to a Poynter Institute fund for ethics in journalism. Although the response to Newmark’s tweet was overwhelmingly positive, some chastised him by reprising the notion that journalism is in trouble precisely because Newmark’s Craigslist had pirated away its classified business and gutted its business model.

    The closure of the Washington Star provides the best illustration of how newspapers put the screws to their classified customers.

    Newspaper executives did everything they could to protect this rent-collecting franchise. In 1980, when AT&T proposed the easing of regulations so it could create an “electronic yellow pages,” the newspaper publishers counterattacked.

    Charging monopoly prices has a way of placing a target on your back. As the Web expanded, the newspaper giants didn’t sit on their hands as new competitors like eBay, Monster and RealEstate.com arrived. The newspaper companies partnered to create national advertising verticals in a variety of categories.

    In other words, the newspaper giants did the same thing as Craigslist—they sought to exploit the Web. But newspapers didn’t do the Web quite as well as Craigslist, a stripped-down bulletin board, which didn’t break out of its San Francisco base until 2000. More important, the newspaper giants didn’t produce as good a product as Craigslist

    The decline of the newspaper is a multigenerational, multicausal phenomenon. Newspapers have been declining since the arrival of radio in the 1920s, with a steady attrition of total titles and per capita consumption over the years. The remaining newspapers were profitable only as long as they could demand monopoly advertising rates, and as long as the kinds of retailers that benefit most from newspaper ads—namely department stores—remained healthy. But as department stores have faded and the arrival of new editorial and entertainment competition on the internet, the newspaper has been unable to dominate as it once did. When the demise of the newspaper business is written, Craig Newmark won’t be the whole book. He’ll be just a short chapter.

    Reply
  36. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
    Zuckerberg, after saying Facebook is not a media company in August, now suggests it is a media firm, just not a “traditional” one — Mark Zuckerberg gave new insights about how he sees Facebook’s role in informing the world today during a Live video one-on-one year-end chat with COO Sheryl Sandberg.

    Zuckerberg implies Facebook is a media company, just “not a traditional media company”
    https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/21/fbonc/

    Reply
  37. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Arrow buys EE Times, EDN, TechOnline and lots more from UBM
    http://www.publitek.com/news/arrow-buys-ee-times-edn-lots-ubm/

    Will the sale of EE Times and EDN mark the beginning of the end for B2B electronics trade media?
    http://www.publitek.com/news/will-the-sale-of-ee-times-and-edn-mark-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-b2b-electronics-publishing/

    Reply
  38. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
    After years of rejecting the “media company” label, Twitter is hiring Periscope editors, broadcasting news alerts, and airing premium live video

    Twitter Embraces Its Role As A Media Company
    https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/twitter-embraces-its-role-as-a-media-company

    After years of rejecting the “media company” label, Twitter is indulging in some decidedly media company behaviors — hiring editors, broadcasting breaking news notifications, and airing premium live video.

    If you’re wondering whether Twitter views itself as a media company or not, take a look at its careers page.

    Twitter Careers currently displays three open roles for editors, and another for an associate producer for online video. According to Twitter’s job descriptions, editors — who will work on the company’s Periscope video product — should be “experienced multi-lingual media junkie[s].” Meanwhile, qualified producer candidates must “know how to get a show ‘on air’ and keep it there.”

    Reply
  39. Tomi Engdahl says:

    George Slefo / Ad Age:
    IAB report: digital ad revenue climbed 20% year over year to $17.6B in Q3 — Digital advertising is on a relentless path toward gobbling up more ad dollars, with marketers spending a record-breaking $17.6 billion on digital in the third quarter of 2016. That represents a 20% year-over-year increase …

    IAB Advertising Report Finds Marketers Can’t Stop Spending On Digital
    http://adage.com/article/digital/iab-digital-advertising-revenue-breaks-record-q3/307300/

    Digital advertising is on a relentless path toward gobbling up more ad dollars, with marketers spending a record-breaking $17.6 billion on digital in the third quarter of 2016. That represents a 20% year-over-year increase, according to a report released Wednesday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

    Reply
  40. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Nausicaa Renner / Columbia Journalism Review:
    Publishers grapple with notifications, which have traffic-driving potential but lack some usage data, as news alerts become more complex — Imagine, for just a moment, that you do not compulsively visit nytimes.com every morning on your desktop to read the Morning Briefing.

    ‘A very blunt instrument’: The potential and power of mobile notifications
    http://www.cjr.org/tow_center/mobile_notifications_changing_new_york_times.php

    Imagine, for just a moment, that you do not compulsively visit nytimes.com every morning on your desktop to read the Morning Briefing.

    Imagine, less plausibly, that you don’t even get news from Facebook. But you did download someone’s news app long ago, and every once in awhile, you get a breaking news alert on your homescreen. What would your sense of the news be?

    With reports of fake news on the rise, the industry is becoming painfully aware that we know little about our readers’ news diets. While any outlet can cite traffic numbers or confirm Facebook is its greatest source of readers, the reading habits of any given individual remain obscure. What pieces of information do people weave together to form narratives of current events?

    As we begin to build this picture, one thing is clear: Smartphones are becoming ever more central to people’s contact with the media. Two-thirds of weekend news reading is now done on smartphones and tablets, according to research from Parse.ly, an analytics company. And push notifications—the alerts that show up on the lockscreen—are a major draw for readers. A third of Americans receive news alerts

    click through on them “about half the time.”

    But push notifications are not news stories. They are snippets often written on deadline, akin to headlines that deliver the jist of a complicated event but little more. Yet there’s growing anecdotal evidence to suggest that readers may view news alerts as standalone stories, taking them at face value without clicking through to read more. “I would bet money that most users read most alerts to get general awareness of what’s going on in news, but open and tap on only a handful of them,”

    Publishers must grapple with a related problem: what to do when a notification gets the story wrong, or otherwise needs updating?

    Providing too much detail in an alert can also obscure the significance of its content.

    In addition, when news organizations send out notifications, a lot can go wrong technically—and the outlets may not even know about it.

    Reply
  41. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tom Rosenstiel / The force behind the Forces:
    To cover Trump, journalists should adapt while not losing faith in their professional principles

    What the post-Trump debate over journalism gets wrong
    We don’t need journalists to hold fast or change everything, but a little of both
    https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-the-debate-over-journalism-post-trump-gets-wrong/

    Reply
  42. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A journalist is suing U.S. spy agencies for more details on Russia’s hacking of the U.S. election
    http://www.recode.net/2016/12/27/14088808/russia-hacking-trump-election-journalist-sues-foia-leopold-shapiro-cia-fbi

    The CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.

    A lawsuit was filed yesterday against the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for failure to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records pertaining to Russian interference with the recent U.S. presidential election.

    Jason Leopold, an investigative reporter who frequently writes for Vice, and Ryan Shapiro, a PhD candidate at MIT and research affiliate at Harvard who is known for his activism around the release of government records, filed the lawsuit after never receiving word as to whether or not their petition for expedited processing of their information request would be granted.

    Specifically, the FOIA requests seek information Congress may have received to or from federal intellegence agencies that reference terms like CrowdStrike, Fancy Bear, Guccifer 2.0, related IP addresses and other terms that surfaced in relation to the hacking of campaign-related systems in the run-up to the campaign. Leopold and Shapiro are also requesting communications between FBI director James Comey and the White House about publically accusing Russia of interfering with the election.

    Reply
  43. Tomi Engdahl says:

    For Fact-Checking Website Snopes, a Bigger Role Brings More Attacks
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/25/technology/for-fact-checking-website-snopes-a-bigger-role-brings-more-attacks.html?_r=0

    The last line of defense against the torrent of half-truths, untruths and outright fakery that make up so much of the modern internet is in a downscale strip mall near the beach.

    Snopes, the fact-checking website, does not have an office designed to impress, or even be noticed. A big sign outside still bears the name of the previous tenant, a maker of underwater headphones. Inside there’s nothing much — a bunch of improvised desks, a table tennis table, cartons of Popchips and cases of Dr Pepper. It looks like a dot-com on the way to nowhere.

    Appearances deceive. This is where the muddled masses come by the virtual millions to establish just what the heck is really going on in a world turned upside down.

    Did Donald J. Trump say on Twitter that he planned to arrest the “Saturday Night Live” star Alec Baldwin for sedition? Has Hillary Clinton quietly filed for divorce? Was Mr. Trump giving Kanye West a cabinet position? And was Alan Thicke, the star of “Growing Pains,” really dead?

    All untrue, except for the demise of Mr. Thicke, which was easily verifiable.

    “Rationality seems to have fallen out of vogue,” said Brooke Binkowski, Snopes’s managing editor. “People don’t know what to believe anymore. Everything is really strange right now.”

    That is certainly true at Snopes itself. For 20 years, the site was dedicated to urban legends, like the purported existence of alligators in New York City sewers, and other benign misinformation.

    One way to chart Snopes’s increasing prominence is by measuring the rise in fake news about the site itself. If you believe the internet, the founder of Snopes, David Mikkelson, has a longer rap sheet than Al Capone.

    The underlying message of these spurious attacks is that the movement to fact-check the internet is a left-wing conspiracy whose real goal is to censor the right, and therefore must be resisted at all costs.

    But the role of fake news and misinformation in Mr. Trump’s surprise win quickly reached a fever pitch, prompting questions about the extent to which Facebook, where many of these bogus stories were shared, had influenced the election. Reluctantly, the social media giant was forced to act.

    “We don’t have any inflated sense of self-importance at Snopes,” he said. “People are always telling us, ‘You’re deviating from your mission.’ My response is: ‘We don’t have a mission. We just do what we do.’”

    The remedy, she and Ms. Binkowski feel, is more traditional journalism.

    “People aren’t necessarily getting the media literacy they need, so they’re just kind of panicking,” Ms. LaCapria said.

    Reply
  44. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:
    In 2016 Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, others acknowledged they are not just neutral platforms and began tackling issues like discrimination, harassment, fake news

    2016: The Year We Stopped Listening To Big Tech’s Favorite Excuse
    https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/2016-the-year-we-stopped-listening-to-big-techs-favorite-exc

    For a time, “We’re just a platform” was a handy excuse for the unexpected consequences of Silicon Valley’s most important companies. But this year it stopped working.

    For years, Silicon Valley’s biggest platforms have thrown their collective hands in the air amid controversies and declared, “We’re just a technology company.” This excuse, along with “We’re only the platform” is a handy absolution for the unexpected consequences of their creations. Facebook used the excuse to shrug off fake news concerns. Airbnb invoked it to downplay reports of racial discrimination on its platform. Twitter hid behind platform neutrality for years even as it was overrun with racist and sexist trolls. Uber even used the tech company argument in a European court to avoid having to comply with national transportation laws.

    But in 2016, Big Tech’s well-practiced excuse became less effective. The idea that their enormous and deeply influential platforms are merely a morally and politically neutral piece of the internet’s infrastructure — much like an ISP or a set of phone lines — that should remain open, free, and unmediated simply no longer makes ethical or logical sense.

    In 2016, more than any year before it, our world was shaped by the internet. It’s where Donald Trump subverted the media and controlled the news cycle.

    This spring, Facebook dismissed the notion that it has any institutional biases when Gizmodo published leaked internal communications that suggested employees were floating ways in which the platform could be used to stop Trump’s bid to the White House

    Similarly, when Gizmodo reported that the company’s Trending Topics team suppressed conservative news, the company denounced the actions and fired the team: Such bias, Facebook said, was unacceptable for a pure technology company

    And post-election, in response to claims that it allowed political misinformation to spread unchecked, Facebook argued that it was not a media company but a technology company. No matter that it pulled in more than $6 billion in advertising revenue in just the second quarter of 2016. Facebook claimed it was a “crazy idea” that the very same platform that has unmatched influence over its billion users’ spending habits also had influence over those same users’ political decisions.

    Also in 2016, Facebook rolled out a live video tool that gave nearly 2 billion people the ability to broadcast from their phones in real time.

    Both Twitter and Reddit repeatedly suggested that they are global town squares and open public forums and thus ought not to be moderated except in extreme cases. Like Facebook, they refused to see themselves as media companies or publishing platforms, despite being powerful tools for news, publishing, and politicians

    It’s not just the online platforms. Startups like Uber and Airbnb, which are powered by tech but operate almost exclusively in the physical world, drew ire for invoking the “tech company” excuse.

    For years, Silicon Valley’s biggest companies have been telling us they plan to reshape our lives online and off. But 2016 was the year that we really started taking those claims seriously. And now, in a world where Donald Trump can ascend to the highest office buoyed by fake news and 5 a.m. tweetstorms, and platforms like Uber and Airbnb have shown themselves vulnerable to the whims of some prejudiced users, there’s an emerging expectation of accountability for the platforms that are reshaping our world daily.

    In other words, trotting out the “But we’re just a digital platform” excuse as a quick and easy abdication of responsibility for the perhaps unforeseen — but maybe also inevitable — consequences of Big Tech’s various creations is fast becoming a nonstarter.

    Reply
  45. Tomi Engdahl says:

    James Risen / New York Times:
    Obama’s record of going after both journalists and sources has set a dangerous precedent that Trump can exploit — WASHINGTON — If Donald J. Trump decides as president to throw a whistle-blower in jail for trying to talk to a reporter, or gets the F.B.I. to spy on a journalist …

    If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/if-donald-trump-targets-journalists-thank-obama.html

    If Donald J. Trump decides as president to throw a whistle-blower in jail for trying to talk to a reporter, or gets the F.B.I. to spy on a journalist, he will have one man to thank for bequeathing him such expansive power: Barack Obama.

    Mr. Trump made his animus toward the news media clear during the presidential campaign, often expressing his disgust with coverage through Twitter or in diatribes at rallies. So if his campaign is any guide, Mr. Trump seems likely to enthusiastically embrace the aggressive crackdown on journalists and whistle-blowers that is an important yet little understood component of Mr. Obama’s presidential legacy.

    Reply
  46. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Kurt Wagner / Recode:
    Jack Dorsey says Twitter is “thinking a lot” about an edit-tweet button, also considering bookmarks, better threading, and multiple interest-based timelines — He also wants to know what else you want him to build. — You’ve probably dreamed of directing Twitter’s product strategy — well, here’s your chance!

    Twitter’s Jack Dorsey is ‘thinking a lot about’ an edit-tweet button
    He also wants to know what else you want him to build.
    http://www.recode.net/2016/12/29/14117188/twitters-jack-dorsey-edit-tweet-product-ideas

    Reply
  47. Tomi Engdahl says:

    NPR Extra:
    How NPR One app delivers relevant stories via algorithmic personalization but adds serendipity, double checks your preferences via occasional random suggestions — Algorithms are a crucial part of how the news reaches you in a digital world. But we know many people find them opaque and controversial.

    The Secret Sauce Behind NPR One: An Editorially Responsible Algorithm
    http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2016/12/21/505315422/secret-sauce-npr-one-algorithm

    Reply
  48. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Oliver Darcy / Business Insider:
    A fake news problem is emerging among left-leaning media outlets as they jump on thin or false stories that reinforce a political point or play into a narrative

    The left’s emerging ‘fake news’ problem
    http://www.businessinsider.com/fake-news-left-liberal-problem-2016-12?op=1&r=US&IR=T&IR=T

    It was the latest in a trend of left-leaning media outlets running with a story riddled with misinformation, incidentally walking into a “fake news” trap they have vigorously cautioned against since President-elect Donald Trump won the November election.

    Since Trump’s unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president, many in the media have focused on the prevalence of “fake news” and how it could have swayed some individuals to vote for the Republican businessman.

    Conservatives have met the narrative with extreme skepticism. They argue that, while not fabricated out of thin air, much of the news reported by the so-called mainstream media is inaccurate or, as they characterize it, its own form of “fake news.”

    “We need left criticism of mainstream assumptions now more than ever,” Flaherty said. “I just don’t want the information underpinning it to be untrue.”

    ‘Chasing the viral dragon’

    Not everyone is convinced, however, that the aforementioned examples of misinformation were driven by ideology. Instead, the other view goes, the misleading stories were the natural result of today’s fast-paced news environment in which news outlets are competing with others for clicks and shares.

    ‘Facts are secondary’

    If a story fits the preferred narrative, they say, the story is treated with far less skepticism and allowed to pass through into the ether. If it doesn’t, it undergoes a vigorous fact-checking process that waters down its claims.

    “False stories on Facebook are worrisome,” Maggie Gallagher recently wrote for National Review, the nation’s premier conservative magazine, “but the mainstream media’s own distortion of truth is worse.”

    Reply
  49. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dan Rys / Billboard:
    Source: Facebook is working on a system to find and remove videos with copyrighted music, is in preliminary licensing talks with major record labels

    Facebook Developing Copyright ID System to Stem Music Rights Infringement
    http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7639969/facebook-developing-copyright-id-system-music-rights-infringement

    As Facebook continues to grapple with its role in proliferating “fake news” amidst the heated U.S. election this year, it has another showdown looming on the horizon — this one with the music industry. In the wake of NMPA president/CEO David Israelite’s op-ed in Billboard in October, in which he called out the social media giant for hosting videos with copyrighted music without securing licensing deals or paying creators, Facebook is working to develop a copyright identification system — similar to YouTube’s Content ID — that would find and remove videos containing copyrighted music, a source tells Billboard. The story was first reported by the Financial Times.

    Reply

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