Print MediaAnother milestone passed for newspapers: The Boston Globe is the first local newspaper to have more digital subscribers printNieman Lab - Joshua BentonAnother point of crossover that hints at a possible future. Earlier this month, with The Guardian’s remarkable turn to profitability, I noted that it had passed three milestones I’d consider critical the
Media Industry Election-related “junk news” still does well on Facebook, this European study findsNieman Lab - Christine SchmidtAs the U.S. media scrambles to do something different besides Youngstown, Ohio profiles of working class voters, the misinformation machines are alive and well in our neighbors across the pond. A study
Media Industry From Walkman to podcast: Sony Music moves into the podcast business, setting the stage for other music companiesNieman Lab - Nicholas QuahPlus: Running from zombies for profit, Comic Sans rises again, and Spotify has a “Car Thing.” Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 210, published May 21, 2019. Joint adventures.
Media Industry People lie about going to church and aren’t sure what “rural” means: Highlights from the latest in public opinion researchNieman Lab - Joshua BentonPlus: Best practices for election forecasts, why people don’t vote, and the connection between media consumption and media trust. This past weekend, the smart folks who try to figure out what the hell
Media Industry Winter may be coming for HBO’s streaming subscriptions, but it doesn’t have to for your news organizationNieman Lab - Joshua BentonOn the care of feeding of subscribers — and what happens when the thing they originally signed up for goes away. There is apparently a television program out there called “Game of Thrones” that is quite
Play buttonMedia Industry The power of journalism collaboration is also the power of inclusion — here’s how to harness itNieman Lab - Christine SchmidtAs resources (especially locally) in journalism recede, collaboration has emerged as a way to do more with more by sharing skills, networks, and other reporting tools for maximum impact. The third annual
Media Industry The 016, a social network for Worcester, seeks to become a “delivery boy and booster” for local mediaNieman Lab - Dan Kennedy“You can create the best journalism, but if you can’t get it to an audience, this is a problem.” Mark Henderson was getting ready to throw in the towel on his dreams of becoming a successful media entrepreneur.
Media IndustryFrom “climate change” to “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown”: The Guardian is changing the environmental language itNieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenHuman-caused climate change is arguably the largest crisis facing the world’s population of more than 7 billion, but news organizations have struggled to cover it adequately. “Newsroom managers have failed
Media Industry This is how an Iranian network created a “disinformation supply chain” to spread fake newsNieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenPlus: Whether Americans believe climate change is caused by humans depends on how you ask the question, and WhatsApp clones are getting around some restrictions designed to limit the spread of fake news.
Gannett Newsonomics: Gannett turns back Alden, but it’s just a hiccup before the big rollup in the skyNieman Lab - Ken DoctorThis hostile takeover didn’t work out. But the thinking of industry executives remains dominated by the inevitable merging of America’s big newspaper chains. It seems like a return to status quo ante.
Media Industry The BBC’s 50:50 Project shows equal gender representation in news coverage is achievable — even in traditionally male areasNieman Lab - Laura Hazard Owen“We’ve had a positive response from political parties who now accept that this is how BBC News operates and have been more imaginative in which spokespeople they put up for interview.” News organizations
Media Industry Why are so many people running for president and so few for mayor? Blame the media (and the Internet)Nieman Lab - Joshua BentonThe Internet has made people more interested in national elections and less interested in local ones. That’s shifted resources, attention, and aspirations to the presidency. You would need five cramped
Media Industry Local TV news is still growing (though consolidation’s impact is yet to come)Nieman Lab - Christine SchmidtWhile local TV is by no means perfect — see overblown crime coverage and the faux Momo challenge — it’s one of the most trusted sources of news in the United States. And for the second year in a row, to
Media Industry NewsMatch sums up its third year of helping nonprofit newsrooms raise moneyNieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenIn the last two months of 2018, more than 240,000 people gave money to nonprofit news organizations with help from NewsMatch — and 52,000 of them were donating to a nonprofit news organization for the
Media Industry U.S. journalism really has become more subjective and personal — at least some of itNieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenA deep linguistic analysis finds that newspapers today are a lot like newspapers 30 years ago. But TV news — especially cable news — has ramped up the emotion, the conversationality, and the arguing. easy
Media Industry Podcast episodes will now show up in Google searches. Helpful discovery mechanism or a shot in the Platform Wars?Nieman Lab - Nicholas QuahPlus: Spotify wants podcasts to be first-class citizens of its app, the state of indie podcast studios, and Howard Stern/Terry Gross is the most ambitious crossover event in history. Welcome to Hot Pod,
Media Industry Quartz, built on free distribution, has put its articles behind a paywallNieman Lab - Christine SchmidtBeing a Quartz Member ($100/year) will now be required for access to all of its stories — one more case of a quality publisher finding that advertising revenue isn’t enough to allow a readership without
Media Industry Here’s the state of Hispanic media today — and where it goes from hereNieman Lab - Christine Schmidt“This is a fickle country. They take you in one generation and want to deport you the next,” Alfredo Corchado, the Dallas Morning News’ Mexico-U.S. border correspondent, said at a conference about covering
Media Industry Assigned to the 2020 campaign trail? Consider a Google form on your way outNieman Lab - Christine Schmidt“I represent thousands of people who have told me they want to hear about this, and I happen to be the guy who’s paid to go on planes and dig up documents and ask these questions for them, because they’re
Media Industry So what is “digital journalism studies,” anyway? Is it its own thing?Nieman Lab - Joshua BentonA collection of scholars argue that digital journalism studies shouldn’t be considered a subset of journalism studies, but instead a separate field of its own. And they say they’re not just splitting One
Media Industry Most Americans have never spoken with a local journalist. Those who have are likely to be white.Nieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenSeventy-eight percent of Americans have never spoken with a local journalist at all, according to data highlighted by Pew on Friday — but of the 21 percent who say they have (1 percent didn’t answer),
Media IndustryBlack female gun owners, moderate Republicans, and Jewish Americans are among the groups that may be particular targets misinformationNieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenPlus: “Passive misinformation” is a problem for The Hill and other mainstream media outlets, and a closer look at some of the research projects Facebook is opening up to. The growing stream of reporting
Media Industry The Salt Lake Tribune wants to go nonprofit in a new and unproven way, and now the IRS will have its sayNieman Lab - Christine Schmidt and Joshua BentonIf the Tribune can pull it off, it could point the way forward for other metro newspapers with civic-minded owners. Nonprofit status has become a common business model for many news organizations just
Media Industry Is your organization thinking about membership? Take some ideas (and maybe some money) from the Membership Puzzle ProjectNieman Lab - Christine Schmidt“Subscribers pay their money and get access to a product. But members join the cause and participate because they believe in it.” Styli Charalambous was trying to think through some lightbulb moments.
Media Industry Across seven countries, the average price for paywalled news is about $15.75/monthNieman Lab - Felix Simon and Lucas GravesMore and more news organizations are implementing paywalls. A new report from the Reuters Institute for Journalism surveys the paywall landscape in 6 European countries and the U.S. “Let’s enjoy it while
Media Industry Fact-checking can’t do much when people’s “dueling facts” are driven by values instead of knowledgeNieman Lab - David Barker and Morgan Marietta“Perhaps the most disappointing finding from our studies — at least from our point of view — is that there are no known fixes to this problem.” The Mueller report was supposed to settle, once and for the
Media Industry “Why should I tell you?” A new guide aims to make reporting on communities less “extractive”Nieman Lab - Joshua Benton“Journalists love to deceive ourselves about how important our work is because it makes us feel better about doing sometimes morally ambiguous things.” “Extractive” is a tough word. “Extractive” evokes
ParentingThe New York Times launches its (evidence-driven, non-judgy) Parenting vertical, with an eye toward making it a subscriptionNieman Lab - Laura Hazard Owen“We wanted to be as useful as possible to people in as many different situations as possible.” Over about five years, The New York Times developed its Cooking product from a bunch of unmonetized recipes
Media IndustryPublishers love getting affiliate revenue from their reviews. So is it okay for Amazon to pay to get more of those reviewsNieman Lab - Laura Hazard OwenThis might be a rare instance of the goals of a platform genuinely aligning with the goals of a publisher — or another case of publishers’ revenue streams being at the mercy of a tech company’s priorities.
Media Industry Planting seeds: The new Podfund wants to invest in early-stage podcastsNieman Lab - Caroline CramptonPlus: Luminary fixes its link issue, an NPR snafu blows up your podcast app, and how a British soccer show went indie. Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 208, published May
