Need to Know
Thursday, March 2, 2023
Useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism
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You might have heard . . .
Fox Leaders wanted to break from Trump but struggled to make it happen (New York Times)
. . . but did you know:
McCarthy defends giving Tucker Carlson Jan. 6 trove access (The Associated Press)
Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Fox News host Tucker Carlton exclusive access to 42,000 hours of sensitive Capitol Police footage from the January 6, 2021 attack on the White House. McCarthy defended his decision this week, stating that he would make the footage available to the broader public “as soon as possible,” but confirmed that Fox has exclusive access. The release of the footage has raised concerns about Fox’s use of it to rewrite the history of what happened during the attack, as well as the exposure of security operations within the Capitol.
+ Noted: Local publishers, Deloitte to create business content for diverse audiences (Local Media Consortium); Challenging journalistic objectivity: How journalists of color call for a reckoning (Journalism Journal)
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Join us to reimagine local opinion journalism
API is continuing to help news organizations reimagine local opinion journalism to promote healthier civic discourse and to better understand its role in news business sustainability. To gather and advance solutions, we will hold an API Local News Summit on Opinion, Civic Discourse and Sustainability on April 12-13 in Austin, Texas. If you have ideas about or experience in how local opinion sections can build new products for diverse audiences, use community engagement to support civic discourse and expand its revenue opportunities, we’d like to hear from you.
How the Border Belt Independent provides deep-dives for North Carolina newsrooms (Better News)
Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: As a digital news start-up, the Border Belt Independent partners with local newspapers to provide them with long-form stories at no cost. It helps grow their audience and provides them with in-depth reporting their readers expect.
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Revolt’s Detavio Samuels says advertisers have fallen short on commitments to Black-owned media companies (Digiday)
Three years after advertisers vocalized goals to support Black-owned media companies, the money from agencies hasn’t materialized. Detavio Samuels, CEO of Revolt, said the momentum has not led to advertisers making good on the promises they made — and that’s unlikely to change with fears of cutbacks looming. Despite advertisers’ support, Revolt’s revenue has continued to grow, and its digital revenue has surpassed its linear TV revenue.
+ What’s next for Time after 100 years? Time Studios now accounts for 25 percent of the publisher's revenue. (Hollywood Reporter)
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How to bring your cultural identity to work (Knowledge at Wharton)
When cultural minority employees talk about their race, ethnicity, or nationality in meaningful ways with colleagues, it can lead to more inclusivity — but that’s often easier said than done. Moving beyond the superficial and revealing parts of the inner self that are connected to cultural identity can increase inclusivity and professional opportunities. Managers can help encourage this in an inclusive way by ensuring cultural expression is voluntary, create safe spaces for minority workers to express themselves, share their own personal information, show engagement and focus on listening and learning.
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German publisher Axel Springer says journalists could be replaced by AI (The Guardian)
German media group Axel Springer, which owns German newspapers Bild and Die Welt as well as Politico, is eyeing AI and ChatGPT to help its transition to become a purely digital media company. In an internal letter to employees, Alex Springer’s CEO said the adoption of AI will pair with staff cuts, while remaining journalists will focus on investigative journalism and original commentary.
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I gave into the new Twitter algorithm and I went way too viral (Substack, Garbage Day)
Journalist Ryan Broderick saw declining engagement on Twitter once the For You tab was launched. He had a hunch that the algorithm used accounts tagged for Twitter Topics, boosted tweets that talked about viral content, and prioritized accounts that reply to their own tweets — something Elon Musk does regularly. Broderick started sharing content using these rules, and went viral overnight following a thread on Marvel movies. Now, he says, he understands how Twitter’s algorithm works, but a bunch of Marvel fans are mad at him and he’s still unclear how he can use that to promote his Substack.
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Is there a future for video games journalism? (Nieman Lab)
Although the video game industry is booming, journalists covering the video game industry are finding themselves unemployed as games media is shrinking or shuttering. Many games reporters and teams are the first to go when news outlets need to cut budgets, fueling the discrepancy between the impact of video games and its coverage. Video game reporters at dedicated outlets such as Launcher and Kotaku note that success requires leadership that funds and supports the niche coverage, and trust that ongoing video game coverage will pay off.
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