The Washington Post / Will Oremus
The New York Times / Michael M. Grynbaum
For once, the British tabloids held back. It didn’t make a difference. →“…London newspapers pioneered the celebri-fication of the House of Windsor, famously hounding the previous Princess of Wales, Diana, and exposing the most microscopic details of her and her children’s private lives. In the case of Catherine’s recent whereabouts, however, the British press largely showed an unusual level of restraint.”
The Guardian / Vanessa Thorpe
Big Technology / Alex Kantrowitz
A look inside Google’s generative AI tool for newsrooms →“A journalist first selects a ‘seed’ source like a city council, parks department, local school, etc. they plan to cover. With a link from that single source — whether that’s a press release, 500-page report, or even a tweet — Google’s generative AI software produces a first draft of the story, complete with a lede, nut graf, quotes, and the rest…The idea is that a journalist can add to that draft with reporting and fact-checking and eventually publish a full story.”
Fast Company / Christ Stokel-Walker
The Wall Street Journal / Alexa Corse
Elon Musk’s Twitter needs creators, but they don’t need him →“So far, X is still trailing well behind platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Meta Platforms’ Instagram as a destination for many creators…Some creators have cited concerns about the state of X’s advertising business as a hurdle to the platform’s efforts to woo them, while others have complained about payments being inconsistent.”
The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
The unexpected voice of dissent on Fox News: Steve Doocy →“In particular, Doocy has stood out as a skeptic of congressional investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden, bucking the party line while Fox hosts such as Sean Hannity regularly decry what they call ‘the Biden crime family.’ He has also emphasized the significance — and veracity — of the legal challenges facing former president Donald Trump, talked up Trump challengers like Nikki Haley, and dinged the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.”
Los Angeles Times / Christi Carras
Long Beach Post staffers laid off after moving to unionize and going on strike →“The unit, which is seeking voluntary recognition from its employer, the Long Beach Journalism Initiative, said that nine of its members were laid off, while three surviving members remain on strike. The entire Long Beach Post staff was reduced from 17 to eight, said a source close to the nonprofit who was not authorized to comment.”
Financial Times / Sara Germano and Sujeet Indap
The Amazon play that could change the game for streaming sports →“The Diamond saga is more than just a run-of-the-mill corporate restructuring. The case has become a proxy war for the future of live sports and television broadcasts in the US, as leagues and distributors debate the proposition of when, or even if, live fixtures migrate entirely away from linear television and onto digital streaming platforms.”
Press Gazette / Aisha Majid
New on the list of the 50 biggest U.S. news websites: climate startup The Cool Down →“Month-on-month, the fastest-growing news brand [in February] was The Cool Down (24.3 million visits, up 52% compared to January). Ranked 42nd in this month’s top 50, the site was launched by founder and CEO of the sports media outlet Bleacher Report Dave Finocchio and Anna Robertson, an ABC and Yahoo News executive, and purports to be the “first mainstream climate brand” in the U.S.”
Ars Technica / Ashley Belanger
Users shocked to find Instagram limiting political content by default →“Instagram rolled out the change in February, announcing in a blog that the platform doesn’t ‘want to proactively recommend political content from accounts you don’t follow.’ That post confirmed that Meta ‘won’t proactively recommend content about politics on recommendation surfaces across Instagram and Threads,’ so that those platforms can remain ‘a great experience for everyone.'”
The Washington Post / Drew Harwell
NBC News’ latest hire — former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel — faces blistering criticism →“The airing of internal dissent reflected deep discomfort at NBC and many media organizations with how to treat Republicans who indulged Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and undermine Americans’ trust in the media…’There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this, because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination,’ [Chuck Todd] added.”
The Guardian / Jane Croft
The Guardian / Martin Pengelly
Candace Owens leaves Daily Wire site amid Israel and antisemitism tensions →“Owens subsequently came under fire from the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL, which campaigns against antisemitism, posted a report by the progressive watchdog Media Matters about remarks in which Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and white supremacist, praised Owens for mounting ‘a full-fledged war against the Jews.'”