Monday, October 23, 2023 |
| “Given the sensitive nature of the news during a widening conflict, and the prominent promotion it received, Times editors should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be verified.” By Joshua Benton. |
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| “OpenAI’s chatbot seems to favor sources in the language in which the conversation is conducted, and English seems to be the default. In terms of international news, this may mean that non-English-language news outlets are often underrepresented in answers about news stories in their countries.” By Marina Adami. |
The Washington Post’s international editor on covering the Israel-Hamas war “around the clock” What We’re ReadingThe New York Times / Emma Goldberg
Some Israeli journalists express fear about conveying dissenting views →“Expressing dissenting opinions has become even more fraught than in previous conflicts, said Anat Saragusti, a senior staff member for the Union of Journalists, an Israeli organization with 1,500 members. ‘It has a chilling effect,’ Ms. Saragusti said.”Semafor / Ben Smith and Max Tani
Big in Mongolia? A global news nonprofit wooed top foundations with exaggerated reach →“Global Press Journal is, to read its marketing materials, among the most widely read publications in the United States…the audience numbers, according to internal figures shared with Semafor, bear little relationship to reality. The largest numbers were compiled by adding together the overall traffic of all partners who republished Global Press content, rather than just the traffic to Global Press’s specific stories.”The Guardian / Tim Adams
“Let that sink in!” The 13 tweets that tell the story of Elon Musk’s turbulent first year at Twitter (or X) →“Musk appears to be driven by a sense, nurtured in a lifetime of video-game playing, that he alone can save the world from climate change or AI catastrophe…One mantra that emerges from Isaacson’s book is: ‘If I don’t make decisions, we die.’ Thousands of faithful followers on Twitter love nothing more than reinforcing those cultish fantasies.”The Verge / Victoria Song
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses actually make the future look cool →“While Meta hasn’t reinvented the category, it’s nailed the execution. But culturally, is the timing right for smart glasses?”Axios / Kerry Flynn and Sara Fischer
Jezebel is up for sale →“G/O Media putting the online women’s magazine up for sale highlights the struggles of niche, digital media brands that are suffering from a weak ad market and a fragmented landscape.”The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
The media navigates a war of words for reporting on Gaza and Israel →“Words matter, particularly to news organizations that try to preserve accuracy and impartiality at moments of great passion and uncertainty. A badly chosen word in a media account — particularly during a bloody conflict involving Israelis and Palestinians — can elicit swift denunciations from readers, listeners and viewers.”AP News / David Bauder
Journalists in Gaza wrestle with issues of survival in addition to getting stories out →“Outside journalists have been unable to enter Gaza since the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7. The sole entry point for journalists, Israel’s Erez crossing, was attacked in the rampage and remains closed. A handful of news organizations had maintained a regular presence with bureaus there, including The Associated Press, the BBC, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Al-Jazeera, with a network of stringers helping others.”Mother Jones / Daniel King
Some major newsrooms tell reporters: Don’t say “terrorism” →“Relitigating this word, and the familiar refrain of down-the-middle equivalency, has a long history and a long critique. The battle lines are well-drawn. But with fresh blood spilling across Israel and Gaza, calls to avoid the word or say it louder are growing.”Press Gazette / Bron Maher
96-year-old British magazine The Countryman is shutting down →“‘Following the Covid lockdowns, print and paper costs have soared by 70% and postage has leapt by 26%, and there has been a steep decline in advertising revenue,’ the publisher said. ‘Combined, these factors have made the future of the magazine unviable.'”The Guardian / Amelia Tait
“Here is the news. You can’t stop us”: An AI-generated news anchor grants an interview →“Since spring, country after country have debuted their first AI news anchor: India has Sana and Lisa, Greece has Hermes, Kuwait has Fedha and Taiwan has Ni Zhen. ‘She is bright, gorgeous, ageless, tireless and speaks multiple languages, and is totally under my control,’ said Kalli Purie, the vice chairperson of the India Today Group, when Sana first appeared in March.”The Guardian / Mark Sweney
The sale of the U.K.’s Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator has begun →“Analysts have put an expected price tag on the Telegraph titles of between £500m and £700m…The Spectator could fetch as much as £70m. Other potential bidders include Axel Springer, the German media company that lost out to the Japanese conglomerate Nikkei in the takeover battle for the Financial Times in 2015.”The Guardian / Haroon Siddique
A new ITV rule requires staff to declare all sexual relationships — and even close friendships — with their colleagues →“Under a ‘Personal Relationships at Work Policy’ distributed to all staff this month, they are required to declare relationships with colleagues which — as well as partners — include ‘a person living in the same household’ and ‘anyone involved in a sexual, romantic or close relationship or friendship (whether short or longer term),’ according to the Sunday Times.”Reuters / Parisa Hafezi
Iran sentenced two women journalists to more than a decade in prison →“…for their coverage of the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini last year, state media reported on Sunday. The death of 22-year-old Amini last September while in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code unleashed months of mass protests across Iran, marking the biggest challenge to Iran’s clerical leaders in decades.”The Washington Post / Drew Harwell
Elon Musk’s X has removed The New York Times’ verification badge →“The badge was the only symbol distinguishing the Times’ 55-million-follower account from impostors amid two major global conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. X has hosted and helped amplify a
flood of false information related to the
Israel-Gaza war, some of which Musk has
personally endorsed.”The Times of Israel / Jeremy Sharon
Israel approves emergency regulations that could pave way to closing Al Jazeera offices →“Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has led the charge to pass these regulations in order to shut down the Al Jazeera news channel, which he claims has damaged national security.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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