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You might have heard: Former Facebook news curators told Gizmodo they regularly suppressed conservative news from the site’s trending news section, but Facebook says it found no systematic bias in its own investigation
But did you know: Trying to get rid of human bias in its trending topics, Facebook will no longer employ humans to write descriptions for the section (Quartz)
Facebook will no longer employ humans to write the descriptions for its trending topics section, and has laid off the 15 to 18 people on its Trending team contracted through a third party, Quartz reports. Now, trending topics will appear as either a short phrase or single word with a number representing how many people are talking about the topic on Facebook. But, removing humans from trending topics doesn’t necessarily remove bias, Quartz notes: “Facebook’s primary reason for hiring human curators appeared to be to train their algorithms in what was newsworthy — and so it’s very likely their human biases were recorded and potentially amplified by the AI.”
+ Noted: Tronc is considering a renewed offer from Gannett at a higher price than what’s previously been offered, Ken Doctor reports (Politico Media); Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters were told to ask candidates about public funding for a Raiders stadium of interest to Sheldon Adelson, but that the responses would not be published (Ralston Reports); AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll defends the AP’s Clinton Foundation story, but says the tweet about the story was “sloppy” (CNN Money); The New York Times is developing its Stylebook as a responsive web app (New York Times)
What journalists need to know about shield law (Columbia Journalism Review)
Recent cases such as Glenn Beck being ordered to disclose names of confidential sources and a NYT reporter being ordered to testify in a murder trial about her interview with the man accused of killing Anjelica Castillo are leading to a renewed interest in shield law among journalists, Jonathan Peters writes. Peters offers a primer on the basics of shield laws for journalists, including why reporters sometimes have privilege and where it comes from, how search warrants apply to journalists, and how protecting sources goes beyond the law.
Russia’s relationship with the spread of false information online: Putin invests in ‘weaponized information’ that sometimes spills into mainstream media (New York Times)
Russia plays a powerful role in the spread of false information online, Neil MacFarquhar reports. Because Russia lacks the economic strength to confront NATO, Vladimir Putin is investing in “weaponized information,” which MacFarquhar writes uses a variety of means including social media to stir up discord and confusion among NATO member states. This isn’t entirely new, MacFarquhar writes, as Russia used similar tactics of spreading false information during the Cold War, but where it gets a bit different now is that social media and the Internet sometimes allow the false information to make its way into mainstream media.
+ After the U.S. presidential election, Breitbart News is looking to expand into Europe, considering several locations including Brussels and France as the center of its expansion (Politico Media)
How brands can benefit from WhatsApp and Facebook sharing data (Digiday)
The announcement that WhatsApp will share some user data with Facebook came with privacy concerns from some users, but Grace Caffyn writes that brands will be able to benefit. Some brands say they’ll be able to use the data to “deliver WhatsApp users receipts, shipping updates and urgent messages.” But Caffyn writes that using that data comes with a significant risk of a negative reaction for users, an important consideration for brands thinking about using that data to weigh.
Questions for those praising Gawker’s demise: Could the same thing happen to another news organization in the future? (Freedom of the Press Foundation)
While some are mourning Gawker’s demise, plenty of others are praising the website’s closure. But regardless of whether you agreed with the way Gawker operated or the way it was brought down, Trevor Timm says those praising Gawker’s demise need to consider what effect Gawker’s closure could have on other news organizations. Timm lists a series of questions for those people to ask themselves, including: Should other gossip magazines be driven out of business by those with deep pockets? Could the same thing that happened to Gawker happen to a news organization you agree with?
NYT reporter Jonathan Weisman on why he quit Twitter: It needs to do something to combat harassment (SoundCloud)
After making headlines this summer for quitting Twitter, NYT reporter Jonathan Weisman talked to the Katie Couric Podcast about the reasons why he quit Twitter. Weisman explains why he thinks Twitter needs to do something about harassment on the platform: “What I find offensive is Twitter can wear the halo of a terms of service that says we don’t put up with harassment, we don’t put up with racism or anti-Semitism…but then don’t do anything to police it. They have to make a decision, they are either one thing or another, but they can’t have it both ways.”
+ Twitter is working on an anti-harassment tool that would let users filter posts based on keywords (Bloomberg)
The post Need to Know: Aug. 29, 2016 appeared first on American Press Institute.
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