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You might have heard: Being a freelance journalist comes with its own challenges, such as not getting regular feedback on your work and not having as many rights with companies as a full-time employee would
But did you know: Vice promised assignments to freelancers and later rescinded them, failed to pay freelancers, and used fixers on stories without intending to pay them (Columbia Journalism Review)
“Freelancers have grown accustomed to being treated like disposable cogs of news production,” and Yardena Schwartz reports that Vice seems to have made itself a prime example of how to not treat freelancers. Schwartz reports that freelancers who worked for Vice said the company published their work without paying them for it, promised them assignments which were later rescinded, and asked reporters and fixers for help with stories without any intent to pay them for their work. In a statement to CJR, Vice head of content Ciel Hunter said the company is taking steps to improve its relationship with freelancers: “We’re constantly taking steps to improve the experience for our freelancers, and we regret if the journalist writing this story didn’t experience the high expectations that we set and strive towards.”
+ More news on freelancers: Trying to cut down on its use of freelancers, The New York Times cut its coverage of restaurants, art galleries, theaters and other commercial and nonprofit businesses in the tri-state area (Deadline Hollywood)
+ Noted: GateHouse New England is eliminating about 40 jobs through buyouts and layoffs (Media Nation); Wednesday was the last official day of Reported.ly, and the team says it’s “having conversations with a number of entities we might partner with” (Reported.ly); With plans to expand internationally, Vox Media names Jonathan Hunt as vice president of international (FishbowlNY)
How to make sure your debunk of a fake news story doesn’t help the fake story’s Google ranking (First Draft News)
If your story debunking a fake viral news story includes a link to the fake story, you might actually be helping the fake story’s Google ranking. Aviv Ovadya explains that links on the Internet to a page from another website act as “votes” for search engines, so a few news organizations linking to a fake news story can make that fake story appear higher in Google results. But, including a “nofollow” attribute in your link to the fake news story can prevent search engines from counting your link as a “vote.”
Chinese government bans entertainment news that promotes Western lifestyles or makes fun of Chinese values (South China Morning Post)
China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has banned all entertainment news that promotes Western lifestyles and celebrities, or makes fun of Chinese values. The government agency has ordered Chinese news organizations’ entertainment news “comply with the Communist Party’s ideologies and adopt a positive tone,” Liu Zhen reports. The agency also said news organizations need to make sure stories about celebrities’ lifestyles and private matters should be “firmly prevented.”
+ The South African government wants to create a regulatory body for news media: Minister of Communications Faith Muthambi is particularly interested in changing the country’s print media (SABC)
Facebook isn’t the only platform that’s growing live video: YouTube says its live video views grew 80% over the last year (Financial Times)
Facebook may be paying publishers and celebrities to use its live video tool, but live video is growing on other platforms, too. YouTube says its live video views grew by 80 percent over the last year, while the number of live streams grew by 130 percent. YouTube’s dominance in online video means that it has an edge over Facebook and other platforms for live streaming, Midia Research’s Tim Mulligan explains: “While Facebook is paying professionals to start using its platform, YouTube’s pros have already built up highly engaged audiences. Content creators are what will define who wins in this battle of live video.”
+ Does Facebook Live mid-roll ads make sense for advertisers? Maybe not, because Facebook Live makes it hard to guarantee the live stream will be contextually relevant and engagement can’t be forced on Facebook Live (Advertising Age)
The risk of Tronc’s ‘just say no’ defense against Gannett’s bid: If Gannett doesn’t acquire Tronc, the company could be left to wither (New York Times)
“If [Michael] Ferro’s goal in resisting was to push up Gannett’s price, then he is doing a masterly job,” Steven Davidoff Soloman writes of Tronc’s “just say no” defense to Gannett’s bids thus far. “‘Just say no’ as a defense is a gamble. It depends on how steely the management and board are and what the decision means for the future. There is a negotiating element to this — adopting a ‘just say no’ defense leaves no doubt that Tronc has succeeded in getting more potential money. The risk in this strategy is that Gannett goes away instead of acquiring Tronc, leaving the company to wither like Yahoo or find its own path to success.”
Facebook is tracking ‘trends,’ and The Washington Post is tracking Facebook (and Google and Twitter) (Washington Post)
“Before Gizmodo published allegations that Facebook’s editors were biased, no one thought much about the “Trending” stories the site promotes in the top-right corner of its home screen,” Caitlin Dewey writes, but the section’s mishaps shows the fallibility of algorithms. To better understand what kinds of news stories and topics the trending news section tends to feature, The Washington Post is logging the stories that are trending each hour on Facebook, Google and Twitter. Those topics are then being compiled into a daily news digest, and the Post says it will be tracking “the priorities and timing of trends on each site.”
The post Need to Know: Sept. 1, 2016 appeared first on American Press Institute.
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