OFF THE TOP
You might have heard: YouTube is awash in conspiracy theories and misinformation (Wired)
But did you know: Many Americans get news on YouTube, where news organizations and independent producers thrive side by side (Pew Research Center)
According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, more than a quarter (26%) of Americans get some of their news from the video platform. Most of those users will watch a mix of content from traditional media outlets and independent creators. Those independent channels tend to be focused around a single creator, feature longer videos, and are more likely to cover conspiracy theories and negatively portray events. Across channels from both traditional news outlets and YouTubers, videos that featured or covered President Trump were especially popular.
+ Noted: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette union president Mike Fuoco resigns following investigation into alleged misconduct (Pittsburgh City Paper); Second round of the Fact-Checking Innovation Initiative awards five new projects (Poynter); Chalkbeat CEO is launching VoteBeat to cover swing state elections on the ground (Twitter, @elizwgreen); “NowThis Earth” launches to cover changing planet (MediaPost)
API RESOURCES
How listening informed La Estrella de Tucsón’s reporting during COVID-19
Liliana López Ruelas, Hispanic community engagement editor of La Estrella de Tucsón and one of API’s community listening fellows, explains how she established communication with readers via WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger and how that helped shape La Estrella’s original reporting in the early days of the pandemic. She also offers helpful advice for translating content into Spanish and centering it from a Hispanic community’s perspective.
TRY THIS AT HOME
The New York Times’ editor gives context for the Trump tax story (The New York Times)
On Sunday, The New York Times published a massive investigation into President Trump’s taxes, and alongside it, a letter from Executive Editor Dean Baquet about the piece. In his letter, Baquet explains the decision not to make the tax records public (to protect their sources), but also defends the Times’ right to publish the records under the First Amendment. He also provides a brief backstory for why the investigation is newsworthy and relevant, and mentions by name the editors who oversaw its production.
+ Earlier: How to build transparency into investigative pieces themselves, not just the “behind the story” story (Trusting News)
OFFSHORE
An algorithm for empowering public service news in Sweden (London School of Economics and Political Science)
SR, Sweden’s public radio broadcaster, has embarked on a year-long project to create an editorial algorithm with two goals: automate and personalize stories for various audiences, and spark conversation amongst editors about the stories’ public service value. When a reporter files a story, in the form of a one- to two-minute audio clip, that story is rated by editors on three metrics — the magnitude of the news story, the degree to which it fulfills the mission of public service, and the life span of the piece. Those ratings then feed into the system, which will assign a point score that influences how the story is presented on its website.
OFFBEAT
Why right-wing media has a massive advantage on Facebook (Politico)
Social media has long been seen as creating partisan echo chambers, but Facebook says that right-wing and conservative content is more engaging and drives higher interactions. An unnamed Facebook executive told Politico that this partisan content generates a “strong, primitive emotion” that more straight-forward news does not, “by touching on such topics as ‘nation, protection, the other, anger, fear.” While Facebook claims that its algorithm is neutral, liberals argue that it encourages this content and warps the perception of what is popular.
UP FOR DEBATE
Debate commission co-chair: We don’t expect moderators to fact-check candidates (Axios)
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will face off in their first debate on Tuesday night, and the Presidential Debate Commission’s co-chair, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., says he doesn’t think that it is the role of debate moderators to fact-check the candidates’ statements. Fahrenkopf says it is up to journalists afterward to fact-check the candidates, but that the role of the debate is to put the candidates before the public without judgment. In a piece about the debate in The New York Times, debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News is quoted as saying the moderator’s job is “to be as invisible as possible” and that fact-checking is “a step too far.”
SHAREABLE
The entire staff of NYU’s student newspaper resigned in protest over new editorial director (Washington Square News)
The entire fall staff of New York University’s student newspaper, the Washington Square News, resigned over disagreements with the paper’s new editorial director. In an open letter, the students said that the new director, Kenna Griffin, was disrespectful and rude to staff, didn’t include managing staff in her decision-making process, and abruptly fired the paper’s editor-in-chief, leaving the paper leaderless. The letter also accuses Griffin of “trivializing” Black voices and exhibiting transphobic behavior. The staff is asking the paper’s board to appoint a new editorial director.
The post Need to Know: September 29, 2020 appeared first on American Press Institute.
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