I have written on journalism and media trends eariler few years ago. So it is time for update. What is the state of journalism and news publishing in 2017? NiemanLab’s predictions for 2017 are a good place to start thinking about what lies ahead for journalism. There, Matt Waite puts us in our place straight away by telling us that the people running the media are the problem.
There has been changes on tech publishing. In January 2017 International Data Group, the owner of PCWorld magazine and market researcher IDC, on Thursday said it was being acquired by China Oceanwide Holdings Group and IDG Capital, the investment management firm run by IDG China executive Hugo Shong. In 2016 Arrow bought EE Times, EDN, TechOnline and lots more from UBM.
Here are some article links and information bits on journalist and media in 2017:
Soothsayers’ guides to journalism in 2017 article take a look at journalism predictions and the value of this year’s predictions.
What Journalism Needs To Do Post-Election article tells that faced with the growing recognition that the electorate was uniformed or, at minimum, deeply in the thrall of fake news, far too many journalists are responding not with calls for change but by digging in deeper to exactly the kinds of practices that got us here in the first place.
Fake News Is About to Get Even Scarier than You Ever Dreamed article says that what we saw in the 2016 election is nothing compared to what we need to prepare for in 2020 as incipient technologies appear likely to soon obliterate the line between real and fake.
Headlines matter article tells that in 2017, headlines will matter more than ever and journalists will need to wrest control of headline writing from social-optimization teams. People get their news from headlines now in a way they never did in the past.
Why new journalism grads are optimistic about 2017 article tells that since today’s college journalism students have been in school, the forecasts for their futures has been filled with words like “layoffs,” “cutbacks,” “buyouts” and “freelance.” Still many people are optimistic about the future because the main motivation for being a journalist is often “to make a difference.”
Updating social media account can be a serious job. Zuckerberg has 12+ Facebook employees helping him with posts and comments on his Facebook page and professional photographers to snap personal moments.
Wikipedia Is Being Ripped Apart By a Witch Hunt For Secretly Paid Editors article tells that with undisclosed paid editing on the rise, Wikipedians and the Wikimedia Foundation are working together to stop the practice without discouraging user participation. Paid editing is permissible under Wikimedia Foundation’s terms of use as long as they disclose these conflicts of interest on their user pages, but not all paid editors make these disclosures.
Big Internet giants are working on how to make content better for mobile devices. Instant Articles is a new way for any publisher to create fast, interactive articles on Facebook. Google’s AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a project that it aims to accelerate content on mobile devices. Both of those systems have their advantages and problems.
Clearing Out the App Stores: Government Censorship Made Easier article tells that there’s a new form of digital censorship sweeping the globe, and it could be the start of something devastating. The centralization of the internet via app stores has made government censorship easier. If the app isn’t in a country’s app store, it effectively doesn’t exist. For more than a decade, we users of digital devices have actively championed an online infrastructure that now looks uniquely vulnerable to the sanctions of despots and others who seek to control information.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
The facts about Facebook
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/26/the-facts-about-facebook/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Zuckerberg wants to redefine “transparency, choice and control” — let’s not give him consent
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook shares draft proposal describing how its new content review board could work, suggesting it have 40 diverse members, none of whom are Facebook staff — In November, Facebook announced a new plan that would revamp how the company makes content policy decisions on its social network …
Facebook drafts a proposal describing how its new content review board will work
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/28/facebook-drafts-a-proposal-describing-how-its-new-content-review-board-will-work/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Donie O’Sullivan / CNN:
As “deepfake” videos become more common and convincing, the tech will give cover to those dismissing real events as fake; DARPA researches ways to detect fakes
http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/01/business/pentagons-race-against-deepfakes/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mozilla publishes official Firefox anti-tracking policy
https://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-publishes-official-firefox-anti-tracking-policy/
Mozilla devs detail what types of websites and abusive user-tracking practices they intend to block in future Firefox versions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AFP:
EU publishes first monthly reports by Facebook, Google, Firefox, and Twitter on their fight against disinformation, wants them to intensify efforts — The European Union has urged US internet giants and advertising firms to intensify the fight against disinformation campaigns before EU elections in May, or risk regulation.
EU urges tech giants to intensify fake news fight
https://www.rte.ie/news/technology/2019/0129/1026247-fake-news/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook shares draft proposal describing how its new content review board could work, suggesting it have 40 diverse members, none of whom are Facebook staff
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/28/facebook-drafts-a-proposal-describing-how-its-new-content-review-board-will-work/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rob Marvin / PCMag:
Interview with Alphabet’s Jigsaw product manager CJ Adams on how its AI-assisted Perspective tool, used by some publishers to weed out abusive comments, works
How Google’s Jigsaw Is Trying to Detoxify the Internet
https://uk.pcmag.com/gallery/119376/how-googles-jigsaw-is-trying-to-detoxify-the-internet
The Perspective project give moderators in places like Reddit and The New York Times an evolving set
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lie Junius / The Keyword:
Alphabet’s Jigsaw expands its free Project Shield service to organizations across EU, including journalists, to defend against DDoS attacks ahead of elections
An update on our work to prevent abuse ahead of the EU elections
https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/update-our-work-prevent-abuse-ahead-eu-elections/
Concerns about disinformation run high ahead of elections, a time when secure access to authoritative information is essential. Over the past few years, as more attempts to disrupt democratic processes have come to light, the scale of our response has increased. The upcoming European Parliament elections in May of this year are a big focus for our teams.
Project Shield for political campaigns, journalists and NGOs in Europe
Journalists, campaigns and political parties, NGOs and election monitoring groups ensure people can stay informed during election periods. It’s never been more necessary to defend these groups from digital attacks that can exploit many thousands of computers to overwhelm a website’s servers and take it offline—preventing voters from getting official information when they need it most. Project Shield uses Google’s infrastructure to protect independent news sites from distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) and from today, Jigsaw will be offering strong, free DDoS-protections to the organizations across Europe that are vital to free and fair elections. You can find out more about Jigsaw and apply for Shield protection here
Protecting
election news
from digital attacks
Free tools to help defend information when it matters most.
https://protectyourelection.withgoogle.com/intl/en/?_ga=2.18501627.334794669.1548867197-1604367932.1548867197
Tomi Engdahl says:
Truth detectives: the know-it-all skeptics railing against fakery
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/jan/27/truth-detectives-the-know-it-all-skeptics-railing-against-fakery
Misinformation is everywhere, but a grassroots movement has rallied to the defence of the facts
Tomi Engdahl says:
Valheenpaljastaja: Valeuutiset uppoavat iäkkäisiin verkonkäyttäjiin, jotka ovat oppineet luottamaan painettuun sanaan
https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/01/27/valheenpaljastaja-valeuutiset-uppoavat-iakkaisiin-verkonkayttajiin-jotka-ovat?utm_source=facebook-share&utm_medium=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube Strikes Now Being Used as Scammers’ Extortion Tool
By Andy on January 30, 2019
https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-strikes-now-being-used-as-scammers-extortion-tool/
In a terrible abuse of YouTube’s copyright system, a YouTuber is reporting that scammers are using the platform’s “three strike” system for extortion. After filing two false claims against ObbyRaidz, the scammers contacted him demanding cash to avoid a third – and the termination of his channel.
Every week, millions of YouTubers upload content for pleasure and indeed profit, hoping to reach a wide audience with their topics of choice.
On occasion, these users run into trouble by using content to which they don’t own the copyrights, such as a music track or similar.
While these complaints can often be dealt with quickly and relatively amicably using YouTube’s Content ID system, allegedly-infringing users can also get a so-called ‘strike’ against their account. Get three of these and a carefully maintained channel, with countless hours of work behind it, can be rendered dead by YouTube.
While people should be protected from this kind of abuse, both from a copyright perspective and the crime of extortion, ObbyRaidz says he’s had zero luck in getting assistance from YouTube.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Suomi varautuu vaali- ja informaatiovaikuttamiseen – Ilkka Kanerva: “Olisi sinisilmäistä olettaa, ettei sitä yritettäisi”
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10620856
Asiantuntijat kehottavat jokaista miettimään ennen sensaatiohakuisen uutislinkin tai päivityksen jakamista somessa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The facts about Facebook
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/26/the-facts-about-facebook/
Zuckerberg wants to redefine “transparency, choice and control” — let’s not give him consent
Tomi Engdahl says:
A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
https://www.salon.com/2019/01/30/a-gold-standard-study-finds-deleting-facebook-is-great-for-your-mental-health/
A unique study praised for its rigor finds numerous upsides to deactivating your Facebook account
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook users who quit the social network for a month feel happier
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/31/stanford-nyu-econ-facebook-study/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
New research out of Stanford and New York University took a look at what happens when people step back from Facebook for a month.
http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/facebook.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Firms That Sold Fake Social Media Activity Settle With New York State
https://www.securityweek.com/firms-sold-fake-social-media-activity-settle-new-york-state
Companies that sold fake social media activity have reached a settlement with the state of New York in a case that, for the first time, established such activity as illegal, the state’s attorney general said Wednesday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Takes Down Vast Iran-led Manipulation Campaign
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-takes-down-vast-iran-led-manipulation-campaign
Facebook said Thursday it took down hundreds of “inauthentic” accounts from Iran that were part of a vast manipulation campaign operating in more than 20 countries.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is how YouTube influencer scam artists operate
https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-is-how-youtube-influencer-scam-artists-operate/
The scams look credible but the only gift on offer is the loss of your personal data.
A scam striking the followers of YouTube influencers which offers lucky fans free gifts from their favorite stars has been in operation far longer than first thought.
Reports surfaced last week of the fraudulent scheme, in which YouTube influencers including Philip DeFranco, Jeffree Star, and Bhad Bhabie are being impersonated by scam artists seeking to cash in on their fame.
While the campaign appeared to be fairly new — although low-bar — researchers from RiskIQ believe that the scam could have been in operation since 2016.
On Wednesday, RiskIQ researcher Yonathan Klijnsma published a blog post examining the scam in detail.
YouTube Impersonation Scams Offering Fake Rewards are Running Wild
https://www.riskiq.com/blog/labs/youtube-impersonation-scams/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vice Media will lay off 10 percent of its staff
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/01/vice-media-layoffs/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
Vice Media plans to cut 250 jobs — about 10 percent of its total workforce.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news.
This comes after a brutal couple of weeks in the media business, as companies began the year with major cuts. BuzzFeed is trimming its staff by 15 percent. Verizon Media Group (which owns TechCrunch) laid off 10 percent of its workforce. And traditional media wasn’t immune, with Gannett eliminating as many as 400 jobs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital influencers and the dollars that follow them
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/31/digital-influencers-and-the-dollars-that-follow-them/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Social media is a new storytelling medium, much as film was a century ago. As with film then, we have yet to transmit virtual characters to this new medium in a sticky way.
Digital influencers don’t merely represent the penetration of cartoon characters into yet another medium, much as they sprang from newspaper strips to TV and the multiplex. Rather, digital humans on social media represent the first instance in which fictional entities act in the same plane of communication as you and I — regular people — do. Imagine if stories about Mickey Mouse were told over a telephone or in personalized letters to fans. That’s the kind of jump we’re talking about.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Takes Down Vast Iran-led Manipulation Campaign
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-takes-down-vast-iran-led-manipulation-campaign
Tomi Engdahl says:
Firms That Sold Fake Social Media Activity Settle With New York State
https://www.securityweek.com/firms-sold-fake-social-media-activity-settle-new-york-state
Tomi Engdahl says:
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
EU report: tech firms are now assessing 89% of flagged content within 24 hours and 72% of such illegal hate speech is removed, up from 40% and 28% in 2016
Online platforms still not clear enough about hate speech takedowns: EC
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/04/online-platforms-still-not-clear-enough-about-hate-speech-takedowns-ec/
In its latest monitoring report of a voluntary Code of Conduct on illegal hate speech, which platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube signed up to in Europe back in 2016, the European Commission has said progress is being made on speeding up takedowns but tech firms are still lagging when it comes to providing feedback and transparency around their decisions.
Tech companies are now assessing 89% of flagged content within 24 hours, with 72% of content deemed to be illegal hate speech being removed, according to the Commission — compared to just 40% and 28% respectively when the Code was first launched more than two years ago.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Before It Conquered the World, Facebook Conquered Harvard
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/and-then-there-was-thefacebookcom/582004/
On the 15th anniversary of Facebook’s launch at Harvard, a dozen students and faculty members reflect on seeing and being the first users of the world’s largest social network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Zuckerberg:
On Facebook’s 15th anniversary, Zuckerberg says it will spend more on safety and security in 2019 than it had revenue at its IPO, pans critics’ “negative” focus — Fifteen years ago today, I launched the first version of the Facebook website from my college dorm.
https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10106411140260321
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sanjana Karanth / HuffPost:
The Washington Post’s spend on its Super Bowl ad, reportedly $5.2M, has provoked anger in some quarters, including the Washington-Baltimore News Guild
The Washington Post Airs Super Bowl Ad In The Name Of Journalism
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/super-bowl-2019-washington-post_us_5c57ab27e4b00187b5521a5c?ec_carp=7658104270318267986&ec_carp=2877717628987624132&ec_carp=3086061307955975535
Many are having issues with how much it cost, saying that money could go toward paying journalists.
The Washington Post aired its first Super Bowl ad at the end of Sunday’s game, but many people, including journalists, were troubled by the fact that the ad reportedly cost millions of dollars.
Because knowing empowers us.
Knowing helps us decide.
Knowing keeps us free.#democracydiesindarknesshttps://t.co/j20M5UBdq2 pic.twitter.com/bCtLZrUURJ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 4, 2019
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
After the Associated Press made data available on its data.world platform, it had 1400 downloads from 300 local newsrooms in 2018 — The forces facing local news aren’t all bad. — Report for America is putting more reporters in local newsrooms. ProPublica’s adding local investigative journalists.
The AP is using data journalism to help strengthen local newsrooms
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2019/the-ap-is-using-data-journalism-to-help-strengthen-local-newsrooms/
The forces facing local news aren’t all bad.
Report for America is putting more reporters in local newsrooms. ProPublica’s adding local investigative journalists. And in the last three years, the Associated Press has worked with member newsrooms to localize data stories.
On Monday, the AP shared the results of a project it started to get localized data to local newsrooms and help journalists make the best use of it. In 2018, the AP saw 1,400 downloads from 300 local newsrooms on its data.world platform, said AP managing editor Brian Carovillano.
“Given the crisis in local news, I think it’s something really notable,” he said. “We’re enabling local news coverage on hard-hitting topics at a really massive scale.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bots are cheap and effective. One startup trolls them into going away
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/05/kasada-bots/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Bots are ruining the internet.
When they’re not pummeling a website with usernames and passwords from a long list of stolen credentials, they’re scraping the price of hotels or train tickets and odds from betting sites to get the best data. Or, they’re just trying to knock a website offline for hours at a time. There’s an entire underground economy where bots are the primary tools used in automating fraudulent purchases, scraping content and launching cyberattacks. Bots are costing legitimate businesses money by stealing data, but also hogging system resources and costly bandwidth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
eevBLAB #59 – Patreon Is An Unsustainable Business!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRaB6xtAPj8
Patreon is an unsustainable business, in their own words.
They took the investment money and now they are paying the price.
It looks as though nothing Patreon can do that won’t piss off their creators will bring in enough money to keep the investors happy.
In addition to the fallout from the Patreon Purge, the future is not looking bright for Patreon and Jack Conte.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
WhatsApp says it bans about 2M fake or abusive accounts each month, 75% of them without manual intervention, 20% of them at the time of registration itself
WhatsApp on how it’s fighting bulk messaging and fake accounts
https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/06/whatsapp-on-how-its-fighting-bulk-messaging-and-fake-accounts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
YouTube CEO says the number of channels with 1M+ subs nearly doubled and the number of creators who earned five or six figures grew 40%+ in the last year — In a post Tuesday about her goals for 2019, YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki touted several milestones Google’s massive video site surpassed …
Even YouTube CEO’s kids said Rewind was ‘cringey’ last year
https://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-ceo-kids-said-2018-youtube-rewind-was-cringey/
“One record we definitely didn’t set out to break was the most disliked video on the Internet,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
Around 1/3 of the content published by Bloomberg News uses some form of automated tech, as more news outlets are employing AI for story recommendations and more
The Rise of the Robot Reporter
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/business/media/artificial-intelligence-journalism-robots.html
As reporters and editors find themselves the victims of layoffs at digital publishers and traditional newspaper chains alike, journalism generated by machine is on the rise.
Roughly a third of the content published by Bloomberg News uses some form of automated technology. The system used by the company, Cyborg, is able to assist reporters in churning out thousands of articles on company earnings reports each quarter.
The program can dissect a financial report the moment it appears and spit out an immediate news story that includes the most pertinent facts and figures. And unlike business reporters, who find working on that kind of thing a snooze, it does so without complaint.
Untiring and accurate, Cyborg helps Bloomberg in its race against Reuters, its main rival in the field of quick-twitch business financial journalism
“The financial markets are ahead of others in this,” said John Micklethwait, the editor in chief of Bloomberg.
Last week, The Guardian’s Australia edition published its first machine-assisted article, an account of annual political donations to the country’s political parties. And Forbes recently announced that it was testing a tool called Bertie to provide reporters with rough drafts and story templates.
A.I. journalism is not as simple as a shiny robot banging out copy. A lot of work goes into the front end, with editors and writers meticulously crafting several versions of a story, complete with text for different outcomes. Once the data is in — for a weather event, a baseball game or an earnings report — the system can create an article.
A.I. in newsrooms may also go beyond the production of rote articles.
“I hope we’ll see A.I. tools become a productivity tool in the practice of reporting and finding clues,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Julia Reda:
Weeks after EU member states failed to find common ground on the Article 13 proposal, negotiations are back on toward a final vote after Germany reverses stance
Article 13 is back on – and it got worse, not better
https://juliareda.eu/2019/02/article-13-worse/
Let’s recall: On January 18, negotiations about the new EU copyright law came to an abrupt halt after member state governments failed to settle on a common position on Article 13, which would force internet platforms to censor their users’ posts using upload filters.
Without such an agreement, the final “trilogue” meeting, at which the law was supposed to be finalised together with representatives of the European Parliament, had to be called off – and time was running out, with EU elections that will reshuffle all the cards looming in May.
Contrary to some reports, though, Article 13 was not shelved because a majority of EU governments have come to understand that upload filters are costly, error-prone and threaten fundamental rights.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Russian Darknet Forum Selling Access to U.S. News Sites
https://darkwebnews.com/dark-web/russian-darknet-forum-sells-us-news-sites-access/
Sixgill, an Israeli threat intelligence company, recently revealed that a Russian-language darknet forum has been selling access to the content management systems of a variety of news sites.
According to the company, the illicit trade has been going on since October 2018.
One bundle that the darknet website offered contained logins to 1,425 U.S.-based news sites.
the starting bid price was at $600 with an option of outright purchase at $1,200.
The second listing was cheaper than the first. Its starting bidding price was only $50 while the buy-it-now option cost $150.
The access to these sites would give the buyers the ability to edit news stories to suit their preferred lines of thought or to upload their content. According to Alex Karlinsky, a Sixgill intelligence expert, these hacks may have been political.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TWITCH STREAMER PERMABANNED FROM TWITCH FOR SAYING ‘THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS’
https://www.gamebyte.com/twitch-streamer-permabanned-from-twitch-for-saying-there-are-only-two-genders/
Twitch is seemingly cracking down hard on its content creators.
Twitch streamer HelenaLive has been making waves in the community after stating that Twitch permabanned her for saying there are only two genders.
in the video she is told that her channel will be permanently banned.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Keyword:
Google experiment finds 45% traffic decline to news sites with search results without snippets, in a moderate version of what is proposed in EU’s Article 11
Now is the time to fix the EU copyright directive
https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/now-time-fix-eu-copyright-directive/
Let’s start with Article 13. The Parliament’s version would hold internet services directly liable for any copyright infringement in the content that people share on their platforms. We stand by our conviction that the draft rules aren’t carefully balanced, and would harm the thriving creative economy in Europe, including YouTube’s creator community.
Then there’s Article 11. We reiterate our commitment to supporting high-quality journalism. However, the recent debate shows that there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the value of headlines and snippets—very short previews of what someone will find when he or she clicks a link. Reducing the length of the snippets to just a few individual words or short extracts will make it harder for consumers to discover news content and reduce overall traffic to news publishers.
Let me illustrate this with an example. Every year, we run thousands of experiments in Search. We recently ran one in the EU to understand the impact of the proposed Article 11 if we could show only URLs, very short fragments of headlines, and no preview images. All versions of the experiment resulted in substantial traffic loss to news publishers.
Even a moderate version of the experiment (where we showed the publication title, URL, and video thumbnails) led to a 45 percent reduction in traffic to news publishers. Our experiment demonstrated that many users turned instead to non-news sites, social media platforms, and online video sites—another unintended consequence of legislation that aims to support high-quality journalism. Searches on Google even increased as users sought alternate ways to find information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Facebook’s revenue from China-based advertisers reached an estimated $5B in 2018, or about 10% of its total sales, helped by its local advertising resellers
How Facebook’s Tiny China Sales Floor Helps Generate Big Ad Money
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/technology/facebook-china-internet.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google reveals 45% traffic decline to news sites w/ snippet-less Search results due to EU’s Article 11
https://9to5google.com/2019/02/06/google-traffic-decline-eu-article-11/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Research team investigating Internet censorship with tracking system
http://www.michiganradio.org/post/research-team-investigating-internet-censorship-tracking-system
A group of University of Michigan researchers is investigating Internet censorship. The team created a system called Censored Planet that monitors and reports when access to websites is blocked. The team is seeking to understand which websites governments are blocking and why.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Moves to Block Ad Transparency Tools — Including Ours
https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-blocks-ad-transparency-tools
Our tool had let the public see exactly how users were being targeted by advertisers. The social media giant urged us to shut it down last year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open letter on the Terrorism Database
https://edri.org/open-letter-on-the-terrorism-database/
On 4 February 2019, EDRi joined dozens of organisations and academics in signing an open letter. The letter criticises, in the Terrorist Content Regulation debate, the blind faith in a database to flag “terrorist content”
The undersigned organizations write to share our concerns about the EU’s proposed Regulation on Preventing the Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online, and in particular the Regulation’s call for Internet hosts to use “proactive measures” to detect terrorist content. We are concerned that if this Regulation is adopted, it will almost certainly lead platforms to adopt poorly understood tools,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Profits at The New York Times show media dinosaurs are ruling the internet
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/06/profits-at-the-new-york-times-show-media-dinosaurs-are-ruling-the-internet/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Today’s news that The (failing?) New York Times reported net income of $55.2 million, after losses a year earlier — and that its digital business raked in $709 million — is just one indicator that some of the nation’s oldest media properties are finally crossing the bridge into the 21st century.
The Times managed to turn a profit while employing 1,600 journalists — an all-time high. Fourth-quarter digital advertising revenue increased 22.8 percent, while print advertising revenue decreased 10.2 percent
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Study Claims the Internet Is Getting More Civil. The Internet Throws Side Eye Back
http://fortune.com/2019/02/05/microsoft-internet-digital-civility-index-social-media/
Anyone who has spent time on Twitter or has waded into the comments section on YouTube knows that the Internet is full of cyberbullies and bickering hordes.
While social media may feel like a trash heap at times, Microsoft released a new study on Tuesday that claims civility is spreading on the Internet… at least slightly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Venäjä kieltää päättäjien loukkaamisen uutisissa
https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/venaja-aikoo-kieltaa-valeuutiset-ja-paattajien-loukkaamisen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hanne Aho: Lähdesuoja pitää huomioida uudessa tiedustelulaissa
https://journalistiliitto.fi/fi/hanne-aho-lahdesuoja-pitaa-huomioida-uudessa-tiedustelulaissa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Most Popular Health Articles of 2018, a Scientific Credibility Review
https://healthfeedback.org/the-most-popular-health-articles-of-2018-a-scientific-credibility-review/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ranska ja Saksa löytämässä sovun tekijänoikeuskiistaan – arvostelijat pitävät esitystä aiempaakin huonompana
https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/ranska-ja-saksa-loytamassa-sovun-tekijanoikeuskiistaan-arvostelijat-pitavat-esitysta-aiempaakin-huonompana/60738f24-715c-4483-b7d3-dfd70fab81ed?ref=facebook%3A4ab2
Tomi Engdahl says:
George Orwell’s Essay “British Cookery” is Officially Published 70 Years After It Was Rejected by the British Council (1946)
http://www.openculture.com/2019/02/george-orwells-essay-british-cookery-is-officially-published.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
John Cleese on Brexit, newspapers and why he’s leaving the UK – BBC Newsnight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfqhCNHQPA
Watch the full interview between John Cleese and Emily Maitlis where the Monty Python star explains why newspapers have driven him to the Caribbean.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Palko Karasz / New York Times:
The UK’s top doctors warn families about social media and screen use, advising screen-free meal times and more, joining a growing chorus advising caution — LONDON — With even Silicon Valley worrying about the effect of technology exposure on young people, Britain’s top doctors …
U.K. Doctors Call for Caution in Children’s Use of Screens and Social Media
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/world/europe/uk-doctors-screen-time.html
With even Silicon Valley worrying about the effect of technology exposure on young people, Britain’s top doctors on Thursday issued advice to families about social media and screen use. Their prescriptions: Leave phones outside the bedroom. Screen-free meals are a good idea. When in doubt, don’t upload. And get more exercise.
“Technology can be a wonderful thing,” Britain’s chief medical officers, who hold advisory positions similar to that of the surgeon general in America, wrote in a document published on Thursday. “But too much time sitting down or using mobile devices can get in the way of important, healthy activities,” they said.