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:
Manipulating an Indian politician’s tweets is worryingly easy to do
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/13/india-politician-tweets/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Here’s a concerning story from India, where the upcoming election is putting the use of social media in the spotlight.
While the Indian government is putting Facebook, Google and other companies under pressure to prevent their digital platforms from being used for election manipulation, a journalist has demonstrated just how easy it is to control the social media messages published by government ministers.
Pratik Sinha, a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, accessed a Google document of prepared statements and tinkered with the content
Tomi Engdahl says:
I was plagiarized by Jill Abramson
https://www.cjr.org/the_new_gatekeepers/i-was-plagiarized-by-jill-abramson.php
It’s an odd feeling to have an otherwise unremarkable passage you wrote appear as an exhibit in an accusation of plagiarism, especially when it relates to the former executive editor of The New York Times, and especially when the allegedly plagiarized passages appear in a book about the state of modern media. And yet, here we are.
Do I feel as though something has been stolen from me? Not really. It was a factual description, not something creative that I agonized over for weeks. And yet, it’s still irritating that there seems to be no mention of where it appeared at all. Would it have been that hard to say “as mentioned in CJR”? That’s in part what plagiarism is—not a law, but more of a standard of behavior that we (hopefully) uphold, especially as journalists.
Tomi Engdahl says:
James Vincent / The Verge:
EU negotiations on Copyright Directive overhaul come to a close, with Article 11 and 13 largely intact; legislation now heads to EU Parliament for approval
After a brief rebellion, the EU link tax and upload filter will move to a final vote
The hated Articles 11 and 13 remain intact after final efforts to remove them failed
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/13/18223815/eu-copyright-directive-article-11-13-trilogues-finished-final-vote-parliament
Tomi Engdahl says:
2018 really was more of a dumpster fire for online hate and harassment, ADL study finds
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/13/2018-really-was-more-of-a-dumpster-fire-for-online-hate-and-harassment-adl-study-finds/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Guardian:
Facebook criticized by health experts for allowing the rise of closed groups rife with anti-vaccination misinformation, some with 150,000+ members
Facebook under pressure to halt rise of anti-vaccination groups
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/12/facebook-anti-vaxxer-vaccination-groups-pressure-misinformation
Experts are calling on company to counter closed groups where members can post misinformation without challenge
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook under pressure to halt rise of anti-vaccination groups
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/12/facebook-anti-vaxxer-vaccination-groups-pressure-misinformation?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true
Experts are calling on company to counter closed groups where members can post misinformation without challenge
Tomi Engdahl says:
French journalists suspended over alleged cyberbullying
https://apnews.com/25d9b540bc75491f8dbe7b0eaeed7f2b
At least five French journalists have been suspended from their jobs for allegedly harassing people online with sexist, homophobic and racist insults that were coordinated through a private Facebook group.
France’s Liberation newspaper and cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles said this week they suspended four of their journalists, including the creator of the Facebook group.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube’s copyright strikes have become a tool for extortion
Scammers are threatening to shut down channels — unless the owner pays up
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/11/18220032/youtube-copystrike-blackmail-three-strikes-copyright-violation
Tomi Engdahl says:
It Isn’t Your Imagination: Twitter Treats Conservatives More Harshly Than Liberals
https://quillette.com/2019/02/12/it-isnt-your-imagination-twitter-treats-conservatives-more-harshly-than-liberals/
This is a response to “Who Controls the Platform?“—a multi-part Quillette series authored by social-media insiders.
Many conservatives believe that social media companies are biased against their views. This includes Donald Trump
A June, 2018 Pew poll found that 72% of Americans believe that social media companies censor views they don’t like, with members of the public being four times more likely to report a belief that such institutions favor liberals over conservatives than the opposite
Of 22 prominent, politically active individuals who are known to have been suspended since 2005 and who expressed a preference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, 21 supported Donald Trump.
of the 22 suspended individuals, only one was a Clinton supporter.
Of course, the existence of this disparity does not prove that Twitter is actively discriminating against Trump supporters. Perhaps conservatives are simply more likely to violate neutral rules regarding harassment and hate speech.
one would have to assume that conservatives were at least four times as likely as liberals to violate Twitter’s neutrally applied terms of service to produce even a 5% chance (the standard benchmark) that a 22-data point sample would yield a result as skewed as 21-1.
Indeed, it is not difficult to find cases of liberals engaging in speech that appears to cross the line while not being punished for their transgressions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A digital gangster destroying democracy: the damning verdict on Facebook
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/18/a-digital-gangster-destroying-democracy-the-damning-verdict-on-facebook
Parliament’s report into fake news raises many questions, but will the government act?
Facebook is an out-of-control train wreck that is destroying democracy and must be brought under control. The final report of parliament’s inquiry into fake news and disinformation does not use this language, precisely, but it is, nonetheless, the report’s central message. And the language it does use is no less damning.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wired:
Social media companies should gain more in-house knowledge about mental health to realize the impact of recommendation algorithms on users with mental illness
When Algorithms Think You Want to Die
https://www.wired.com/story/when-algorithms-think-you-want-to-die/
It’s troubling enough that British teenager Molly Russell sought out images of suicide and self-harm online before she took her own life in 2017. But it was later discovered that these images were also being delivered to her, recommended by her favorite social media platforms. Her Instagram feed was full of them. Even in the months after her death, Pinterest continued to send her automated emails, its algorithms automatically recommending graphic images of self-harm, including a slashed thigh and cartoon of a young girl hanging. Her father has accused Instagram and Pinterest of helping to kill his 14-year-old daughter by allowing these graphic images on their platforms and pushing them into Molly’s feed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ryan Broderick / BuzzFeed News:
After reports of pedophiles using YouTube comments to sexualize videos of children, YouTube warns creators it may demonetize videos with inappropriate comments — A new controversy this week over the sexualized exploitation of children on YouTube has set off a wave of advertiser boycotts …
YouTube’s Latest Child Exploitation Controversy Has Kick-Started A War Over How To Fix The Platform
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/youtube-child-sexual-exploitation-creators-watson
The company said this week that YouTubers could lose monetization for not just the content of their videos, but what’s posted in their comment sections as well.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube demonetizes anti-vaccination videos
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/22/youtube-demonetizes-anti-vaccination-videos/
YouTube will demonetize channels that promote anti-vaccination views, after a report by BuzzFeed News found ads, including from health companies, running before anti-vax videos.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Still Championing Blasphemy Laws
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13583/facebook-blasphemy-laws
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg now appears to be more intent on censorship than ever. In a recent memo, written in mind-numbing, bureaucratic obfuscatese, he described his plan to discourage “borderline content”, a concept appearing to be so meaningless as to encompass anything that Zuckerberg and Facebook might ever want to censor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Companies including Nestlé, Epic and reportedly Disney suspend YouTube ads over child exploitation concerns
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/20/companies-including-nestle-epic-and-reportedly-disney-suspend-youtube-ads-over-child-exploitation-concerns/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Advertisers Boycott YouTube After Pedophiles Swarm Comments on Videos of Children
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/technology/youtube-pedophiles.html?partner=IFTTT
Tomi Engdahl says:
A digital gangster destroying democracy: the damning verdict on Facebook
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/18/a-digital-gangster-destroying-democracy-the-damning-verdict-on-facebook
Parliament’s report into fake news raises many questions, but will the government act?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook labelled ‘digital gangsters’ by report on fake news
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/18/facebook-fake-news-investigation-report-regulation-privacy-law-dcms
Company broke privacy and competition law and should be regulated urgently, say MPs
Tomi Engdahl says:
China–UK Relations: Where to Draw the Border Between Influence and Interference?
https://rusi.org/publication/occasional-papers/china-uk-relations-where-draw-border-between-influence-and
This Occasional Paper seeks to outline the likely extent of the Chinese Communist Party’s interference activities in the UK and to make some recommendations on what needs to be done to counter them
Tomi Engdahl says:
As fallout over pedophilia content on YouTube continues, AT&T and Hasbro pull all advertisements
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/att-pulls-all-ads-from-youtube-pedophilia-controversy.html
AT&T and Hasbro are pulling ads from YouTube following reports that pedophiles have latched onto videos of young children and lurk in the comments section.
AT&T said it is removing all advertising until Google can protect its brand from offensive content.
YouTube reportedly sent a memo to advertisers outlining changes it’s making this week to help protect brands.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube terminates more than 400 channels following child exploitation controversy
And it’s deleted tens of millions of comments
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18234494/youtube-child-exploitation-channel-termination-comments-philip-defranco-creators
Tomi Engdahl says:
Näin sinuun vaikutetaan algoritmeilla: some, vaalit ja valeuutiset
https://newslab.yle.fi/blog/31AqrwRnUaH2eLPPqHulth
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Trauma Floor
The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona
A content moderator working for Cognizant in Arizona will earn just $28,800 per year.
KEY FINDINGS
Moderators in Phoenix will make just $28,800 per year — while the average Facebook employee has a total compensation of $240,000.
In stark contrast to the perks lavished on Facebook employees, team leaders micro-manage content moderators’ every bathroom break. Two Muslim employees were ordered to stop praying during their nine minutes per day of allotted “wellness time.”
Employees can be fired after making just a handful of errors a week, and those who remain live in fear of former colleagues returning to seek vengeance. One man we spoke with started bringing a gun to work to protect himself.
Moderators cope with seeing traumatic images and videos by telling dark jokes about committing suicide, then smoking weed during breaks to numb their emotions. Moderators are routinely high at work.
Employees are developing PTSD-like symptoms after they leave the company, but are no longer eligible for any support from Facebook or Cognizant.
Employees have begun to embrace the fringe viewpoints of the videos and memes that they are supposed to moderate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE TRAUMA FLOOR
The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona
Tomi Engdahl says:
Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6137759/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Syyttömän yksityisyys on demokratian tunnusmerkki
http://petruspennanen.puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/270299-syyttoman-yksityisyys-on-demokratian-tunnusmerkki
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook wants up to 30% of fan subscriptions vs Patreon’s 5%
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/26/facebook-vs-patreon/
Facebook will drive a hard bargain with influencers and artists judging by the terms of service for the social network’s Patreon-like Fan Subscriptions feature that lets people pay a monthly fee for access to a creator’s exclusive content. The policy document attained by TechCrunch shows Facebook plans to take up to a 30 percent cut of subscription revenue minus fees, compared to 5 percent by Patreon, 30 percent by YouTube, which covers fees and 50 percent by Twitch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Columbia Journalism Review:
Reuters/Ipsos poll in US: 60% believe sources pay reporters sometimes or very often, 41% are less likely to believe stories with anonymous sources, and more
Poll: How does the public think journalism happens?
https://www.cjr.org/special_report/how-does-journalism-happen-poll.php/
For decades, we’ve known that Americans don’t trust the press. What we haven’t known is how people view the makings of journalism, from the use of fact checkers and anonymous sources to the question of whether money skews journalistic decision-making. This new national poll for CJR answers those questions, and points to how big the trust gap remains.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Study estimates 1,000-1,500 US newspapers, many owned by private equity and hedge fund investors, are “ghost newspapers” mainly filled with wire copy and ads — At the start of 2018, Denver Post journalists felt optimistic for the first time in years.
http://t.co/AqYn5BiZzw
Tomi Engdahl says:
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
Mozilla partners with Scroll to test alternative funding models for the web, following the news subscription service’s acquisition of Nuzzel earlier this month
https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/25/mozilla-and-scroll-partner-to-test-alternative-funding-models-for-the-web/
News subscription service Scroll, which is yet to launch to consumers but has received the backing of several top publishers, courted another major player today: Mozilla.
The browser maker says it will work with Scroll to better understand how consumers react to ad-free experiences on the web and subscription-based funding models.
The rationale behind the move? Mozilla said it is frustrated with “terrible experiences and pervasive tracking” that are designed to persuade users to click on ads and share personal data. It is also concerned about how a handful of companies have been able to absorb much of the digital advertising revenue (PDF), leaving other publishers with “scraps.”
The move also comes as Mozilla experiments with how it could make Firefox, which continues to lose browser market share to Chrome, more useful to users and explores additional revenue channels.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook policy doc shows it wants up to a 30% cut of Fan Subscriptions, vs Patreon’s 5%, and to reserve right to offer free trials with no creator compensation — Facebook will drive a hard bargain with influencers and artists judging by the terms of service for the social network’s Patreon …
Facebook wants up to 30% of fan subscriptions vs Patreon’s 5%
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/26/facebook-vs-patreon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Interviews with Facebook content moderation contractors in US show they make ~$28K/year, some develop PTSD, and a few are even radicalized by what they see
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amid measles outbreaks, Facebook considering how to reduce spread of anti-vaccine content
https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/02/15/health/facebook-anti-vaccine-posts-bn/index.html?r=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F
Facebook is looking into suppressing certain anti-vaccine messaging on its social platform, a move that raises questions about free speech and public health.
“We’ve taken steps to reduce the distribution of health-related misinformation on Facebook, but we know we have more to do. We’re currently working with outside experts on additional changes that we’ll be announcing soon,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bill Gates’ warning to anti-vaxxers: People in rich countries will die because they aren’t getting measles shots
https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warning-to-anti-vaccine-parents-2019-2?r=US&IR=T&utm_source=reddit.com
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube revamps its strike system to include a one-time warning, consistent penalties
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/youtube-revamps-its-strike-system-to-include-a-one-time-warning-consistent-penalties/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Fortnite dance emote lawsuits set a precedent for media companies to abuse copyright law further and turn shared culture of dance moves into private property
Fortnite dance lawsuits are bad for copyright and bad for culture
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/27/18242899/fortnite-dance-move-copyright-lawsuit-carlton-milly-rock-epic-games
Fortnite is one of the most popular and profitable video games in history, and its publisher Epic is copying creative work from children and independent artists without paying them. So it’s not surprising that seven people have sued the company, claiming Epic broke copyright law by turning their dance moves into Fortnite emotes. These suits are exploring interesting new legal territory. But if they succeed, it could be bad for dance, bad for copyright, and bad for the culture these lawsuits are ostensibly trying to protect.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gab wants to add a comments section to everything on the internet
https://www.cnet.com/news/gab-wants-to-add-a-comment-section-to-everything-on-the-internet/
A tool called Dissenter lets you comment on tweets, websites and anything else with a URL.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn suspends emails to connections when a European member has been mentioned in the news, after algorithm mixes up identities
LinkedIn forced to ‘pause’ mentioned in the news feature in Europe after complaints about ID mix-ups
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/28/linkedin-forced-to-pause-mentioned-in-the-news-feature-in-europe-after-complaints-about-id-mix-ups/
LinkedIn has been forced to ‘pause’ a feature in Europe in which the platform emails members’ connections when they’ve been ‘mentioned in the news’.
This follows a number of data protection complaints after LinkedIn’s algorithms incorrectly matched members to news articles — triggering an internal review of the feature. LinkedIn told us it subsequently decided to suspend the feature in Europe.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube Creator Blog:
YouTube says it will disable comments on almost all videos featuring minors, improve classification of comments, and continue to ban harmful accounts — We know that many of you have been closely following the actions we’re taking to protect young people on YouTube and are as deeply concerned as we are that we get this right.
https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2019/02/more-updates-on-our-actions-related-to.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
UK charities declare the Momo challenge a hoax after the media publishes hundreds of articles on it, causing a moral panic despite absence of evidence — Groups say no evidence yet of self-harm from craze, but resulting hysteria poses a risk — It is the most talked about viral scare story …
Viral ‘Momo challenge’ is a malicious hoax, say charities
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/28/viral-momo-challenge-is-a-malicious-hoax-say-charities
Groups say no evidence yet of self-harm from craze, but resulting hysteria poses a risk
It is the most talked about viral scare story of the year so far, blamed for child suicides and violent attacks – but experts and charities have warned that the “Momo challenge” is nothing but a “moral panic” spread by adults.
Warnings about the supposed Momo challenge suggest that children are being encouraged to kill themselves or commit violent acts after receiving messages on messaging service WhatsApp from users with a profile picture of a distorted image of woman with bulging eyes.
News stories about the Momo challenge have also attracted hundreds of thousands of shares on Facebook in a 24-hour period, dominating the list of UK news stories ranked by number of interactions on the social network.
There have also been claims that the material has appeared in a video featuring Peppa Pig among YouTube’s content aimed at children.
But the Samaritans and the NSPCC have dismissed the claims, saying that while there is no evidence that the Momo challenge has initially caused any harm itself, the ensuing media hysteria could now be putting vulnerable people at risk by encouraging them to think of self-harm.
The NSPCC said there is no confirmed evidence that the phenomenon is actually posing a threat to British children
“Currently we’re not aware of any verified evidence in this country or beyond linking Momo to suicide,” said the Samaritans spokesperson. “What’s more important is parents and people who work with children concentrate on broad online safety guidelines.”
Although the Momo challenge has been circulating on social media and among schoolchildren in various forms since last year, the recent coverage appears to have started with a single warning posted by a mother on a Facebook group
The supernatural “Momo” image, originally from an artwork made for a Japanese horror show exhibition, has been circulating on the internet for several years but last summer became attached to unverified claims that teenagers were being prompted to kill or harm themselves by messages on WhatsApp.
Tomi Engdahl says:
University of California:
The University of California will not renew subscriptions with academic publisher Elsevier, saying Elsevier was unwilling to meet open access publishing goals — As a leader in the global movement toward open access to publicly funded research, the University of California is taking …
UC terminates subscriptions with world’s largest scientific publisher in push for open access to publicly funded research
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-terminates-subscriptions-worlds-largest-scientific-publisher-push-open-access-publicly
As a leader in the global movement toward open access to publicly funded research, the University of California is taking a firm stand by deciding not to renew its subscriptions with Elsevier. Despite months of contract negotiations, Elsevier was unwilling to meet UC’s key goal: securing universal open access to UC research while containing the rapidly escalating costs associated with for-profit journals.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
NYT is testing a feature that bars use of incognito mode to circumvent its paywall as Google is working on code to prevent sites from detecting incognito mode
Your favorite way to get around The New York Times paywall might be about to go away
http://www.niemanlab.org/2019/02/your-favorite-way-to-get-around-the-new-york-times-paywall-might-be-about-to-go-away/
Publishers are increasingly blocking those who use incognito mode to sneak around their paywalls. But browser makers may have the last laugh.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alex Feerst / OneZero:
Interviews with 15 content moderators from YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms on their day-to-day work, how the job has affected them personally, and more
Your Speech, Their Rules: Meet the People Who Guard the Internet
https://onezero.medium.com/your-speech-their-rules-meet-the-people-who-guard-the-internet-ab58fe6b9231?gi=85a2b178fd05
Tech platform trust and safety employees are charged with policing the impossible. They open up to Medium’s head of trust and safety.
Tomi Engdahl says:
UC terminates subscriptions with world’s largest scientific publisher in push for open access to publicly funded research
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-terminates-subscriptions-worlds-largest-scientific-publisher-push-open-access-publicly
Tomi Engdahl says:
Matthew Iles / Civil:
Civil to launch its blockchain on March 6 with individual and newsroom memberships and the ability to buy CVL tokens accessible via Civil’s website
Civil means journalism
Memberships available worldwide starting March 6
https://blog.joincivil.com/civil-means-journalism-3fd7a6be8aee
Civil is back and better than ever. Full details below. But let’s put first things first: Civil is a community-owned platform for independent journalism founded to advance trust and sustainability for journalism worldwide. The community members are news organizations and you, the public they serve.
We founded Civil to make an impact on the world using decentralization and network effects to create an alternative model to support journalism and the information needs of citizens. In fact, our core mission is evident with our partnership and support of the First Fleet newsrooms.
Our mission is to support independent journalism and restore trust in quality journalism.
We are a growing network of news organizations and supporters committed to a free press, civil discourse and public accountability.
The problems facing journalism today are growing worse.
More than two thousand journalists have lost their jobs this year in the U.S. alone. This is just the latest alarming indication that the news industry sorely lacks a working business model. Meanwhile, more and more people acknowledge that the disproportionate power of centralized platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter deserves much of the blame. It’s time for something new.
We’re looking for citizens who want to support a new model for journalism and who want to help run the platform where they get their news. That’s why members will also receive an equivalent number of Civil tokens relative to their financial contribution to the Civil Foundation.
You can use Civil tokens to vote and challenge unethical newsrooms on the Civil Registry. All newsrooms on Civil have to sign and abide by the Civil Constitution, which was developed in consultation with journalists, academics and ethicists all over the world, in order to remain in good-standing on the Civil Registry and continue publishing on the Civil platform.
Thirty-four million Civil tokens will be priced by The Civil Media Company at $0.20 per CVL on March 6. Every token sold will trigger a slight price increase until the last token goes for $0.94
There will only ever be one hundred million Civil tokens in existence (thanks, blockchain!), and the Civil Registry ensures that the value of Civil tokens will forever be tied most directly to the health and scale of the community network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simon van Zuylen-Wood / Vanity Fair:
Inside Facebook’s content policy team, which is made up of several dozen Facebook engineers, lawyers, and PR people who decide what users can post
“Men Are Scum”: Inside Facebook’s War on Hate Speech
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/men-are-scum-inside-facebook-war-on-hate-speech
The company blew it on privacy and fake news. Can it do better against trolls and racists? An exclusive embed with Facebook’s shadow government.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Luke Ottenhof / Observer:
A look at how freelancers are affected by media layoffs and at their efforts to organize to ensure better working conditions, including timely payment
How Freelance Labor Became the Unsung Casualty of Media Layoffs
https://observer.com/2019/02/media-layoffs-freelance-labor-impact/
It’s been a tough year for workers in the media industry. Though we’re less than two months removed from 2018, the first stretch of this calendar year has brought the familiar, ever-returning spectre of mass layoffs to media outlets in a merciless fashion. Reports estimate that since the year began, more than 2,000 media workers have lost their jobs in a “landslide” of layoffs. Columbia Journalism Review noted that while industry layoffs are a mainstay in the digital media era, the speed and depth of the current cuts appear to be increasingly severe.
But while the widely-reported job loss figures are admittedly staggering, they don’t account for the freelance work lost in the bloodshed. This is a metric obscured by both freelance workers’ lack of visibility in their workplaces and the station at which they operate
there are few (if any) plans in place to deal with outstanding work. This unfortunately includes freelance workers, who are often left without any indication of whether or not their work will be published—or if they will even be paid for it.
“It has a direct negative effect on these freelancers that these places depend on,”
The remaining editors are left with the extra work of tending to a group of freelancers they might not know, which often includes the mundane clerical work of handling their invoices. This strains editors who are already overworked
being handed off to a new contact can lead to poor results for both parties
This hand-off is a best-case scenario, though.
when their advocate is gone and the next editor isn’t too enthusiastic about the story
These scenarios enforce poor working conditions for freelancers by creating an environment where resources for them (like editorial contacts and freelance budgets) are cut—while also pushing more media workers into these murky waters.
“I think we’re experiencing a sustained effort on the part of media companies and management to systematically and continually devalue all work within the industry,”
Craggs thinks that publications have a responsibility to implement plans for treating freelancers fairly when they’re affected by layoffs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Isaac Lee / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the tactics used by the Venezuelan government to eliminate most independent media, from censorship to having government sympathizers buy outlets
Jorge Ramos’s expulsion, and the sorry state of Venezuelan media
https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/jorge-ramos-venezuela-local-media-univision.php
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Comedian Miel Bredouw’s fight with Barstool Sports after they posted her video without credit shows how Twitter’s copyright system can hurt creators
A comedian’s fight with Barstool Sports shows how Twitter’s copyright system can hurt creators
“It’s insane to me that the platform is allowing them to do this.”
https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/4/18250731/barstool-sports-miel-bredouw-twitter-dmca-copyright-strike-video
Earlier today, Los Angeles-based writer and comedian Miel Bredouw claims she received a peculiar message from the general counsel of Barstool Sports, a sports and lifestyle website that caters to young men and is widely known for its aggressive and sometimes offensive approach to cultural commentary. The lawyer, named Mark Marin, was offering Bredouw $2,000 to retract a copyright strike she filed on Twitter.
“That’s brand new for me,” Bredouw, whose short-form videos and other work have often gone viral over the years, told The Verge. “And I have had many, many interactions with companies stealing my content.”
Barstool Sports posted a version of her video in late December, without credit. So Bredouw tried to contact them. “I said, ‘Hey can you credit me,’ and they ignored it,” she says. Shortly thereafter, Bredouw filed the copyright notice. Twitter immediately took the video down, she says, yet over the course of the last three months, her interaction with Barstool Sports, which initially admitted to posting the video without credit, became increasingly absurd. Bredouw describes the experience as being like an “Onion article [but about] something that actually happened.”
Bredouw says that numerous members of Barstool Sports offered her increasingly more elaborate and lucrative offers to retract her DMCA claim, starting with an offer to repost the video with credit and then, after no response, a $50 gift card to the company’s online store.
The offer was allegedly upped to include free exposure for her podcast and $500 cash, and then eventually $2,000 from Marin.
Eventually, when Bredouw refused to respond, Barstool Sports filed its counter-notice, telling Twitter that Bredouw’s copyright strike wasn’t legitimate
And Twitter apparently bought it
Bredouw claims that the status quo effectively allows sites like Barstool to steal creators’ work and bully them into not fighting back.
“This is not the first time this has happened to me where a large account has stolen a piece of content and I filed a DMCA and they filed a counter-notice,” Bredouw says. “There’s just this glaring loophole when a counter-DMCA is filed where you have to get a court order.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook, Twitter, and Google still aren’t doing enough about disinformation, EU says
Officials released a statement on companies’ progress
https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/1/18246526/facebook-twitter-google-social-media-disinformation-europe