Top News:
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Social media pressure is here to stay as a tactic against advertisers and platforms that support shows like Infowars, because it works, as Sleeping Giants shows — Shortly before the 2016 presidential election, Matt Rivitz stumbled upon the Breitbart News website, which once called itself the “home of the alt-right.”
Discussion:
@slpng_giants, @karlenegoller, @dabeard, @mikebutcher, @lzsundaypaper, @davepell, @donie and The Atlantic, more at Techmeme »
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Steve Coll / New Yorker:
We should be wary of celebrating any case of censorship, especially by opaque companies, because practices that marginalize the right will cut both ways — How should we challenge hate-mongering in the age of social media? — Alex Jones has drawn millions of people to his Infowars brand …
Discussion:
@saraashleyo and @landryst
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Dealing with the likes of Infowars on internet platforms is not a binary choice to keep or ban them; many other options exist, and they should all be explored — from the deplatforming-and-denialism dept — Warning 1: I'm about to talk about an issue that has a lot of nuance in it and no clear …
Discussion:
@drigin, @1lucabelli, @neilturkewitz, @ryandetzel, @carnage4life, @vivian, @morrow_nics, @granick, @jack and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Inside Twitter's Friday meeting where Jack Dorsey and executives discussed Infowars, what “dehumanizing speech” means, and a possible drafting of new policies
Inside Twitter's Friday meeting where Jack Dorsey and executives discussed Infowars, what “dehumanizing speech” means, and a possible drafting of new policies
Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Twitter says it found 7 tweets by Infowars or Alex Jones that broke rules but accounts won't be suspended; 2 of the now-deleted tweets were made after Dec. 2017
Twitter says it found 7 tweets by Infowars or Alex Jones that broke rules but accounts won't be suspended; 2 of the now-deleted tweets were made after Dec. 2017
Discussion:
New York Times, Gizmodo, The Hill, Mashable, Boing Boing, @fawfulfan, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Fortune, @ivanamcconnell, @steveklabnik, @donttrythis, @sarahlerner and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Bob Salsberg / BostonGlobe.com:
Boston Globe is organizing a nationwide response on Aug. 16 to denounce Trump's attacks against media, says 70 outlets agreed to publish editorials as of Friday — BOSTON (AP) — A Boston newspaper is proposing a coordinated editorial response from publications across the U.S …
Discussion:
Poynter, CNNMoney, The Hill, Newser, @chrizap, @mcaruanagalizia, @pressfreedom, @raju, @albertocairo, National Society …, @rasmus_kleis, HuffPost, @spj_tweets, @connieschultz, @karolcummins, The Wrap and Mediaite
Michael H. Keller / New York Times:
A look at the fake YouTube views ecosystem where sites like Devumi.com and 500Views.com sell millions of bot-generated views and how YouTube is fighting it — Plays can be bought for pennies and delivered in bulk, inflating videos' popularity and creating an environment ripe for manipulation.
Discussion:
@revodavid, @rasmus_kleis, @reallygraceful, @samueljscott, @ilvestoomas, @politicalshort, @gabrieldance, @nytimes and @nytimes, more at Techmeme »
Kaitor Kay / WANE-TV:
Fort Wayne newspaper News-Sentinel lays 7 of its 8 remaining staff off, almost a year after going digital — FORT WAYNE - Almost a year after the News Sentinel announced it would halt newspaper production for an all-digital product, the paper is laying off almost all of its staff.
Teghan Simonton / Chronicle of Higher Education:
Journalism professors reframe courses to focus on theory of journalism and its role in democracies, wary of partisan debate as the field gets more politicized — Fred Reeder Jr. likes to open conversations with, “I teach journalism, or as some people would say, fiction.”
Discussion:
@chronicle, @clairemuu, @chronicle and @lisalyonpayne
J.R. Hennessy / The Outline:
As the New York Times sends Bari Weiss to Australia, a look at the country's reactionary media discourse and at the paper's approach to expanding there — The news that derided New York Times opinion columnist and “intellectual dark web” cheerleader Bari Weiss is to be shipped off to Australia …
Discussion:
@_lauban, @davidklion, @cd_hooks and @raju
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Analysis of 16K stories from news outlets in 100 communities with 20K-300K residents finds only 17% of stories were local, or about news in the communities — “Sometimes a story was literally just a YouTube video that they were linking to.” — We know that local journalism is suffering.
Discussion:
The Rural Blog
Maureen Ryan / Hollywood Reporter:
HBO says 57% of its show directors are women or men of color or white women, up from 23% in 2014-2015 season; six of 11 of 2018 pilots were directed by women — HBO programming president Casey Bloys talks with THR about his network's “Because of Her” campaign, which highlights female talent …
Remy Tumin / New York Times:
Profiles of three NYT's summer photography interns who had their photographs featured on the front page of The New York Times — These three photographers have captured protests, asylum seekers and fireworks during their summer internships. — Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights …
Discussion:
@gabriellaangojo, @reannhuber and @jesusrodriguezb
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
The cable TV bundle was brought down by licensing reruns to Netflix, spending on sports rights, slimmer bundles, and lack of cooperation among media companies — Insiders know the cable bundle, after generating more than $1.8 trillion, has been murdered. They don't agree on the prime suspects.
Discussion:
@gerryfsmith