Top News:
Emma Graham-Harrison / The Guardian:
Brexit funder Arron Banks issues legal threats against Netflix and journalist Carole Cadwalladr over The Great Hack documentary, which comes out this week — Legal threat comes as campaigners warn UK government that courts are being used to intimidate journalists
Discussion:
The Guardian, @stilldelvingh and Digital TV Europe
RELATED:
The Guardian:
Observer editor, press freedom nonprofits, and others pen open letter concerning rising use of SLAPP litigation in the UK to silence journalists — In an open letter to Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, the Observer's editor …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, @carolecadwalla, @caoilfhionnanna, @justinbbarthet, @pcaruanagalizia, @scottishpen, @carolecadwalla and @peterjukes
Steven Edginton / Daily Mail:
Steven Edginton, a Brexit party staffer who describes himself as a freelance journalist, says he was the middleman who passed the Darroch cables to the Mail — Lying awake at 2am last Wednesday and unable to sleep for the third night in a row, I listened as footsteps crunched up and down the gravel outside my ground-floor flat.
Max Willens / Digiday:
Insider has shifted its video strategy to focus on longer videos, with 35.5% of published videos from April-July 2019 running 5+ minutes, up from 7.8% last year — In 2017, Business Insider's top executives used their pitch at the NewFronts to talk about its short-form video know-how …
Discussion:
@austin_rief and @mattnavarra
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Former White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah, who left in January, has joined Fox as SVP, will report to Viet Dinh, Fox's chief legal and policy officer — Stelter looks at the Trump, Fox News ‘love story’ — (CNN)In the latest turn of the revolving door between the Trump administration …
Discussion:
@amy_siskind, @brianstelter, @brianstelter and Mediaite
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Following Cairncross Review, UK establishes a £2M pilot fund for publishers to explore new ways of providing sustainable public interest journalism — The UK Government will establish a £2m innovation fund to support public interest journalism, with a focus on local and regional news providers.
Columbia Journalism Review:
Report for America president responds to Tow Center assessment, recognizing need for more awareness of RFA and questioning if local candidates are always best — In May, CJR published a report from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, entitled, 'Can Report for America build trust in local news?
Lydia Morrish / First Draft:
A look at the ethics of monitoring social media and how it can cross into surveillance, and the need for stronger guidelines to avoid compromising privacy — This post has been updated to acknowledge earlier writings on the subject that we felt should be attributed.
Discussion:
@kalexakoenig, @firstdraftnews, @shaydanayurbani and @cward1e
Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
NYT Obits uses a statistical tool to “achieve a yearly 30% representation of women”, according to internal docs, though section editor says it's aspirational — The Times is using an “Obits Diversity Analysis Tool,” which monitors obituary subjects' genders.
Medium:
Interview with Olaf Steenfadt, the director of RSF's Journalism Trust Initiative, which aims to define indicators for trustworthy journalism — The initiatives to stop the spread of disinformation abound, but the phenomenon continues to rise. It not only undermines journalism …
Janet Steele / Columbia Journalism Review:
Reporting on a politician's alleged gay sex tape in Malaysia creates difficulties for Muslim journalists trying to work within the rules of their religion — For the past six weeks, Malaysians have been mesmerized by a series of shocking sex videos. The video clips, which started circulating …
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Study participants evaluating only uncivil comments reported lower trust in news and greater emotional toll than those working on a mix of comments — Moderating the online world is hard. (Casey Newton's investigations at The Verge, looking into the quality of life of contractors tasked …
Discussion:
@kelseynwhipple, @coralproject and @martinriedl