Mediagazer: Tinder says it will roll out its “Swipe Night” choose-your-own adventure series globally in February, after messages rose 12% compared to a typical Sunday night (Kerry Flynn/CNN)

BBC launches an interactive voice news service for Alexa, allowing users to skip stories or ask for more details about the ones they are interested in — The BBC is launching an interactive voice news service for Alexa, allowing people to skip stories or ask for more details about the items they are interested in.

Discussion: bbc.co.uk, Financial Times and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »

BBC:

BBC News launches dark web mirror of its international site, accessible via Tor, as it seeks to thwart censorship from states such as China, Iran, and Vietnam — The BBC has made its international news website available via Tor, in a bid to thwart censorship attempts.

Discussion: @darkdotfail

Jessica Toonkel / The Information:

CNN says it is planning a news aggregation service, internally called “NewsCo”, which will likely be a mix of subscription- and advertising-based content — First there was Knewz. Now there is “Newsco.” Media companies are ramping up their efforts to take on Facebook and Apple with digital news services.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, @jessicalessin, Engadget, AppleInsider and @thesheetztweetz

Emily Bloch / Teen Vogue:

The Florida Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has applied to trademark the term “fake news” to stop Trump from using it — In this op-ed, Teen Vogue reporter Emily Bloch explains why her local Society of Professional Journalists branch is sending Donald Trump cease …

Discussion: The Hill, @dceiver, @annemariebridy, @emdrums, @teenvogue, Techdirt, @briansolis, @spj_tweets, The Daily Caller, @twolemonades, The Drum, Adweek and New York Post

Kerry Flynn / CNN:

A look at LinkedIn's efforts to curate news using human editors, with a 65-strong team globally, as it seeks to boost engagement — New York (CNN Business)In Dan Roth's dream world, members of LinkedIn, where he has served as editor in chief since 2011, would habitually read the LinkedIn Daily Rundown with their morning cup of coffee.

Discussion: @kerrymflynn, @jeffweiner and @media_evan, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Ronan Farrow to launch a limited-series podcast as an audio companion to Catch and Kill, featuring new audio material and interviews — Ronan Farrow is launching a podcast offshoot of his best-selling book “Catch and Kill.” — Slated to premiere in November, “The Catch and Kill Podcast With Ronan Farrow” …

Discussion: @ericmennel, The Wrap, bookforum.com and Wall Street Journal

Peter Oborne / openDemocracy:

UK journalists should stop letting themselves be used as a tool for anonymous government sources to spread lies, misrepresentations, smears, and falsehoods — It's chilling. From the Mail, The Times to the BBC and ITN, everyone is peddling Downing Street's lies and smears.

Discussion: Polis, @carolecadwalla, @rowanscott, Spectator, @carolecadwalla and @mariehelenetho2

John O'Nolan / Ghost:

Ghost, which builds open source publishing software, releases Ghost 3.0 with support for reader memberships and subscription revenue — Today we released the third major version of Ghost, representing a total of more than 15,000 commits across almost 300 releases.

Discussion: One Man & His Blog, @adders, TechCrunch, @timsneath, @tomcritchlow, @johnonolan and @ghost

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

BBC opens up Local News Partnership, its scheme created in 2017 to fund “local democracy reporters”, to black, Asian, and minority ethnic publications in UK — The BBC-funded local democracy reporting service has been opened up to news platforms aimed at black …

Discussion: Black On White TV and HoldtheFrontPage

Knight Foundation:

Knight Foundation announces funding for Charlotte's West End, including $125,000 for a journalism initiative with Qcitymetro, to host events and hire a reporter — Contact: Lauren Dickinson, Communications Officer, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305.908.2694, [email protected]

Discussion: @cthomasclt, @svalder and @westside_clt

Kerry Flynn / CNN:

Tinder says it will roll out its “Swipe Night” choose-your-own adventure series globally in February, after messages rose 12% compared to a typical Sunday night — New York (CNN Business)Would you save a person or a puppy during an apocalypse? — To some, that's an obvious choice.

Discussion: @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:

AP is using Data Skrive automation and Sportradar data to produce automated text previews of Major League Soccer games — The Associated Press announced today that it is using automation technology from Data Skrive and data from Sportradar to produce data-driven text previews of all Major League Soccer games.

Discussion: @cltledger and @herosportsnews

Siri Holstad Johannessen / INMA:

How Norway's Aftenposten increased subscriber revenue and decreased churn through Wine Club, its wine-focused newsletter started in 2017 — Aftenposten has a long history with its loyalty programme for subscribers, which is called A-kortet. With unique offers on events, concerts …

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

A deep look at local news newsletters from individual reporters, who often use tools like Substack and Revue and sometimes earn subscription revenue — Just as blogging allowed a new cadre of journalists to work outside established news organizations in the early 2000s, the email newsletter boom has done the same in local communities.

Discussion: @journalismfest, @tcb, @chassisk, Talking Biz News, @carigervin, @ash_detroit, @newsbyschmidt, @newsbyschmidt, @newsbyschmidt, @newsbyschmidt, @newsbyschmidt, @newsbyschmidt, @newsbyschmidt and @newsbyschmidt

Jessica Davies / Digiday:

CNN says its short-form video subsidiary, Great Big Story, now accounts for 15% of CNN International Commercial's digital revenue — Great Big Story has come a long way since its debut four years ago as CNN's social video experiment aimed at targeting younger audiences.

Discussion: Editor & Publisher Magazine