A newsletter about our uneasy relationship to phones becomes The Guardian’s fastest-growing email ever

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, April 4, 2024 [A newsletter about our uneasy relationship to phones becomes The Guardian’s fastest-growing email ever]( “Reclaim Your Brain” acknowledges “the effect that the news cycle is having on us psychologically.” By Sarah Scire. [A new game parodies The New York Times’ Gaza coverage]( What We’re Reading Wall Street Journal / Patience Haggin [Brands paid for ads on Forbes.com. Some ran on a copycat site instead. →]( “The alternate site, which Forbes shut down Tuesday following inquiries from The Wall Street Journal, featured stories from Forbes.com that were stretched into formats that can fit many more ads…One [700-word article]( was turned into a 34-slide slideshow, exposing the person who read it on a computer to about 150 ads instead of around seven for someone who read the original piece.” Boston Globe / Aidan Ryan [Struggles of GBH and WBUR ignite debate over future of public radio in Boston →]( “The turbulence at both news organizations is igniting the question of whether the two can still coexist in Boston.” the Guardian / Harriet Sherwood [Hella Pick, pioneering Guardian journalist and “probably the oldest working journalist in the U.K.,” dies at 96 →]( Katharine Viner, Guardian editor-in-chief: “When she started out, there were very few women foreign correspondents, but she soon won the admiration and respect of colleagues both within the Guardian and in the wider world. Her personal history as a refugee from the Nazis shaped her life. That she was still working up until a few weeks ago is a testament to her dedication and grit.” Marketing Brew / Ryan Barwick [For the New York Times, attention metrics find new applications →]( “The New York Times is partnering with Adelaide, a company that uses signals like eye-tracking data to gauge whether readers are paying attention to ads.” Racket / Caleb Fravel [Who goes to journalism school in 2024? →]( “There’s a booming Facebook community, [What’s Your Plan B?]( that’s devoted to helping burnt out and/or laid off journalists transition to other, less troubled industries.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [The U.S. and Finland have agreed to cooperate on combating foreign disinformation →]( “The two countries pledged to ‘expand information sharing about foreign disinformation, share best practices for countering it,’ and align policies with the U.S. Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation.” Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt [U.K.’s GB News hires first U.S. correspondent in expansion of GBN America →]( “Steven Edginton, a former Brexit Party staffer, joins the broadcaster from The Daily Telegraph.” GB News is [often compared]( to Fox News. Second Rough Draft / Dick Tofel [What changes in who’s using AP wires tell us about the news business now →]( “Newspapers, AP said more than a year ago, account for less than 10% of its revenues, which come instead mostly from video and other licensing, much of it global…In the longer run, AP probably somehow needs to better align its governance with its business model.” The Verge / Amrita Khalid [X’s “complimentary” Premium push gives people blue checks they didn’t ask for →]( “Multiple X users on Wednesday reported seeing the familiar blue ‘Verified’ checkmark next to their handles despite not paying for either paid X subscription tier.” WBEZ Chicago / Dave McKinney [Chicago Public Media eliminates podcast unit and lays off 14 staffers →]( “The financial upheaval that led to the layoffs raises questions about the long-term viability of the $61 million WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times merger entering its third year.” (See also: [The Chicago Sun-Times freed the news … but no one’s taking a victory lap yet]( Home With The Armadillo / Andrea Grimes [Substack is setting writers up for a Twitter-style implosion →]( “Follower number go up. Subscriber number go down. Good for Substack. Bad for writers.” [Nieman Lab]( / [Fuego]( [Twitter]( / [Facebook]( [View email in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org. Nieman Journalism Lab Harvard University 1 Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138 [Add us to your address book](