Journalism scholars want to make journalism better. They’re not quite sure how.

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, October 3, 2024 [Journalism scholars want to make journalism better. They’re not quite sure how.]( Does any of this work actually matter? By Jacob L. Nelson, Andrea Wenzel and Letrell Crittenden. What We’re Reading The Hollywood Reporter / Katie Kilkenny [The New Yorker union members unanimously authorize strike ahead of festival →]( “The New Yorker union, which represents fact-checkers, copy editors, story editors and photo editors, among other roles, has been negotiating its latest pact with Condé Nast for more than six months. (The magazine’s staff writers are not included in the union.)” CNN / Hadas Gold and Pamela Brown [CNN requested an interview with Melania Trump. Her book publisher asked for $250,000 in exchange →]( “Paying a public figure for an interview, especially the spouse of a political candidate, is highly frowned upon in most newsrooms, which tend to have strict guidelines against such a practice. It is also highly unusual for the request to come from a representative purportedly acting on behalf of the spouse of a presidential candidate and a former first lady -– especially with such a large price tag.” Press Gazette / Dominic Ponsford and Bron Maher [Leading cultural figures attack Observer sale as staff pave way for strike action →]( “Press Gazette understands staff complained about what was seen as a failure of the Trust to protect plural liberal journalism in tough times. Some spoke about a sense of ‘betrayal’ amongst Observer journalists who have worked at the company for 30 years or more. There was also concern raised that readers who have made financial donations in order to support Observer journalism will feel misled if the title is sold.” The Verge / Emma Roth [Google’s AI search summaries officially have ads →]( “Let’s say you’re searching for ways to get a grass stain out of your pants. If you ask Google, its AI-generated response will offer some tips, along with suggestions for products to purchase that could help you remove the stain. The products will appear beneath a ‘sponsored’ header, and Google spokesperson Craig Ewer told The Verge they’ll only show up if a question has a ‘commercial angle.'” Columbia Journalism Review / Lauren Watson [The before and after: Meta’s Canadian news ban, as told through my small town →]( “The researchers also found that only 22 percent of Canadians are aware that Meta has bailed on journalism. That has turned Canadian newsgathering on social media into a game of telephone—out-of-context photos and summaries absent links to the articles from which they’ve been sourced—that few even know is being played.” CNN / Brian Stelter [How Trump consolidated control over his party and right-wing media in a “cloud of confusion” →]( “‘Cloud of confusion’ was the perfect, succinct summary of the right’s strategy. Candidates like Trump, attorneys like Chesebro, TV stars like Sean Hannity, and streaming propagandist like Tucker Carlson sowed so much chaos and confusion that voters and viewers couldn’t tell what was true anymore.” Reuters / Lucy Papachristou [Forced closure of weekly spells the end for Russia’s independent print media →]( “A few days after the ‘foreign agent’ designation, Sobesednik announced it was suspending publication. ‘It would be impossible to read,’ said Roldugin, who has led the paper since 2021. ‘The paper would have to be sold sealed and labelled ’18+’, like pornography. Because we did journalism instead of propaganda.'” The Atlantic / Gal Beckerman [The journalist who cried treason →]( “I wondered, though, in my discussions with Unger, whether reporters like him bore some of the responsibility—whether the kind of skepticism and mistrust that marked his generation of journalists had helped create our post-truth reality. There were moments when he slipped from crusading truth teller to something closer to a conspiracy theorist willing to believe the most outlandish speculations.” Poynter / Kristen Hare [After Hurricane Helene, “Neighbors are what’s getting us through this” →]( “[99.9]( I think is the star. It’s an iHeart station. They are broadcasting 24/7 with a call-in format. People are helping and asking for help. It’s absolutely uplifting and devastating. You literally can’t listen for more than a few hours without breaking down. Their DJs are literally holding the community together.” The New Yorker / Cal Newport [What kind of writer is ChatGPT? →]( “Old-fashioned writing requires bursts of focus that remind me of the sharp spikes of an electrocardiogram. Working with ChatGPT mellowed the experience, rounding those spikes into the smooth curves of a sine wave.” 404 Media / Joseph Cox [Someone put facial recognition tech onto Meta’s smart glasses to instantly dox strangers →]( “Ardayfio told 404 Media that when the pair did show the technology to other Harvard students and people on the subway, some said, ‘Dude, holy shit, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. How do you know my mom’s phone number?'” Wired / Will Knight [Hacking generative AI for fun and profit →]( “Notable pitches from the journalism hackathon included using multimodal language models to track political posts on TikTok, to auto-generate freedom of information requests and appeals, or to summarize video clips of local court hearings to help with local news coverage.” Apple [Apple Podcasts will treat serialized narrative series as a separate category with dedicated charts and marketing →]( [Nick Quah]( on the change: “I’m pro this move. The form deserves curatorial distinction from the persistent talk show format, which has increasingly come to dominate podcasting’s identity as a medium and merge with the digital video ecosystem. The bigger question: will this move the needle for the form and its practitioners in any way?” [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](