Press Forward awards $20 million to 205 small local newsrooms

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Wednesday, October 16, 2024 [Press Forward awards $20 million to 205 small local newsrooms]( In response to the volume and quality of applications, Press Forward doubled the funding and number of grantees for this open call. By Sophie Culpepper. [The FTC puts an end to “click to subscribe, call to cancel”]( What We’re Reading AP News [Former Las Vegas-area Democratic official sentenced to 28 years for killing reporter Jeff German in 2022 →]( “A judge invoked sentencing enhancements for elements including use of a deadly weapon, laying in wait and the age of the reporter to add eight years to the minimum 20-year sentence that a jury set in August after finding Robert Telles guilty of murder” of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German. 404 Media / Emanuel Maiberg [AI-powered social media manipulation app promises to “Shape Reality” →]( “In video demos and an overview document provided to people interested in using a prototype of the app that have been viewed by 404 Media, Impact shows how it can send push notifications to groups of supporters directing them at a specific social media post and provide them with AI-generated text they can copy and paste in order to flood the replies with counter arguments.” The Verge / David Pierce [How Digg helped invent the social internet →]( The Verge’s David Pierce sat down with Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg, to talk about how the site, for a time, became the “homepage of the internet,” the thumbs-up upvote icon, and what Rose would do if he were to relaunch Digg today (AI for content moderation, “Wikipedia-style” community support instead of ads). Adweek / Mark Stenberg [Eater, finally, launches an app →]( “Launching an app has been the number one request we get from our readers,” [Eater editor in chief Stephanie Wu] said. “People understand the utility of Eater Maps, and now they have an easier way to access them.” New York Times / Benjamin Mullin [Washington Post CEO looks to grow business through acquisitions →]( “This is about us getting our house in order. It’s about fixing the foundations in order for us to be able to grow regardless of the news cycle.” (Also: The Post told employees it is growing for the first time since 2021, adding more than 4,000 subscribers so far this year.) Axios / Sara Fischer [The Associated Press will have a record-breaking 5,000 people working on election night →]( “That number includes full-time employees, vote count reporters, and contractors. The stakes are higher than ever for AP, which has seen its customer base for election data grow by 30% following the 2020 election.” Gallup / Megan Brenan [36% of U.S. adults have no trust in news media, Gallup poll finds →]( “For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% of Americans express ‘not very much’ confidence.” (Could that be [a good thing]( Status / Oliver Darcy [The Atlantic editor-in-chief warns newsroom decline is how “democracy decomposes” →]( “To look at cities that used to be served by newsrooms of 300, or 500 journalists, now reduced to virtually nothing, is terrible. This is the way democracy decomposes. We’re sleepwalking into an absolute disaster,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said. “Jefferson had it right almost 250 years ago when he said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers.” New York Times / The Editorial Board [New York Times Editorial Board urges Congress to pass law safeguarding the anonymity of reporters’ sources →]( “Today, every member of the House, some themselves targets of sharp investigative reporting or frequent critics of the news media, has supported swift passage of the PRESS bill. There are three Republican sponsors of the bill in the Senate, but it is opposed by a small clutch of conservative senators — most notably Tom Cotton, a hard-right Republican from Arkansas — attempting to keep the legislation bottled up in the Judiciary Committee.” The Hollywood Reporter / Katie Kilkenny [New Yorker Festival strike averted as Condé Nast reaches deal with union →]( “The new deal raises the previous salary floor from $60,000 to $63,000 if the contract is ratified, with $2,000 bonuses awarded to staffers making less than $65,000 a year, the union stated … The deal arrives a little over a week since The New Yorker Union threatened a strike in advance of the publication’s annual festival, which is scheduled to take place between Oct. 25 and 27.” [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](