Why do broadcast journalists look and talk the way they do? Look to the imagined audience.

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, October 24, 2024 [Why do broadcast journalists look and talk the way they do? Look to the imagined audience.]( I reviewed decades of research on how audiences evaluate journalists’ on-air presentation. By Elia Powers. [Medill’s 2024 State of Local News report expands what it qualifies as local news — and asks readers to point out what it missed]( This year’s report documents “network local news sites” like Patch and Axios Local for the first time. By Sophie Culpepper. What We’re Reading Wired / David Gilbert [Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity are promoting debunked race science in search results →]( “The problem with it is that the data [noted proponent of race science Richard Lynn] used to generate this dataset is just bullshit, and it’s bullshit in multiple dimensions…It’s actually not surprising [that AI systems are quoting it] because Lynn’s work in IQ has been accepted pretty unquestioningly from a huge area of academia. So the fault isn’t with AI. The fault is with academia.” The Verge / Sheena Vasani [Google open-sourced its watermarking tool for AI-generated text →]( “SynthID, which was announced last August, helps make AI-generated output detectable by adding an invisible watermark into images, audio, video, and text as they’re generated. Google says the text version of SynthID works by making the text output slightly less probable in a way that is detectable by software but not humans.” Notes From Poland / Daniel Tilles [A Polish radio station replaced almost all of its staff with AI, including the presenters →]( “On Monday, Radio Kraków, a state-owned broadcaster that operates in Poland’s second-largest city, announced that the following day it would launch Poland’s ‘first radio station created almost entirely by artificial intelligence.’ Its programs would be presented by three AI characters, each of which would have a specific personality, set of interests and even AI-generated images of how they look.” The Hollywood Reporter / Alex Weprin [Peacock’s election night plan includes a “Kornacki Cam” →]( “Peacock will debut a three-feed version of multiview on election night, anchored by a main feed of NBC News Now, which will be led by Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie; as well as the Kornacki Cam, which will see [Steve] Kornacki at the big board analyzing the polling numbers as they come in through the night; and a decision desk feed, which will focus on electoral results and the balance of power.” Bloomberg / Amanda Mull [More publishers are discovering that print magazines are now a luxury good →]( “When you think about the new role of print magazines, it’s useful to consider which publications never abandoned them in the first place: Architectural Digest, the Atlantic, Bon Appétit, GQ, New York, the New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vogue, among others. The readership of these magazines isn’t exactly a cross section of America; they’re disproportionately affluent and well-educated people who are generally willing to pay up for things they think are fancy or high quality or sophisticated.” St. Louis Magazine / Sarah Fenske [Press Forward presses pause on St. Louis Argus grant →]( “The national initiative that awarded $100,000 to the St. Louis Argus says it has ‘paused payment’ on the grant while it looks into allegations that the newspaper has [helped itself]( to the work of numerous other media outlets.” The Nation / Chris Lehmann [Media elites are the last people to ask about the future of journalism →]( “The whole exercise is a bit like canvassing the designer of the Hindenburg on the future of air travel.” The Wall Street Journal / Rolfe Winkler [Perplexity’s CEO wants to share ad revenue with publishers instead of paying them for their work →]( “Srinivas threw cold water on the idea of signing licensing agreements with publishers that would pay them directly for the websites’ content that Perplexity feeds into its algorithms to help its chatbot generate answers for users. Instead, he articulated a vision where Perplexity would share advertising revenue with publishers, a pool of money he said would grow over time.” Status / Oliver Darcy [A puzzle at the Post →]( “Inside the newspaper, I am told that it is believed the board has already completed a draft of its endorsement of Kamala Harris. The growing suspicion among some staffers is that [Jeff Bezos] may be holding the piece up…in advance of a possible Trump presidency, many of society’s most powerful have already begun to assume defensive stances, choosing to stay silent and carefully maneuver to avoid falling in Trump’s crosshairs.” Columbia Journalism Review / Sewell Chan [Los Angeles Times editorials editor resigns after owner Patrick Soon-Shiong blocks presidential endorsement →]( “I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent,” Mariel Garza told [Sewell Chan] in a phone conversation. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.” [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](