Month: May 2023

Support for Local Media Outlet Requested

by

Local Journalism is difficult. From “Tony’s Kansas City” 5/20/23

https://www.tonyskansascity.com/2023/05/kansas-city-beacon-blog-bemoans.html

From an article in the independent Kansas City Beacon by Stephanie Campbell 5/19/23

https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2023/05/19/independent-kansas-city-journalism/

Headline:  “Investing in local news to bridge divides, empower citizens and create lasting change in Kansas City”

“The future of journalism (lulz) is nothing more or less than begging rich people to pay big bucks for a digital mirror that merely offers slanted opinions & biased reports which satisfy the fickle sensibilities of our ruling elites.”

 

No Profit, No News – News in a Nutshell?

by


Article in The Guardian by Jane Martinson, 5/19/23

Headline:  “Vice and BuzzFeed were meant to be the future of news. What happened?”

“While Vice and BuzzFeed were trying and failing to develop their own business plans, legacy media companies had to develop new ways to make money as circulation and advertising revenues declined. Faced with increasingly loud voices online, for some that meant a move towards more partisan media. Or, “news for angry old people”, as Roman Roy in Succession describes ATN . . .

“If that’s all that is left after the money and tech men have finished experimenting with news online, then, young and old, we should all be angry.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/20/vice-and-buzzfeed-were-meant-to-be-the-future-of-news-what-happened

Bye bye Vice and Buzzfeed?

Now – What Was That Thing Called “Journalism” Again?

by

Article in futurism.com,  5/11/23 Is Google getting ready to replace human journalists? From Futurism 5/11/23

Headline:  “Google Unveils Plan to Demolish the Journalism Industry Using AI”

https://futurism.com/google-ai-search-journalism


Chat GPT Future Journalist?

“The Silicon Valley giant has long claimed that its goal is to maximize access to information. SGE (AI-powered search interface, dubbed ‘Search Generative Experience’) though, seemingly seeks to do something quite different — and if the company doesn’t figure out a way to compensate publishers for the labor it’ll be gleaning from the journalists, the effects on the public’s actual access to information could be catastrophic.”

 

How to Translate the Media

by

From Daily Kos, May, 2023 :

“. . . when a reporter relays information from “a source close to” someone important, we’re probably looking at a shopped story—one the source was explicitly asked to give to the media. When they say “who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly,” that just means the source doesn’t want their own name attached. And yes, “source close to ‘(newsmaker)’ can often just mean ‘(newsmaker)’ themselves.”

Death of the Newsroom by Maureen Dowd

by

Opinion article in the New York Times by Maureen Dowd 4/29/23

Headline:  “Requiem for the Newsroom”


“Newsrooms have been shrinking and disappearing for a long time, of course, due to shifting economics and the digital revolution.

“But now I’m looking for proof of life on an eerie ghost ship.

“. . . when a big story broke at The Star . . .  you could see history happening. People would cluster over a reporter’s desk, pile into the boss’s office and sometimes break into incredibly loud fights. There were weirdos in newsrooms, and fabulous role models occasionally, and the spirit of being part of a motley entourage. Now it’s just you and the little cursor on your screen.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Sunday%20Opinion

 

 

Media freedom in dire state in record number of countries, report finds

by

Article in The Guardian by Oliver Holmes, 5/2/23.

Headline:  Media freedom in dire state in record number of countries, report finds

Sub-head:  World Press Freedom Index report warns disinformation and AI pose mounting threats to journalism

“The Middle East is the world’s most dangerous region for journalists. But the Americas no longer have any country coloured green, meaning “good”, on the press freedom map. The US fell three places to 45th. The Asia Pacific region is dragged down by regimes hostile to reporters, such as Myanmar (173rd) and Afghanistan (152nd).

“’We are witnessing worrying trends, but the big question is if these trends are a hiccup or a sign of a world going backwards,’ said Guilherme Canela, the global lead on freedom of speech at Unesco. ‘Physical attacks, digital attacks, the economic situation, and regulatory tightening: we are facing a perfect storm.’”

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/03/media-freedom-in-dire-state-in-record-number-of-countries-report-finds

Loss of Local News Outlets is a Loss in History

by

Article in History Today by Rachel Matthews, Carole O’Reilly, Martin Conboy, 5/5/23

Headline:  “What do historians lose with the decline of local “news?


“The move to digital has put papers online and also removed the surrounding trappings, such as town centre offices or newspaper sellers, from our streets. Financial pressures mean fewer staff, who are reliant on remote methods of communication rather than being visible in communities.

“The loss of the printed local newspaper has robbed historians of many crucial opportunities to learn about their communities, the mechanisms of democracy and the changing character of any given locality.”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/head-head/what-do-historians-lose-decline-local-news

 

Newspaper seller, London, 1900. George Grantham Bain Collection.
Newspaper seller, London, 1900. George Grantham Bain Collection.