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With Hurricane Milton looming, NPR stations got a lower-bandwidth way to reach residents
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With Hurricane Milton looming, NPR stations got a lower-bandwidth way to reach residents
In normal times, text-only websites are a niche interest. But a natural disaster is not normal times.
By Joshua Benton
How a 19th-century news revolution sparked activists, influencers, disinformation, and the Civil War
Long before anyone was accused of being “woke,” the Wide Awakes used new news technology to rapidly construct a national movement.
By Jon Grinspan
How The New York Times incorporates editorial judgment in algorithms to curate its home page
The Times’ algorithmic recommendations team on responding to reader feedback, newsroom concerns, and technical hurdles.
By Zhen Yang
Want to change money in Cuba? It’ll probably involve an exiled news outlet — and AI
El Toque’s informal exchange rate is used by taxi drivers, restaurateurs, and small businesses across the island. It’s also grown the news site’s traffic tenfold.
By Andrew Deck
The former host of S-Town has a new subject to investigate: Journalism
After more than a decade in the industry, Brian Reed is Question(ing) Everything about it.
By Neel Dhanesha
What’s the journalism we can make for people who don’t trust journalism?
“You just need somebody with enough charisma that they would carry people over the line. And it wouldn’t be a traditional journalist.”
By Neel Dhanesha
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
Congress fights to keep AM radio in cars
The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act is being deliberated in both houses of Congress.
By Matthew Jordan
Going back to the well: CNN.com, the most popular news site in the U.S., is putting up a paywall
It has a much better chance of success than CNN+ ever did. But it still has to convince people its work is distinctive enough to break out the credit card.
By Joshua Benton
The New York Times redesigns its app to highlight a universe beyond just news
It’s the first major redesign since the app launched in 2008.
By Neel Dhanesha
You might discover a conspiracy theory on social media — but you’re more likely to believe it if you hear it from a friend
Partisanship, conspiratorial thinking, and IRL connections make for a potent mix — on both the left and the right.
By Joshua Benton
Why does the Wichita Beacon keep losing reporters?
The Kansas City Beacon seemed to be a nonprofit news success story. So what’s going wrong in Wichita?
By Sophie Culpepper
With Hurricane Milton looming, NPR stations got a lower-bandwidth way to reach residents
In normal times, text-only websites are a niche interest. But a natural disaster is not normal times.
By Joshua Benton
How a 19th-century news revolution sparked activists, influencers, disinformation, and the Civil War
Long before anyone was accused of being “woke,” the Wide Awakes used new news technology to rapidly construct a national movement.
How The New York Times incorporates editorial judgment in algorithms to curate its home page
The Times’ algorithmic recommendations team on responding to reader feedback, newsroom concerns, and technical hurdles.
What We’re Reading
NPR / Bobby Allyn
How Louisville Public Media uncovered internal research TikTok has tried to keep secret
“In one of the lawsuits, filed by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, the redactions were faulty. This was revealed when Kentucky Public Radio copied-and-pasted excerpts of the redacted material, bringing to light some 30 pages of documents that had been kept secret.”
CNN / Brian Stelter
The Atlantic will increase print editions, returning to monthly publication for the first time since 2002
The magazine is increasing its pace of publication from 10 issues to 12 per year. The Atlantic returned to profitability earlier in 2024 and said it had crossed the one million subscriptions mark.
CNN / Liam Reilly
FCC chair denounces Trump’s calls for CBS to “lose its license”
“Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel denounced former President Donald Trump’s ‘threats against free speech’ Thursday after he attacked CBS and called for the network to ‘lose its license’ over a recent “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Storybench / Dan Zedek
How open source investigations have helped reveal the costs of war in Gaza
“[The] efforts have often pierced the fog of war, but also revealed some of the limitations of OSI when presented with conflicting evidence.”
The Verge / Umar Shakir
Instagram and Threads moderation is out of control
“Some users complain their accounts are being deleted or restricted for linking to articles with controversial topics. Instagram and Threads boss Adam Mosseri is directly replying to some complaints and said he’s ‘looking into it.'”
Vulture / Nicholas Quah
“Good” interviews don’t matter like they used to
“We’ve long arrived at a place where Americans, now polarized beyond recognition, prefer news sources that align with their ideology, if they even consume much news at all. This is, of course, a damning reality for the traditional news business.”
Yahoo Sports
Yahoo Sports and The Athletic have teamed up to create a free digital hub that guides fans to women’s sports news and analysis
“The partnership addresses clear, increased demand for women’s sports coverage, particularly across Yahoo Sports platforms. Views of women’s sports articles on Yahoo Sports are up 253% over the last 12 months. In addition, seven of the top 10 most-viewed articles on Yahoo Sports in August were about female athletes.”
The Verge / Wes Davis
The Internet Archive is under attack, with a popup claiming a “catastrophic” breach
“Jason Scott, an archivist and software curator of The Internet Archive, said the site was experiencing a DDoS attack, posting on Mastodon that ‘according to their twitter, they’re doing it just to do it. Just because they can. No statement, no idea, no demands.’”
Latin American Journalism Review / César López Linares
Citizen journalists are trying to fill a gap in environmental reporting in Trinidad and Tobago
“A lot of countries in the Caribbean don’t have dedicated environmental writers or reporters, or environmental news is still not a mainstream thing,” Cari-Bois coordinator Tyrell Gittens told the Latin American Journalism Review. “We have been trying in some countries to get writers and it has been exceptionally difficult. So, I think there is an opportunity to train writers there because there’s clearly a gap that still needs to be filled.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
The Financial Times exceeds £500 million in annual revenue for the first time
“The internal performance report also shows operating profit of £30m, which chief executive John Ridding described as ‘healthy’ and ‘keeping us on track for our medium-term targets and a sustainable operating margin.’ Operating profit was £28.7 million in 2022, meaning 5% annual growth.”
Nieman Lab is a project to try to help figure out where the news is headed in the Internet age. Sign up for The Digest, our daily email with all the freshest future-of-journalism news.