Covering coronavirus better: Shoddy coverage of the virus can cause panic and overreaction, writes Al Tompkins.
Limit adjectives, choose images carefully, frame stories with context, bust myths and get creative.
“The public is starting to freak out,” he writes. “Don’t add to it with screaming clickbait headlines and scary generic images.”
Believing election results: Pew Research Center finds Americans who get most of their political news on social media display less confidence in the public’s acceptance of election results, regardless of the winner, than those who mostly get this news in other ways such as cable TV, news sites or print newspapers, write Mark Jurkowitz and Amy Mitchell.
Sleep whispering: Listeners value calming sleepcasts that make them snooze, but not podcasts, writes Nicholas Quah.
“The question that needs to be asked is: Why will people pay for Calm but not for the premium tier in a podcast app?” he writes.
Media transparency debate: Two views of transparency in journalism. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
NPR seeks public editor: Unusual job opportunity if “this sounds like you.”
Diplomatic style that engenders respect and trust required, says the ad. Must stay current on media ethics and trends. Digital and social media proficiency and sophistication needed. Salary not specified.
Chasing foundation grants: Jacob Nelson and Patrick Ferrucci report that foundation funding often goes to news nonprofits for technology-driven projects, audience-engagement projects and for pushing journalists to expand their work beyond traditional routines.
What teens want: “Ultimately, young people want the same thing from news organizations that adults do: the truth,” writes Lauren Harris. Attempts to emulate teens make them wince.
New model for local news: Ken Doctor aims to launch Lookout next year.
“Overall, we believe the successful local news outlets of the 2020s will be the ones that authentically embed themselves into the life of the communities they serve,” he writes.
Seeking the under 35 reader: A Reuters Institute report finds young people prefer social media and news aggregators over traditional broadcast or print media.
They use news to fulfill social and personal needs. They don’t seek news; it comes to them.
Fixing contrived news: A Pew Research poll finds Americans think made-up news is a bigger problem than terrorism, violent crime and climate change.
They blame political leaders and activists for misleading news, but expect journalists to fix the problem.
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 