A future technology guide: Farhad Manjoo offers three maxims for surviving the next era of technology.
Look at who’s making a product, choose the indie brand and don’t jump on the newest thing. “Go slow.”
A Thriving Weekly Newspaper
A thriving weekly newspaper: Revenue tripled in three years at the Malheur Enterprise, with in-depth local reporting and an ad salesperson.
Tom Goldman describes the turnaround and the prize-winning journalism. There’s an appetite for good reporting, Goldman writes, and the paper’s editor and publisher “has earned his readers’ trust with his devotion to bedrock principles of journalism.” He’s called “the ideal community journalist.”
BuzzFeed Adopts Rules For Covering Mass Shootings
BuzzFeed adopts rules for covering mass shootings: Don’t shy away from the story, but don’t glorify the assailant.
Sydney Smith describes guidelines for language on mass shootings. All interviews should be considered on the record until a reporter agrees to go off the record or on background.
Lagging Freedom Of Information Act
Lagging Freedom of Information Act: Passed in 1966, but “it’s more difficult than ever to pry loose documents about the federal government”, writes C.J. Ciaramella.
Roughly 800,000 FOIA requests were made in 2017. A record number were denied or censored in the first year of the Trump administration. Ciaramella calls the act “a wheezing, arthritic artifact of more optimistic times.”
Covering Wildfires
Covering wildfires: The devastating California fires change the landscape and journalism, writes Audrey Cooper.
“There is a perception that journalists simply take from the victims,” she writes. “We do take their stories, their photos. We do these things not because we relish it but because the public must know. There is power in the truth, even if it is a truth some would rather not see.”
Bilingual Reporting And Translation
Bilingual reporting and translation: President Trump’s zero tolerance policy on border immigration makes bilingual reporting important, writes Alice Driver.
“Because language enables reporting — and comprehension of complex subjects in the news — it is essential for local and national media outlets to have bilingual journalists,” she writes.
Shoeleather Promotes Local Reporting
Shoeleather promotes local reporting: National database helps editors find local reporters.
They are “local, knowledgeable and ready to tell their community stories” says the website, and a way to avoid “parachute journalism.”
Hexing Tax Collectors
Hexing tax collectors: Sydney Smith offers a roundup of recent media corrections.
Historical facts, names and numbers trip journalists, including Romanian witches.
“Stories aren’t the only content that needs editing,” writes Smith. “Case in point, an NPR graphic on the midterm elections had numerous errors.”
Quoting Too Many Men
Quoting too many men: London’s Financial Times is using a bot to warn its journalists against quoting too many men, writes Jim Waterson, forcing writers to look for women experts.
“The paper, which covers many male-dominated industries, is keen to attract more woman readers, with its research suggesting they are put off by articles that rely heavily on quotes from men,” he writes. Only 21 percent of people quoted in the newspaper were women.
A Media Business Analysis
A media business analysis: Rick Edmonds sees gains in broadcasting, weaker newspapers and digital sites.
“My version of a partial silver lining: the 22,000 professional journalists left at newspaper organizations (even after 33,000 such jobs have vanished) continue to find ways to do outstanding work,” he writes. “And will in 2019, too.”
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 