Encouraged one day, despairing the next
Media statistic of the week
Did you watch HBO’s “House of the Dragon” on Sunday? If you did, you’re definitely not alone.
Herb Scribner and Sara Fischer from Axios explain: “HBO's highly anticipated "Game of Thrones" prequel broke records as the largest premier in HBO history, the company said Monday. ‘House of the Dragon’ drew nearly 10 million viewers across HBO's cable channel and HBO Max in its U.S. debut Sunday night, the largest audience for any new original series in the history of HBO.”
This past week in the media industry?
NY Times Guild flooded management inboxes
In a scoop from Axios’ Sara Fischer, around 300 members of the New York Times 1,400-person editorial union sent emails to the highest levels of the Times' management team on Monday in an effort to pressure the company over stalled contract negotiation talks.
“Yes we did,” tweets Michael Roston, a senior staff editor, science, for the Times.?
“Union members are frustrated that the Times' management has yet to respond to their proposal for wage increases, especially as the company continues to post strong profits and increase its dividend payout to shareholders,” Fischer writes.
“@NYTimesGuild yesterday, they flooded management inboxes with really moving personal stories pushing the company to bring a respectful wage counter to the bargaining table this week. it was amazing to watch the notes come through all day long,” tweets Addy Baird.?
Fisher reports the union is asking for an 8% annual raise, which it argues would cost the company around $11.4 million annually. It also wants a 5.82% cost of living adjustment, matched to inflation.
More New York Times staffers took to Twitter to share their thoughts and stand in solidarity with the union: “I was moved, and proud, to read over 300 heartfelt emails my colleagues sent to our management . The New York Times is thriving, making lots of money. But instead of sharing it with the people making the paper, management gives it to their shareholders,” writes Christiaan Triebert, visual investigations journalist and producer.
Data finds Black and Latino staffers at NY Times less likely than white peers to receive strong job ratings
In more union news, an analysis of comprehensive data for roughly 1,000 The New York Times employees conducted by members of the union that represents its newsroom found that Black and Latino staffers are far less likely than their white peers to receive strong job ratings.
NPR’s David Folkenflik writes, “There are financial consequences to job ratings because they influence the size of employee bonuses, the NewsGuild union says. But staffers tell NPR the differential is even more important because it indicates an underlying systemic problem that the paper is failing to address. It is demoralizing, they say, and contributes to the premature departure of some colleagues.”
“Incredibly shameful,” tweets Kevin Draper. “Shocker,” added Aaron Randle.
Here’s a snippet of the study, which you can check out in full here: “Being Hispanic reduced the odds of receiving a high score by about 60%, and being Black cut the chances of high scores by nearly 50%.”
“We have to hold our own companies to account. This is damning for @nytimes. I’m so proud of @NYTimesGuild shedding light on the racist disparities in performance reviews at the Times. It’s past time for mgmt to do better,” tweets Jon Schleuss, president of NewsGuild.?
A sobering look at the state of affairs in journalism
Journalists Mark Coddington and Seth C. Lewis launched RQ1, a monthly newsletter on recent academic research around journalism. Their issues are being published by Nieman Lab, and this one is quite eye-opening.
In an attempt to answer questions around which news audiences are underserved, Coddington and Lewis point to a new study from the Journal of Communication.?
Here’s the method behind the study:
“The authors do a deep dive into the greater Philadelphia media market. As the authors note, this is a market with ample experimentation with news models in recent years, but it’s also an area with news outlets that historically chased wealthy suburban residents at the expense of urban audiences.
To assess whether these news organizations fulfill the kind of “critical information needs” that previous research has identified as being the most essential, the authors conducted a content analysis of what these outlets produced in spring-summer 2021, seeking to evaluate how much the news organizations focused on Covid-19 coverage relative to coverage of crime incidents, “taking a higher ratio of COVID-19 to crime coverage as an indicator of a stronger focus on an unarguably critical information need for Philadelphia’s communities, including socioeconomically marginalized communities.”?
“Findings indicate that Philadelphia’s news media system underserves communities with lower levels of income and education and that this structural gap generates a measurable gap in the provision of news content meeting the critical information needs of these communities,” the authors wrote.
Nieman Lab’s Sarah Scire shares some more commentary on Twitter: "’digital news deserts’ occur when ‘online-only outlets devote their already small staffs to reaching the same higher socioeconomic audiences served by large, legacy outlets,’” and “roughest part, to me, is that the authors did this study in Philadelphia, which has a relatively ‘robust and thriving’ media system.”
?And as Will Flannigan tweets, “In short, if the findings in Philly apply across the country, communities with less education and lower incomes are not having their information needs met.”
Happy birthday, Politifact!
The website Politifact turned 15, and the site’s founding editor Bill Adair took to Poynter to share some learnings and thoughts on facts and fact-checking.
One of Adair’s major takeaways??
“There’s still a substantial audience for facts. This can be forgotten in our hyper-partisan age, when so many people seek validation of their beliefs. But there still are plenty of people who want to consider all sides and know the facts.”
“After 15 years, PolitiFact hasn’t given up on facts. (Congratulations, @BillAdairDuke),” tweets Bill Church.
WaPo suspended top reporter last spring
The Washington Post quietly suspended one of its longest serving reporters, Paul Farhi, this past spring, in a move challenged by the union representing the paper’s reporters, reports Max Tani for POLITICO.
Here’s more from this puzzling story: “The suspension of Farhi, a media reporter who has for years been tasked with writing about the paper itself, came on or about March 10 and lasted for five days, during which he was not paid. According to a complaint to compel arbitration filed by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild in D.C. district court, the Post claimed that Farhi had “jeopardized the safety of a colleague as well as the ability of The Washington Post to report in a foreign country.”
“I regret to inform you that the Washington Post is at it again,” tweets Jon Levine, while Alex Morash adds, “Worker rights continue to decline at The Washington Post. Jeff Bezos really is out to Amazonize the place.”
Holding CNN accountable
Lots of shakeups at CNN over the last week.
As you probably heard, CNN announced that it was canceling the show “Reliable Sources” with Brian Stelter, and that Stelter would depart the network. Deadline Hollywood’s Ted Johnson breaks down Stelter’s message during his final weekend show.?
Stelter said: “I know it’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue,” Stelter said at the end of the show. “It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces. But we also must make sure we are representing the full spectrum of debate and representing what is going on in this country and this world.
That’s why CNN needs to be strong. That’s why I believe CNN will be strong. You viewers at home — it’s on you. CNN must remain strong. I know the 4,500 staffers are going to do their part to make it stronger than ever. But it’s going to be on you to hold CNN accountable, and not just CNN. You got to hold your local paper accountable. You got to hold your local digital outlet accountable. It’s on us. We are all members of the media, all helping to make it better.”
Sounds like the Reliable Sources news isn’t the only change underway at CNN.
Network boss Chris Licht told staff, “There will be more changes and you might not understand it or like it all,” according to Corbin Bolies for The Daily Beast.
Here are the outlined changes from Bolies:
“We will continue covering media stories, including on TV, when warranted,” Licht emphasized, multiple sources said, in response to concerns that CNN may no longer cover media issues. He further explained that the Reliable Sources newsletter will relaunch under reporter Oliver Darcy and “we will be expanding our coverage.” Licht added of Stelter: “I really appreciate all that Brian has done to build the media beat for CNN. He’s a great human being and a good person. I wish him all the best on his new venture.”
“the gall of canceling your media show and laying off a bunch of people, then turning around and saying you're actually expanding your media coverage,” tweets Aaron Rupar.?
WaPo’s Margaret Sullivan signs off
In her final piece for the column she created at The Washington Post, Margaret Sullivan has some thoughts on the media’s performance in covering threats to democracy.
I’m “encouraged one day, despairing the next,” she says.
In the poignant piece, Sullivan shares where we’ve made strides in the media, but also the work that’s still left to do.
Sullivan shared the print edition of her final column on Twitter.
“The great @sulliview on the task ahead: ‘Journalists simply can’t allow themselves to be megaphones or stenographers. They have to be dedicated truth-tellers, using clear language, plenty of context and thoughtful framing to get that truth across’," tweets Ben Collins.
“I hope that newsroom leaders are thinking hard about moving outside their long-standing practices as the presidential campaign approaches. This will not be a traditional contest, and the stakes are high. We simply have to get it right,” Sullivan concludes the column.
“Disappointed that after years with @washingtonpost and @nytimes, I won't have a regular opportunity to read the wisdom of @sulliview, but appreciative for all she has given us and looking forward to hearing about her next chapters,” writes Howard Sherman.?
As for Sullivan’s plans for the future, she’ll be teaching at Duke University and publishing a book this fall, both a personal memoir and a tell-all about what she’s seen in her four decades in journalism.
A few more
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2 年This article has got some news. Does it have a ring to it?