A pretty good allegory for journalism right now

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Media statistic of the week 

The pandemic had a big impact on local television revenues in 2020, but thanks to the 2020 elections, the industry was in a good position by year’s end. According to the 2021 Investing In Television Market Report by BIA Advisory Services, over-the-air (OTA) revenue reached $18.3 billion last year and digital revenue hit $1.4 billion, adding up to a total of $19.7 billion in 2020. That’s up from $18.3 billion in 2019.

Political advertising accounted for $4.4 billion in 2020, and while the year-over-year dip for core advertising was bad, it could’ve been worse, notes Adam Jacobson of Radio + Television Business Report, who writes, “OTA revenue minus political advertising drove industry revenues down negative 23.1%, similar to the COVID-19 impact on broadcast radio.”

This past week in the media industry 

The 2021 Pulitzer Prizes

Journalism's most prestigious awards, the Pulitzer Prizes, were announced last Friday, and Poynter has a full round-up of coverage, starting with Ren LaForme’s overview of the winners and links to their work. 

One notable standout, says Jelani Cobb, is the very first one: The Pulitzer board awarded its Special Citation to a someone who’s not a professional journalist, Darnella Frazier, “for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice.”

“I cannot explain how important it is that the Pulitzer Prize Committee awarded its Special Citation to Darnella Frazier for the video she took of George Floyd’s death at the hands of the murderer Derek Chauvin,” Cobb says. 

The teenager joins an elite group. As Poynter’s Angela Fu reports, “Since the Pulitzer Prizes were established in 1917, only 44 special citations and awards have been given.”

CNN’s Kerry Flynn also wrote about the Pulitzer Prizes 2021. As she reports, Ed Yong’s indispensable reporting on Covid for The Atlantic won the magazine its first prize. And Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek’s investigation exposing China’s mass detention of Muslims in the Xinjiang region garnered BuzzFeed News its first Pulitzer.

Before the winners were announced, Poynter intern Jaden Edison took us Behind the Pulitzers: A look into the inner workings of journalism’s Super Bowl. “So you want to know how @PulitzerPrizes are awarded? Here's a great explainer,” says Robert Cohen. In it, you’ll find a clue as to why no prize was awarded this year in the Editorial Cartoon category.

The vulnerability of reporters

Last week, CNN’s lead attorney, David Vigilante, revealed that the Trump administration battled with the network for half a year to obtain the email records of a reporter and insisted it all take place under an extraordinary order of secrecy.

Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez reported that the Justice Department was after CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr’s 2017 email logs and continued its pursuit even after a federal judge said the DOJ’s argument was “speculative” and “unanchored in any facts.”

As Byron Tau points out, the “CNN story reveals the vulnerability of reporters to having their records seized without their knowledge or consent because third parties like Google have backdoor access to those records.”

Vigilante describes the gag order and secretive process here, noting that, since July of 2020, he’s been bound by a gag order or a sealing order that prohibited him from discussing, or even acknowledging, that the government was seeking to compel the disclosure of Starr’s emails.

Steve Herman predicts, “This will be a topic of discussion in journalism and national security law classes for a long time.”

Take notice

Starr has now written about how the Trump administration tried to secretly obtain tens of thousands of her emails from 2017, as well as her phone records. She warns, “Even if you don’t like the news media, take notice: Secret Justice Department proceedings against the free press affect everyone in this country. That is what I would hope Merrick Garland takes away from this entire sorry affair.”

But also, for the Biden administration, who counts as news media? In their piece for Columbia Journalism Review, Anna Diakun and Trevor Timm point out that new DOJ guidelines meant to protect journalists are unclear about whether bloggers, newsletter authors or independent journalists will be covered. 

A cornerstone of our democracy

Meanwhile, Natalie Edwards Exposed the Truth About ‘Dirty Money.’ Why Send Her to Prison? 

That’s the question BuzzFeed News editor in chief Mark Schoofs asks in a guest essay for The New York Times about the prison sentence imposed on Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a former Treasury Department official who provided secret government documents to BuzzFeed News investigative reporter Jason Leopold. 

“Rather than treat Edwards’ disclosure as a valuable public service, prosecutors asked for the maximum prison term under the sentencing guidelines, and a judge granted it: 6 months in prison,” notes Schoofs. “This is unjust and unfair.”

BuzzFeed News tweeted, “As our #FinCENFiles reporting is honored as a Pulitzer finalist, Natalie Edwards — the whistle-blower who made it happen — faces 6 months in jail.” Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe describes it as a piece about “Why government leaks to journalists are a cornerstone of our democracy.”

Do we blame the chicken or the egg? 

Paul Farhi describes this next on a “Brutal (and possibly true) column by ?@jackshafer?.” Why Has Local News Collapsed? Blame Readers, argues Politico’s senior media writer, Jack Shafer.

But “What comes first: the chicken or the egg? Sure, local news outlets aren’t reaching enough people but is that because they’ve been starved of the necessary resources to try things to bring in new readers?” Katherine Knott wonders.

Cory Bergman thinks “This column is misguided. It defines local news how journalists define it (rather than how consumers do) and conflates demand of existing newspaper models with the utility of local news itself.”

On the other hand, Lyz Lenz says, “This is good, but it fails to ask WHY readers don't want local news. And I have some thoughts.” 

Specifically, she highlights, “Bad subscription models. Pay for play. Brain drain. And reporting that reads more like press releases than a news story. And coverage that lacks diversity. And lots of other reasons I'm sure. But definitely all worth looking at. I do love that the Politico article briefly talks about the fetishizing of local news. Anyway. Good morning.”

The New Yorker labor dispute

Yesterday, Katie Robertson of The New York Times broke the news that The New Yorker, Pitchfork and Ars Technica unions have reached a deal with Condé Nast after two and a half years of negotiations. The deal includes wage increases and a minimum salary of $60,000 by 2023.

Here’s what happened in the lead-up. Last week, Robertson and Rachel C. Abrams of the Times reported on the protest by New Yorker union employees outside Anna Wintour’s townhouse.

The more than 100 demonstrators also included employees from two other Condé Nast publications with union representation, Ars Technica and Pitchfork. Chanting “Bosses wear Prada, workers get nada!” the protesters carried signs that said, “You can’t eat prestige” and “Fair pay now” in The New Yorker’s distinctive typeface. 

In his New York Times column, Ben Smith wrote about Why The New Yorker’s Stars Didn’t Join Its Union, and as Clara Jeffery says, there’s “A lot happening in here.” 

Here’s Matt Pearce’s takeaway: “The New Yorker’s writers have been obviously misclassified for decades, depriving them of one of the biggest chances they could’ve had to fix obvious problems like not having healthcare. Same as Uber drivers. The perp isn’t stardom, it’s weak labor law.

And Michael Balter thinks, “It’s just too easy for more successful writers to insinuate that those who are struggling to pay the bills and want healthcare are ‘mediocre.’ Writers and journalists all benefit from solidarity, because no one’s position is secure. #journalism.”

New Yorker Union vice chair Lainna Fader weighs in, sharing, “We didn’t ask the writers to show up at Anna Wintour’s apt. Suggesting that they didn’t show signifies discord between the union and writers, is, frankly, baseless poor reporting. Writers have supported us in all the ways we have asked them to, thankfully.”

Media coverage of Covid origins

The media called the ‘lab leak’ story a ‘conspiracy theory.’ Now it’s prompted corrections — and serious new reporting, write Paul Farhi and Jeremy Barr of The Washington Post. 

Brian Mann finds it to be a “Thoughtful treatment of media coverage of #coronavirus origins. Transparent about shortcomings. Also realistic about the challenging climate in which stories were written. Sometimes our best first efforts to understand complex events are imperfect.”

Meanwhile, Craig Welch suggests, “The Wuhan lab leak debacle is a good time to evaluate news outlets. How do u tell legit news orgs from craptastic ones: Clue #1—Do they correct errors? Real journalists make mistakes. Sometimes big ones. The orgs to be suspicious of rarely concede that.”

Facebook continues to Facebook

Julia Wong at The Guardian revealed that a right-wing firm posed as a leftist group on Facebook to divide Democrats. But wait there’s more. She also writes that “Facebook was aware of the true identity of the advertiser…and the deceptive nature of the ads, documents seen by the Guardian show, but the company determined that they did not violate its policies.”

A new investigation by Billy Perrigo of Time reveals Facebook Banned a Hindu Nationalist Group—Then Left Most of Its Pages Online for Months. “Facebook thinks it can use AI, simple terms, etc. to screen dangerous content. But without experts on staff who understand the countries, languages, and politics at work EVERYWHERE Facebook has no chance of doing better,” says Siva Vaidhyanathan.

Meanwhile, new reporting from Oliver Darcy at CNN reveals that while Newsmax portrays Facebook as an enemy of conservatives, behind the scenes, it’s spending millions on Facebook ads. In the last 90 days, Newsmax has spent around $1.5M on Facebook ads, a “staggering amount,” writes Darcy, who notes that many of the ads “promote the very hosts who describe the platform in diabolical terms.”

Other social media news

Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today takes a look at whether We’re Entering a New Phase for Social Media Regulation.

Scoop from Sara Fischer at Axios, YouTube will stop accepting masthead ads related to alcohol, gambling, politics and elections.

“Twitter is serious about its newsletter game,” says Jack Morse. He reports at Mashable that Twitter will add a newsletter ‘subscribe’ button to profiles for simple sign-ups. The catch: The feature will only be available to those with a Revue account. In other words, “sorry, Substackers,” he writes. 

“Ooh, this is where Twitter's acquisition of Revue gets interesting,” says Simon Owens. “This will definitely help in terms of newsletter discovery.”

A great essay on an alarming trend

Can Bollywood Survive Modi? That’s the question Aatish Taseer explores in a new essay for The Atlantic on Modi’s assault on Bollywood. Darren Mooney says, “This is a fascinating read from @AatishTaseer on the relationship between Bollywood and Modi. It's something I was talking about quite recently, and it's a shame that I didn't have this to hand.”

“Modi's Hindu nationalist government is going after Bollywood, a part of Indian life where Muslims have always shaped the culture,” notes Usha Sahay, who calls this “A great essay on an alarming trend.”

‘A worthless asset’

Here’s some news: “The Sun is worthless, according to Rupert Murdoch,” tweets Siraj Datoo. 

Alex Barker of the Financial Times reports that Rupert Murdoch wrote down the value of The Sun and it’s zero, acknowledging the UK tabloid brand that helped build his global media empire has become a worthless asset. 

In other words, “The Sun isn't worth the paper it's printed on,” notes Robert Smith. Admittedly, the jokes come pretty easy on this one, and as Tom May says, “everyone will turn this into a political thing, but it's much more about the fact that print is no longer a viable business model.”

What could go wrong?

Dust off your brilliant listicle idea, because Todd Spangler of Variety reports that BuzzFeed Will Pay for User-Contributed Content for the First Time — Up to $10,000 per Post. And the more viral the article is, the more the contributor will get paid.

“Personally I don't foresee the issues with basing the pay purely on page views. What could go wrong?” tweets Joseph Zucker. As Anne Helen Petersen says, “Traffic goals like this tend to lead to least-common-denominator content, but also hitting these 1 million/4 million hit marks is *so* dependent on how the social team pushes a piece.”

At any rate,”Buzzfeed winning a Pulitzer and also announcing this in the same seven day period feels like a pretty good allegory for journalism right now,” tweets Rose Eveleth.

It gets crazier with every paragraph

A year in the making, the podcasting hype house from hell is Ashley Carman’s feature at The Verge on “how China’s biggest audio platform funded one man’s frat boy dreams,” so you know you’re not going to want to miss this.

“Oh my god…” tweets Kaitlyn Tiffany of “@ashleyrcarman on ‘a perplexing world of cocaine, dog poo, and unpaid bills’!! no one's eye and voice is better for laying out the total lack of style and imagination in the hype house version of hollywood dreaming.”

Megan Farokhmanesh highlights, “there is so much to hoot over in this @ashleyrcarman story, but every once in awhile a line like this just,” and Kenneth Li points out, “Bonkers story, which includes this photo caption: ‘A party at the house involved women carrying around snakes.’”

On the plus side, “i guess podcasts really HAVE made it if we can generate this kind of insane hypeman mega-disasters,” notes Nick Andersen. Anyway, do yourself a favor and read this one. As Skye Pillsbury says, “finally had time to dig into this story and it gets crazier with every paragraph... thank you for your reporting, @ashleyrcarman!”

A few more

• Don’t miss The Pentagon Papers at 50: A Special Report, by Brian Gallagher, Jennifer Harlan, Janny Scott, David Sanger and more at The New York Times, with a series of stories that go behind the bombshell scoop and a look at its legacy of First Amendment protection and government accountability on the Vietnam War.
• It truly is the end of an era: American Airlines is retiring its in-flight magazine, joining Delta and Southwest, as Dawn Gilbertson reports at USA Today. Among the big four US airlines, that just leaves United to still offer a magazine in your seatback pocket. Michelle Rafter notes, “The end of inflight magazines is also the end of what was once a reliable and well-paid #freelancewriting market, especially for travel writers. RIP.”
• New from Joe Guillen of the Detroit Free Press, Wayne State stalled for 2 years on FOIA request. Then we told them this article was coming. As Jim Schaefer says, “This story isn’t about us. It’s about you and the rest of the general public. It’s about how FOIA no longer works in Michigan. #foiafailure.”
• At The Washington Post, Nick Anderson spoke with Black female professors who are voicing solidarity with Nikole Hannah-Jones in the UNC tenure showdown. He describes it as “Our latest on the UNC / Hannah-Jones tenure question. With voices from a sector of the professoriate that feels a deeply personal stake in the outcome. … Collaborating here with ?@JoeHeim?.”
• In an essay for The Conversation, Matthew Jordan argues that The AP’s handling of Emily Wilder is just the latest example of journalism’s longstanding weakness against partisans who cry bias. “It’s like kryptonite for responsible news organizations,” he writes. “The stronger their piety to journalistic ethics and the ideal of objectivity, the more vulnerable they are to accusations made in bad faith.”

Some of that might be depressing, but here’s why Brian Tallerico says, “This week is going to be fantastic”: From Chaz Ebert of Rogerebert.com, Welcome to Black Writers Week, a celebration of storytellers in diverse fields for Juneteenth week. The series highlights Black writers, critics, creatives and pioneers.