Two good days in a row for the internet
Media statistic of the week?
According to a new Gallup poll, Americans’ trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly has edged down four percentage points since last year to 36%, making this year’s reading the second lowest on record, Megan Brenan writes. The lowest was 32% in 2016.
The poll shows 68% of Democrats, 31% of independents and 11% of Republicans trust media. While the GOP’s level of trust was pretty much unchanged since 2020, Democrats’ and independents’ trust in media is down five points.
Brian Stelter points out, “Most people trust some form of media. Think about it: some trust CNN, others trust Fox. Most people also DISTRUST certain other outlets. Thus when pollsters ask about ‘THE MEDIA’ as a whole, the results are abysmal.”
One interesting observation from Tom Gara: “TIL: there was a ten-point drop in Americans’ trust in the media between 2003 and 2004, which was never recovered.”
This past week in the media industry?
Brilliant and courageous journalism
As Vladimir Isachenkov, Kiko Rosario and Vanessa Gera wrote at AP News last week, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two journalists “for their fight for freedom of expression”: Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee described Ressa and Muratov as “representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.”
“Richly deserved for brilliant and courageous journalism in the face of adversity,” Zain Syed tweeted. Hannah Beech said it was “In praise of truth, no matter how inconvenient, dangerous or unpalatable.”
Nina dos Santos added, “This is a great day for journalism. To see two fearless members of this profession awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, recognising the crucial role freedom of expression and information play in safeguarding democracy ???? “
A former CNN bureau chief and TIME Person of the Year, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa spoke with Ben Westcott CNN a day before receiving the Nobel Prize and vowed to fight for the facts in the Philippines.
And CNN’s Nathan Hodge has more on Muratov’s newspaper, which has long been a thorn in Putin’s side.
A must-read call to action
In his Philadelphia Inquirer column, Will Bunch writes that the Nobel Peace Prize for Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov is also a warning to U.S. journalists: Do better. Steve Katz calls this “a must-read call to action for US journalists.”
“The Nobel Peace Prize for these 2 amazing, risk-taking journalists is a double-edged sword,” Bunch says. “It celebrates truth as the key to democracy, but it’s also a warning to those reporters doing it wrong -- especially in the elite U.S. media.”
In the column he quotes Ressa from a 2020 NPR interview, “In a battle for facts, in a battle for truth, journalism is activism,” and argues, “Those last three words should be tattooed on every journalist’s forearm, so they can see it every time they’re lied to by a government official or a climate-denying spin doctor.”
“Was thinking about our truth crisis all morning, then read @Will_Bunch writing about it. Amen to all this,” tweets Rex W. Huppke.?
Not necessarily (or at all) the news
Also making headlines in the past week, a big investigation by John Shiffman of Reuters revealing how AT&T helped build far-right One America News. Shiffman discovered that, not only did the inspiration to launch OAN come from AT&T executives, the right-wing cable network famous for peddling 2020 election conspiracies gets nearly all of its revenue from AT&T.
During a 2019 deposition, OAN founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr., said, “They told us they wanted a conservative network. They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other [leftwing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.”
“Phenomenal reporting from Reuters here shows that AT&T is responsible for the founding and for putting up ~90 percent of the revenue of OAN News,” as Jonathan O'Connell tweets.
And Byron Tau notes that per “Reuters: OAN’s deal with telecommunications giant AT&T includes a promise that OAN will ‘cast a positive light’ on AT&T during newscasts — a form of journalistic payola that flies against all known professional norms.”
Some media reactions to Shiffman’s investigation: First, from Margaret Sullivan at The Washington Post, Trump’s favorite channel, One America News, was never ‘news’ at all. What the court documents showed, she writes, “is that OAN is dedicated not to the ‘news,’ which is part of its name, but to propaganda, directed from the top.”
Over at HBO, whose parent company WarnerMedia is still owned by AT&T, John Oliver Torches His AT&T Bosses Over OAN Reveal: ‘You Make the World Worse.’?
Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast recaps Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” segment on Sunday, which he used to deliver some “constructive feedback to AT&T.”
It makes the world better
On the heels of the Pandora Papers investigation, a message from Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, Invest in investigative journalism. It pays dividends. In short, tweets Mark Rice-Oxley, “Investigative journalism matters, makes the world better. It’s worth supporting.”?
“This is such a great example of a newspaper editor asking for the support of her readers. Great arguments, perfect tone. Well done, @KathViner,” tweets Eduardo Suárez. And Deepak Adhikari notes, “This call to action from @guardian's editor @KathViner may be aimed at British audience. But both the Nepali media houses and readers should closely pay attention to her words.”
Scratching beyond the surface
There just seems to be no end to the Ozy Media story.?
We’ll start with Brian Schwartz and Alex Sherman of CNBC, who found out that Ozy Media got $5.7 million in relief loans to help pay employees, but ex-staffers say they didn't see any of it.
Next, according to the reporting by Jemima McEvoy of Forbes, Ex-Ozy Media Employees Say Company Used Dubious Tactics To Build Newsletter Following, Raising Legal Questions.
“A deep dive into how Ozy accumulated its allegedly massive newsletter following (26 million +),” she tweets. “Sources tell me the company 1) Swiped millions of emails from other news orgs 2) Didn’t unsubscribe people who asked and actually added them back.” Yeah that’s...
Brian Morrissey notes, “Email is a black hole without third-party verification of how the emails were obtained, etc. The incentives are to get to a big number however you can to wave in front of as buyers too lazy to scratch much beyond the surface.”
And at Axios, Dan Primack digs into Ozy Media’s deepening crisis —?a potential securities fraud situation that has nothing to do with its infamous conference call.
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Primack discovered that Ozy solicited prospective investors this year by saying Google Ventures has agreed to lead a new funding round, but three sources close to GV say that no such offer was made.
Alex Weprin says, “Ozy sort of reminds me of Shane Smith and Vice in the late aughts/early 2010s. Except Shane was actually being more careful when he was telling people they would be bigger than CNN and MTV combined (can’t lie about your hopes and dreams!)”
On the plus side, Tom Bevan says, “Ozy could win another Emmy by making a drama about its own drama. Wild stuff.”
The model that actually matters
In a guest essay for The New York Times, Lauren Williams argues that Ozy Shows That Serious Black Media Needs a New Business Model. Previously editor in chief of Vox, Williams is CEO and a co-founder of Capital B, a nonprofit news organization reporting for Black communities that will begin operating next year.??
“Couldn’t stop thinking about Ozy, Black media, and the business model for news that actually matters. So I wrote about it,” she says.
“Advertisers want to reach the masses...but do not want their ads connected to anything with even a whiff of controversy. This is very apparent when it comes to stories about race and racism,” Blair Hickman quotes from the essay, saying that’s “media’s Big Problem, in one sentence by @laurenwilliams.”
So much to learn
And that takes us to “SUCH an important report on Black news media from @newmarkjschool’s @CCMNewmarkJ: @cthompsonmorton + @gmochkofsky. We must give much more support to Black & Latino media (mass media had their chance). This report demonstrates why.”
Jeff Jarvis links to the new report from the Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, Why Black Media Matters.?
Among the key takeaways from this study analyzing coverage from approximately 100 Black media outlets over a momentous 15 months of Covid-19 and protest: “Black media publishes, by a factor of as high as six times, more coverage than mainstream media on issues of importance to Black communities, including racism, health disparities, and voting access.”
“This report aims to provide evidence as to why Black media matters now. We must work to ensure that Black media will not just survive, but thrive for generations to come,” Jim MacMillan highlights, tweeting, “I’m a day late but bravo @cthompsonmorton! So much to learn here.”
For anyone who wonders how it’s done
Next up is what Farnaz Fassihi calls “Required reading for journalists and student[s]: The great Dan Barry, a legend I have followed and studied from Providence to NY.”
For The New York Times’ “Behind the Byline” series, Alex Traub talks with Dan Barry, A Reporter Striking Universal Chords, on finding stories, his central purpose and how he ends the work day.?
Tom Finkel points out, “one of the many many great things about @DanBarryNYT is the seeming ease with which he boils it all down to a fine powder. a must-read for any journalist or anyone who wonders how it’s done.”
Barry says it’s “Both an honor and akin to being put on a writing therapist’s couch. Well done by @alexetraub.”?
Reboots and revamps
Katie Robertson of The New York Times wrote about the reboot of Mic, Mic Reboots Itself, With More Pop Culture Coverage and Less Politics. Under new ownership, the online publication aimed at younger readers unveiled a revamped version of itself last Wednesday.
But “What is the business model here? What is the market need being met?” Ross Barkan wonders. “The return of Mic doesn't answer any of these questions.”
Well, Brianna Provenzano shares, “when Mic 1.0 shut down all the laid off staffers got trapped in a Lost-style purgatory where we have to hear about the company rebooting itself every six months for the rest of our lives.”
In other comeback news, after a three-month break, The Objective is Back (and not on Substack), Gabe Schneider clarifies. The nonprofit newsroom’s mission is “holding journalism accountable for past and current exclusion, erasure, and prejudice in reporting and newsroom staffing.” Read Schneider’s post for full details on The Objective’s direction as well as updates on its contributor budget and payscale.
It’s just blogs
Since someone mentioned Substack...Nicholas Jackson alerts us to “The latest in the newsletter wars: @TheAtlantic is pursuing partnership deals that could be more attractive to writers who don’t want to be FTEs at any one company.”
As Peter Kafka reports at Recode, The Atlantic wants to hire newsletter writers — and it wants their subscribers, too. The newsletter offering would bring writers under the Atlantic’s umbrella and paywall while letting them stay semi-independent.
“Big name paywall boosting newsletters that grant semi-independence seems like the future of columnists?” Alex Wilhelm suggests. Or, is everything old new again??
“BAHAHAHA it’s the blogosphere all over again,” says David Karpf. “Phase 1: Blogs/substack are gonna distrust institutional media! Phase 2: oh only a small subset of bloggers/substackers can make a killing at this. Phase 3: institutional media comes in and scoops them up.”
“Whenever people ask me about the business of newsletters, I kinda half-jokingly say ‘it’s just blogs.’ But also: it’s just blogs,” tweets Craig Calcaterra. “Right down to media companies trying to hoover up the indies and put ’em under their banner.”
This piece!
Last up this week, instead of stories about bad art friends, let’s revisit “The original internet-reviled writer!” as Caitlin Dewey tweets.
Marie Calloway’s debut book, what purpose did i serve in your life, thrilled and repulsed readers when it was released in 2013, writes Scaachi Koul of BuzzFeed News. In fact, Marie Calloway Was The Poster Girl For Alt-Lit. Then She Disappeared. Koul set out to find her.?
Estelle Tang shares, “i have thought about marie calloway every now and then for the past couple of years and @Scaachi’s quest to find her made me realize exactly why.” Adds Heather Schwedel, “this piece! really brought back the specific feeling of being young and sad on the internet in 2012.”
You’ll want to make the time for this one. “Man @Scaachi is so very, very good at profiles,” tweets Anna Merlan, but also, as Whet Moser points out, “this is a good combination of reporting and literary criticism.”
Michael Connor even said, “This makes two good days in a row for the internet, thanks to this article about the legend Marie Calloway.” And that must be a record.
A few more
From the Muck Rack Team
Whether you’re new to journalism or a seasoned pro, there’s always room to improve your interview skills as a journalist, so you’ll want to check out Carson Kohler’s latest post on the Muck Rack Blog, How to conduct a good interview: 14 go-to interview techniques for journalists.