Jay Rosen
@jayrosen.bsky.social
I teach journalism at NYU, critique the press, try to suggest reforms. PressThink is the name of my subject and my site.
Thanks, Marcus. (Headed to Berlin in a couple weeks, and trying to update my knowledge where I can.)
Here's a news site — the Daily Maverick in South Africa — that gets 40 percent of its revenue from active members, of which is has 30,000. wan-ifra.org/2024/05/memb...
That's membership, not subscription. Which means there's no paywall. People contribute because they want the site to exist.
Membership now accounts for 40 percent of overall revenues for South Africa’s Daily Maverick
2024-05-28. The Daily Maverick in South Africa has created a membership model that is widely recognised as one of the most successful reader revenue models for news publishers worldwide. Called Maveri...
wan-ifra.org
"I asked a number of leading journalists and media figures how they made their coverage decisions throughout the 2016 election cycle, and whether they had regrets." —Susie Banikarim in Columbia Journalism Review
www.cjr.org/covering_the...
From Ben Smith (BS) and Nayeema Raza (NR) in their new podcast for Semafor. They're comparing British to American journalism and attempting to size up the moment. www.semafor.com/article/06/0...
I always read job listsings in journalism. They can tell you a lot.
The New York Times is looking for a Deputy Standards Editor for Trust Initiatives. nytimes.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/NYT/jo... Read on...
Good question. Activist for what?
Folkenflik has written a book about the Murdoch empire. www.amazon.com/Murdochs-Wor... That entity has a lot of experience as a defendent in civil and criminal cases. Folkenflick has written about that. "Activist" thus discredits a beat reporter and a book author.
Were he wiser, Will Lewis would be focusing on one thing right now: losing the newsroom, meaning the confidence Washington Post journanlists have in him. And before calling NPR's David Folkenflik an "activist, not a journalist," he would know what the Post newsroom thinks about that. wapo.st/4e8aPu5
Post publisher draws more scrutiny after newsroom shake-up
In a statement Thursday, William Lewis pushes back at media outlets’ accounts of events leading up to Post editor Sally Buzbee’s abrupt departure on Sunday.
wapo.st
"In several conversations, Lewis repeatedly — and heatedly —offered to give me an exclusive interview about the Post’s future, as long as I dropped the story about the allegations..."
That's NPR's David Folkenflik writing about the Washington Post's CEO, Will Lewis. www.npr.org/2024/06/06/n...
'Washington Post' publisher tried to kill a story about him. It wasn’t the first time
The Post's new CEO Will Lewis tried to stop the paper from publishing a story about allegations he faces in Britain. It wasn't the first time he's attempted to head off unwanted coverage. I know, beca...
npr.org
The Washington Post should become "the first elite newsroom to abandon the both-sides and pox-on-both-your-houses reporting style and instead actively warn readers..."
That's Dan Froomkin's argument. He used to work for the Post. presswatchers.org/2024/06/bewa...
“You’ve chosen people with a very different culture from the Washington Post." —CEO Will Lewis was grilled today by Post staffers about his hires.
"They fear that he’s installing allies to consolidate power over an editorial vision they don’t have clarity on..." www.notus.org/media/washin...
‘What the Hell Is Going On?’: Inside The Washington Post After a Surprise Newsroom Shake-Up
A Washington Post all-hands meeting on Monday turned combative early and only got worse, sources told NOTUS.
www.notus.org
First staff meeting after Sally Buzbee, top editor at the Washington Post, vanishes.
“The most cynical interpretation sort of feels like you chose two of your buddies to come in and help run The Post,” she said. “And we now have four White men running three newsrooms." wapo.st/4c3hiEV [gift link]
New Washington Post editor Matt Murray meets staff after abrupt Buzbee exit
Matt Murray was introduced to the Washington Post newsroom as a new editor replacing Sally Buzbee.
wapo.stWashington Post is parting ways with its top editor and reorganizing into three newsrooms: one for news, one for opinion, a third — to be run separately — for "service and social media." To the extent I understand it, this third thing could be a fruitful idea. www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2024/06/0...
Sally Buzbee steps down as Executive Editor of The Washington Post. Matt Murray and Robert Winnett take editorial leadership roles in new newsroom structure.
The Washington Post also announced today its intention to launch a new division of the newsroom dedicated to better serving audiences who want to consume and pay for news differently from traditional ...
www.washingtonpost.comI am familiar with use of the phrase “without evidence," but what are you referencing when you say "NYT live affair?"
In addition to Democrats vs. Republicans jockeying for position on election day, we need campaign coverage in which the day-to-day story is structured differently: defenders of democracy — from all parties — vs. the MAGA movement meant to "empower one man," as @marcelias.bsky.social puts it.
Agreed. Like the articles they introduce, headlines can be truth-seeking or refuge-seeking. Many inhabitants of the modern newsroom don't know they were taught to seek refuge with tactics like "critics say." Online, they get called out— and have to change it. Change not the habit but the headline.
Students, and parents, employers and professors: take note.
“The better writer you are, the greater your chance of getting rejected, because you won't use keywords." www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/o...
Yes.
That's also why the Wall Street Journal is point-of-view journalism— through the though.
As I have many times said:
No one in the future-of-media discussion is worried that rich and powerful people won't get the journalism they need to understand what's coming and make good decisions. The issue is whether the public will be so inabled.
Now with that in mind, read on...
George Stephanopoulos on David Axelrod's podcast this week: "We have to make sure that we don't equate trying to overturn an election with tax policy. You can't pretend they exist on the same level."
Every time you see asymmetry break into the real like this it matters.
"NPR has retreated into panic mode, scorched by its sudden turn in national headlines and desperate to show that it is taking measures to strengthen itself, somehow... Who is NPR trying to appease? From all appearances, Republicans."
wapo.st/3Vak9pX [gift link]
Opinion | Epic cowardice at NPR
The broadcaster dismissed a high-profile critique from within its ranks. Then it crumbled.
wapo.st
Brian Klaas, a professor of politics, has this question for people in the press:
"Why do most voters wrongly believe that the economy is terrible even if their lived experience of it is generally positive?"
www.forkingpaths.co/p/joe-biden-... Fair warning: I am quoted herein.
Joe Biden and the Inversion of Reality
Americans are terribly misinformed about the state of the economy—at the expense of Joe Biden—and the media is partly to blame for it.
www.forkingpaths.coStaggering numbers from Dylan Byers interview with the CEO of the Washington Post, Will Lewis.
When I first saw this job description — for a Narrative Accountability Editor at the Washington Post — I thought the Post wanted someone to be responsible for the narratives on which the newsroom habitually depends. Interesting!
That's not what it is. washpost.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/washingtonpo...
Several possibilities.
* High on his own supply, Trump thinks Biden is senile and unable to function, let alone debate.
* The staff knows better but has to babysit Trump in his delusion.
* Staff are genuinely high on Trump's supply. Politico listened to and quoted one.
* Trump is Politico's source.
Nothing new about this. On the contrary, it's routine. But notice how in Beltway journalism you can be granted anonymity for the purpose of bragging about the nifty move you just made.
An anonymous funder is donating the money necessary to add a new layer of editorial review to NPR's journalism. www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/b...
Can that really stand? Blessing or a trap: without knowing who it is, how can we assess the nature of the donor's willingness to help?
New Editing Layer Adds Angst Inside NPR
Many employees have expressed concern that a new group of six editors called the Backstop will be unnecessary and slow down NPR’s journalism.
www.nytimes.com
This AP reports stands out as "stakes" reporting because it describes what is happening in a way that prevents normalization — and banalization — of him and his party. apnews.com/article/dona...
Read the first few paragraphs. See what I mean?
Oh, you're a basketball fan? This is recommended. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/... A lot.
Tom Thibodeau finally found common cause with Knicks. Will it be enough? - ESPN
New York has stunned foes with ferocity that mimics its coach's mindset. But will fatigue finally catch up?
www.espn.com
"We were fair but perhaps not truthful."
In his new book, a memoir of his career, Times columnist @NickKristof writes, "We shouldn't be neutral about upholding democracy." @oliverdarcy asks him if his colleagues in the press are as clear about this as he is. view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/171...
“Fairness signaling.”
From Mark Jacob's list of 12 dubious practices to watch out for in political reporting. @markjacob.bsky.social
www.stopthepresses.news/p/12-reasons...
From her book coming out in July, here's Anne Applebaum on "the fire hose of falsehood," which doesn't try to persuade you that up is down, but rather to give up on any hope of becoming an informed citizen in a working democracy. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
I wrote about that...
The “here’s where we’re coming from” statement in journalism and the logic of viewpoint disclosure. pressthink.org/2021/11/the-...
The "here's where we're coming from" statement in journalism - PressThink
And the logic of viewpoint disclosure.
pressthink.org
From PressThink in 2013:
"The quest for innocence in political journalism means the desire to be manifestly agenda-less and thus 'prove' in the way you describe things that journalism is not an ideological trade. But this can get in the way of describing things!"
pressthink.org/2013/10/the-...
Right.
"To me, 'balanced' journalism doesn’t mean coverage that makes the candidates look equal, it means coverage that applies the same standards to both candidates." —Jamison Foser
www.findinggravity.net/p/the-new-yo...
The New York Times Protests Too Much
The paper's critics are offering principled vision of journalism, while NYT leadership responds like campaign hacks.
www.findinggravity.net
Here Mike Podhorzer advances the debate over Joe Kahn's straw men.
He says he doesn't want Kahn's thumb on the scales for Biden.
"I want to see him edit the Times as if he believed that his own paper’s groundbreaking stories were both true and important." weekendreading.net/p/does-joe-k...
Here Mike Podhorzer advances the debate over Joe Kahn's straw men.
He says he doesn't want Kahn's thumb on the scales for Biden.
"I want to see him edit the Times as if he believed that his own paper’s groundbreaking stories were both true and important." weekendreading.net/p/does-joe-k...
Jay Rosen on X: "Here @Mike_Podhorzer advances the debate over Joe Kahn's straw man. He says he doesn't want a thumb on the scales for Biden. "I want to see him edit the Times as if he believed that his own paper’s groundbreaking stories were both true and important." https://t.co/coOqLMGK3t https://t.co/U2GL0DJwcm" / X
Here @Mike_Podhorzer advances the debate over Joe Kahn's straw man. He says he doesn't want a thumb on the scales for Biden. "I want to see him edit the Times as if he believed that his own paper’s groundbreaking stories were both true and important." https://t.co/coOqLMGK3t https://t.co/U2GL0DJwcm
twitter.comSorry, I tried (through re-reading) many times and can't locate what you are talking about.
THE question, as framed by John Harwood.
"For as long as I've been a reporter, maintaining neutrality while covering politicians has been journalists' mandate. But 2024 presents a different issue: Should reporters also be neutral about the fate of American democracy?"
zeteo.com/p/as-a-veter...
As a Veteran Reporter, I've Always Valued Neutrality. But Trump's Threat To Democracy Should be the Biggest Political Story of 2024
What the New York Times is getting wrong in its coverage of Trump vs. Biden.
zeteo.com
"To Kahn, democracy is a partisan issue and he’s not taking sides."
Think about that for a moment.
Dan Froomkin says the old guard at the New York Times has reasserted control "over the rabble," and Joe Kahn's interview with Ben Smith demonstrates it.
presswatchers.org/2024/05/new-...
New York Times editor Joe Kahn says defending democracy is a partisan act and he won’t do it | Press Watch
Joe Kahn, after two years in charge of the New York Times newsroom, has learned nothing.
presswatchers.org