John Oliver spent some time looking at Sinclair Broadcast Group, the company that is buying up a huge number of local TV news stations around the country. It is a fascinating — and scary — look behind the scenes of media. The views this company holds and and forces into the homes of their viewers are horrifying.
Category: Journalism
Fox’s Coverage of the Senate Health Care Bill⇢
This piece by Jeff Guo on how the new bill was covered on Fox shouldn’t surprise anyone:
Juan Williams, the token liberal, was the only person who brought up substantive details about the new Republican bill. “This is going to drive the premiums and costs for working people who come to the hospital,” he said. “What about the elderly, Jesse? The people we all have sympathy for?”
“They are all going to die, according to the liberals,” Gutfeld mocked.
Lauren Kern Named First Editor-in-Chief of Apple News⇢
And it’s a move that’s sure to raise eyebrows not just in Silicon Valley, but in Manhattan media circles as well. Morning Media has learned that Apple has given the job — a new position at the Cupertino-based company — to Lauren Kern, one of New York magazine’s most high-ranking editors and a former deputy editor at The New York Times Magazine.
It’s unclear at this point what this position will mean for Apple News, as the company and Kern declined to comment. I assume Apple is building more of editorial organization within Apple News, but how big it will be, and what it will do within the app is unknown, to me at least.
Mossberg Out⇢
Walt Mossberg, in his final weekly column:
We’ve all had a hell of a ride for last few decades, no matter when you got on the roller coaster. It’s been exciting, enriching, transformative. But it’s also been about objects and processes. Soon, after a brief slowdown, the roller coaster will be accelerating faster than ever, only this time it’ll be about actual experiences, with much less emphasis on the way those experiences get made.
Tim Cook, on Fake News⇢
Allister Heath at The Telegraph:
The rise of fake news was being driven by unscrupulous firms determined to attract online readers at any cost, [Cook] said.
“We are going through this period of time right here where unfortunately some of the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth,” he said. “It’s killing people’s minds in a way.”
Facebook Launches Journalism Project⇢
Mike Isaac at The New York Times has details:
The effort calls for the company to forge deeper ties with publishers by collaborating on publishing tools and features before they are released. Facebook will also develop training programs and tools for journalists to teach them how to better search its site to report on news and events. And Facebook wants to help train members of the public to find news sources they trust, while fighting the spread of fake news across its site.
Local Newspapers on ‘Last Week Tonight’⇢
Wonder what’s going on at your local newspaper? John Oliver is on the case.
Tribune Publishing announces ... something⇢
The Tribune Publishing Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and more is rebranding:
Tribune Publishing Co. today announced that the Company will change its name to tronc, Inc., a content curation and monetization company focused on creating and distributing premium, verified content across all channels. tronc, or tribune online content, captures the essence of the Company’s mission. tronc pools the Company’s leading media brands and leverages innovative technology to deliver personalized and interactive experiences to its 60 million monthly users.
Internet with a lowercase i⇢
This is going to take a lot of getting used to, AP Stylebook. Standing here today, I’m not a fan of the change.
Of course, I can’t buy a digital copy of the 2016 AP Stylebook in iBooks, for the Kindle or even as a PDF yet. The 2015 version is still the newest on digital shelves, but all the AP is currently offering is a spiral-bound book or an online subscription.
Sigh.
Regarding Donald Trump’s comments on libel law⇢
Hadas Gold at Politico, quoting Donald Trump:
“One of the things I’m going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we’re certainly leading. I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected.”
Gary Allen Passes Away at 67⇢
Gary ran ifo Apple Store, the website to keep up with Apple retail news. A while back, he announced he was shuttering the site to spend more time with family and friends.
Gary died on Sunday the 11th, after a battle with brain cancer. I’ll miss Gary and his writing, and wish his wife, son and family all the best.
Tribune publisher: the kids will come around to newspapers⇢
Lynne Marek, writing about an interview with Chicago Tribune Publishing CEO Jack Griffin:
Holding the paper up, he said: “I could be wrong, but I don’t think that this entirely goes away. I think there’s enough about it—the experience that’s sufficiently different with both the advertising and the editorial. I mean, how do you do that online?” He answers his own question later: “That’s really hard to do online or on a phone."