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LION: Net Neutrality repeal threatens independent local journalism

LION warns that repeal of Net Neutrality poses a direct threat to independent local journalism.

Dan Kennedy: The end of Net Neutrality will cripple the First Amendment.

Understanding net neutrality: 10 essential reads. Your guide to Net Neutrality (2017 Edition).

Related: Washington feeds uncertainty in a changing media landscape.


From chasing scale, to a 'pivot to readers'

Many headlines over the past few weeks have proclaimed that national digital news sites are in trouble, and that a big venture capital-fueled digital media bubble is about to burst.

The answer, some are saying, is to abandon "the ghosts of scale" and "pivot to readers."

Kevin Anderson writes about "why this digital media crash will be different (and ways that it will be the same)," noting that there are some models out there that are working.

Related: What the news industry needs from Google and Facebook: A higher-CPM programmatic advertising layer for trusted journalism. Online ad prices rise as industry combats counterfeit inventory, Google says. The walled gardens and mobile video dominate the future of digital ad spending. Media’s complicated relationship with VC funding.


Donations to nonprofit newsrooms matched through end of 2017

A Call To Action to Support Journalism: News Match is doubling donations to nonprofit news between now and the end of 2017.

"Across the United States, nonprofit newsrooms like ProPublica report on life and death issues every day. Most of these outlets are small, and just a few years old, but they are already having a huge impact on the communities they serve," writes Josh Stearns. "They are tackling local corruption, water quality in schools, veterans health, and much, much more. And they are doing it under increasing pressure. The old models that sustained journalism for a long time are eroding, and local and investigative newsrooms are facing a perfect storm of economic challenges and political threats."


Local newspapers shut down in Canada, 290 lose jobs

Postmedia and Torstar swap dozens of small newspapers, and announce that most will be shut down.

Here are some of the 290 staff laid off by Torstar and Postmedia.

'The alarm bells should go off:' Postmedia, Torstar deal will see 36 community papers closed.

Saying goodbye to Northumberland Today, which was among the papers sold to Torstar by Postmedia and immediately shuttered.

Related: Smaller Newspapers Are Doing Just Fine, Thank You, New Report Finds.


How Washington Post turned tables on attempt to discredit press

A botched sting with a phony Roy Moore ‘accuser’ was supposed to discredit the media. Like similar schemes, it did the opposite. Sullivan: Reality scores a win over the perverse drive to discredit honest reporting. How a right-wing sting of the Washington Post was under way for months.

Related: It's War, and the Washington Post Knows It. Video was key for The Washington Post’s debunking of Project Veritas. But what will “proof” look like in an era of easily doctored visuals? Is It Ever OK for Journalists to Lie? What the latest Project Veritas flop can teach us about undercover media work.


LION Webinar: Using Facebook Live in local news coverage

Charlotte-Anne Lucas, managing director of NOWCastSA in San Antonio, will lead a webinar on how to use Facebook Live in local news coverage from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12. It's free for LION members, and just $15 for non-members.

The webinar will include advice and discussion of best practices on the technical requirements of livestreaming video on Facebook, how to build an audience for livestreaming, and choosing the right topics and events for livestreaming.



Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue

AD TECH: eBay: Header Bidding Promises to Bring Transparency to Programmatic Advertising.

BLOCKCHAIN: Blockchain: so that newsrooms can go back to doing what they do best.

DATA: Three Ways to Use Customer Research In Newsroom Decision-Making.

DIGITAL AGENCIES: Three ways the news media industry could reverse losses.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Media entrepreneurs share advice on learning from mistakes.

MEMBERSHIP: Must-read literature on membership in news.

NATIVE ADVERTISING: Native advertising grows up fast, shedding its rogue image.

NEWSLETTERS: Six email marketing predictions for 2018.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: India’s ‘The Ken’ Goes Against the Grain with One Long-Form Story Per Day – And a Paywall. The Big Data of the subscription economy.

VIDEO: Is Mic's pivot to video spinning out of control? Why “how-to” videos are taking over Facebook. This tool helps you save those videos you worked so hard on.


Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology

AI: As AI Technology Advances, So Does its Ability to Assist Journalists.

DATA: Use these 15 open-source tools for newsgathering, visualization and storytelling. Ten key principles for data-driven storytelling.

DIVERSITY: An advocate for diversity in the media, Richard Prince is still pressing for representation.

ENGAGEMENT: How Voting Block Used Collaboration, Potlucks to Bring Together Newsrooms and Communities. Earning trust, eyeball to eyeball. This investigative outlet’s fact-checkers are traveling cross country to take its readers behind the scenes. Macro-Resistance: How to Detox a Polluted Public Sphere. At an EU-supported online outlet for young Europeans, its readers are also its writers and translators. Why don’t people trust the news and social media? A new report lets them explain in their own words. "I Met My Website’s Commenters. And I Kind of…Like Them?"

ENVIRONMENT: This reporting project wants to get environmental investigations out of PDFs and white papers and to the people affected.

GUN VIOLENCE: Taking a cue from ProPublica, The Trace is partnering with local TV stations to report major gun stories.

LANGUAGE: Watchdog group urges media not to use 'religious freedom' in upcoming Supreme Court case.

METRICS: How to Ask Better Questions About Newsroom Analytics.

MOBILE: Pushed beyond breaking: U.S. newsrooms use mobile alerts to define their brand. They're going far beyond breaking news. A new report illustrates why.

PHOTOS: Three free Android apps for adding text to your photos.

SEO: How Much Should We Still Care About Duplicate Content? Study: No Shortcuts From SEO — Old Web Dominates Google Search.

WRITING: Drop the jargon and write like a human with the help of this tool.


Industry News

AMAZON: As Amazon’s media ambitions grow, publishers are wary.

APPLE: Apple News loses its director of monetization.

BUZZFEED: BuzzFeed to lay off 100 staffers in major reorganization. BuzzFeed is losing website traffic as readers head for more traditional news sites.

CHICAGO: Suburban Chicago news company vies for recognition in unfamiliar terrain.

CNN: AT&T hinted at First Amendment issues in saying it’s not willing to sell CNN to acquire Time Warner.

FACEBOOK: Facebook defends advertising 'principles' after Russia, discrimination. Facebook halts ads that exclude racial and ethnic groups. Facebook is giving some publishers a ‘breaking’ label for news posts. It has released News Feed Publisher Guidelines for news media. It Is Testing a Way for Brands to Send Mass Messages via Messenger. How Bored Panda Survived Facebook's Clickbait Purge.

FAKE NEWS: One Of The Biggest Alternative Media Networks In Italy Is Spreading Anti-Immigrant News And Misinformation On Facebook. ‘Fake news’ seized an Idaho city. A local paper ‘jumped right into the coverage.’ After a rocky reception, Le Monde’s Décodex is almost a year into fighting intox (fake news) in France. A satirical fake news site apologized for making a story too real. Social Platforms Promised A Level Playing Field For All. The Russian Trolls Showed That Was Never True.

GOOGLE: How Far Can Google Local Services Expand? Publishers Gain Google AMP Paywall, Subscription Model.

HARASSMENT: Revisiting Sexual Harassment of Female Sports Reporters and Media Members. Media outlets reassess their newsroom cultures after sexual harassment fallout. Fighting online abuse shouldn’t be up to the victims. When Women Stand Up Against Harassers in the Newsroom. Why NBC had to act fast in firing Lauer.

INSTAGRAM: There are now 25 million active business profiles on Instagram.

JOURNALISM SCHOOLS: Rethinking journalism schools from the ground up.

KNIGHT: Four Things Every Media Organization Can Learn from the Knight News Challenge.

LA WEEKLY: A Company Bought LA Weekly and Gutted Its Staff and We Have No Clue Who's Behind It.

MAINE: Man who owns 4 of Maine's 7 daily newspapers, and 18 weeklies, says he doesn't try to influence coverage, doesn't need big profits.

NEW YORK TIMES: New York Times faces backlash over half-baked profile of white nationalist. "I Interviewed a White Nationalist and Fascist. What Was I Left With?" New York Times rethinks profile after criticism. Or does it? New York Times executive editor says criticism of 'sympathetic' neo-Nazi profile was 'the most ridiculous overreaction.' Jeff Jarvis questions the approach: "The goal of journalism is not to write stories people will read. The goal of journalism is to educate, to uncover, to check, to dog, to connect, to convene, to converse, to improve society, to have a positive impact."

PODCASTING: Third Coast and the future of audio storytelling.

PRESS FREEDOM: If cops can get phone data without a warrant, it could be a nightmare for journalists — and sources. Why Trump's media attacks are still shocking. Government regulation of social media would be a ‘cure’ far worse than the disease. Lawsuit aims to uncover how government surveils journalists. 'You can get killed': journalists living in fear as states crack down. 'Rope. Tree. Journalist' T-shirt was on sale at Walmart.com until RTDNA spoke up.

RACE: Before Breitbart, there was the Charleston News and Courier.

SINCLAIR: Sinclair’s conservative news takeover will rock 15 regions.

Sinclair set to OK antitrust deal, looks to move forward with $6.6 billion Tribune buyout.

SNAPCHAT: Snapchat Seems Confused About Its Mission.

TIME: What the blockbuster sale of Time Inc. means. RIP, Time Inc. It Was Fun While It Lasted. The Kochs Are Inching Closer to Becoming Media Moguls. Koch brothers’ ‘passive’ role in Time Inc. takeover met with skepticism. The fine print reveals that’s not true. With the Koch brothers’ interest in Time Inc come more questions about billionaire-influenced media.

TV: NBC's Meeting of Ad Industry Minds Begs the Question, What Now?

TWITTER: Slow down! Here’s how the speed and structure of Twitter have made it harder to think.

WHITE SUPREMACY: Reporting on extremism, from those who have done it best.

YOUTUBE: YouTube kills ads on 50,000 channels as advertisers flee over disturbing child content. YouTube is launching its own take on Stories with a new video format called ‘Reels.’ YouTube Is Disabling Predatory Comments — But Leaving Up The Predators' Accounts.


UPCOMING EVENTS

LION WEBINARS: Upcoming LION webinars are free for members and just $15 for non-members.
* FACEBOOK LIVE IN LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE: Charlotte-Anne Lucas of NOWCastSA will offer advice and discuss best practices on the technical requirements of livestreaming video on Facebook, building an audience for livestreams, and choosing the right topics and events to cover with live video from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12.
* COVERING YOUR LOCAL HOSPITAL: Rose Hoban of North Carolina Health News will talk about the many stories to be found in delving into the finances, policies, practices and performance of your local hospital at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22.
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