#news-gathering

#news-gathering

TMZ, who embarked on a new beat this week: the intersection of pop culture and politics. Mattingly rolled tape on a TMZ reporter asking Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary, what did you do with the raccoon's dead penis? Where is it now?

"Too many leaders find themselves at the midpoint of their careers, or in senior positions, without leadership training. This program provides a space where they can learn from peers and Poynter facilitators about what makes a great leader, mentor, manager and coach."

A reporter at Ars Technica, whose beat was specifically reporting on AI, was fired after it turned out that a piece he had co-authored contained quotes fabricated by the AI tools he was using. Ars Technica has subsequently retracted the original story entirely, publishing an editor's note, stating that it was 'a serious failure of our standards,' but that they believe it to be an 'isolated incident.'

If you've worked in a technical role in news for long enough, you likely remember when the "show your work" spirit was everywhere. Newsroom nerds shared code on GitHub, swapped tips on social media and unfurled long blogs guiding others on how to get things done. You might also have a vague sense that - like reaction GIFs, demotivational posters, and that guy who sang "Chocolate Rain" - you're seeing less of it these days.

The shocking diminishment of The Washington Post, which has just announced it is cutting a third of its staff, is not just another story of a great paper succumbing to algorithms, social media, and the march to idiocracy. In their zeal to be seen as fair and evenhanded, journalists tend to accept the common criticism that they failed to adapt that, basically, they didn't produce enough viral TikTok videos. There's some truth to that, but the main problem lies elsewhere.

The pandemic changed Defector's course. New York shut down, the economy ground to a halt, and the offers of capital dried up. So the group decided to launch a new website on their own dime, this time structured as a worker-owned cooperative in which the journalists, rather than media executives, made all the decisions. The site became the kind of success that's rare in digital media nowadays, bringing in $3.2 million in revenue from over 40,000 paying subscribers in its first year alone.