Robert Reich
Democracy depends on a free and independent press, which is why all tyrants try to squelch it. They use seven techniques that, worryingly, President-elect Donald Trump already employs.
In a peek at how the media sausage is made, the NY Times has documented how the newspaper prepared for the death of Fidel Castro. For instance, they’ve had an advance obituary on hand for him since 1959, which has been revised and rewritten dozens of times before it was finally published over the weekend.
Fidel Castro’s obituary cost us more man/woman hours over the years than any piece we’ve ever run.
Every time there was a rumor of death, we’d pull the obit off the shelf, dust it off, send it back to the writer, Tony DePalma, for any necessary updates, maybe add a little more polish here and there and then send it on to be copy-edited and made ready — yet again — for publication.
Even deep into his 70s and 80s, the Cuban dictator outlived the broadsheet size of the paper and digital media formats.
When it comes to automating the process of spotting breaking news, solving one problem can create several more.
Reuters discovered this firsthand over the past two years as it built Reuters News Tracer, a custom tool designed to monitor Twitter for major breaking news events as they emerge. While reporters curate their own lists of sources to get rapid alerts on stories they’re already looking for, the Reuters tool is designed to solve a different problem: detecting breaking news events while early reports are still coming in.
A Snapchat news channel from ARD and ZDF aims to engage young audiences in current affairs
For case studies, best practices and a review of how copyright and fair use laws apply in different countries, download our latest report.
Newsgathering on social media raises a wide range of ethical, managerial and legal questions. The goal of our latest report is to clear up confusion around copyright law and give readers an understanding of how it applies to photographs and videos captured at the scene of a news event. We highlights some of the pitfalls news organisations should avoid when looking to use this eyewitness media in their reporting and also look at six countries — the UK, US, Germany, France, Finland and Australia — and discuss the unique challenges that apply to each jurisdiction with senior executives and editors.
