Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest

How can we reach beyond the local news choir? Spotlight PA’s founding editor has ideas

In the wake of the 2024 election, where “democracy” was not a top issue for most voters, local news messaging focused on democracy may not suffice to build the broad coalition essential to give local news in the U.S. a sustainable future. By Sophie Culpepper.

Robert W. McChesney, America’s leading left-wing critic of corporate media, has died

After studying the early days of radio, McChesney developed a holistic critique of media structures that exposed how open they were to manipulation by those in power. By Joshua Benton.

“Some hard and important lessons”: One of the most promising local news nonprofits looks back — and ahead

The National Trust for Local News is a nonprofit organization with a mission so important even its harshest critics want it to succeed. By Sarah Scire.

Jeffrey Goldberg got the push notification of all push notifications — and a hell of a story

His inclusion on a high-level Signal chat about American war plans highlights how the Trump administration is operating — and how much of a threat it is to a free press. By Joshua Benton.

There’s another reason the L.A. Times’ AI-generated opinion ratings are bad (this one doesn’t involve the Klan)

At a time of increasing polarization and rigid ideologies, the L.A. Times has decided it wants to make its opinion pieces less persuasive to readers by increasing the cost of changing your mind. By Joshua Benton.

The NBA’s next big insider may be an outsider

While insiders typically work for established media companies like ESPN, Jake Fischer operates out of his Brooklyn apartment and publishes scoops behind a paywall on Substack. It’s not even his own Substack. By Jordan Teicher.
After years of exploring a sale, The Skimm is acquired by Ziff Davis
Report for America’s parent organization will “sunset” its in-house editorial projects to focus on funding local journalism
The New York Times picks up the shuttered FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracking work
The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
Fox News journalist’s widow sues network over his death in Ukraine →
“Earlier this month, Ross-Stanton filed suit against Fox in Britain, arguing that the network did not adequately protect her husband and did not hold the necessary insurance to be able to fully compensate his family after his death. She is asking for more than 9 million pounds — approximately $11.6 million — in compensation. Ross-Stanton’s suit argues that Fox is liable for the absence of a security consultant and for what she says was inadequate risk assessment before the trip.”
Financial Times / Daniel Thomas
BBC drops podcast adverts plan after industry backlash →
“BBC Studios last year set out proposals to sell adverts in a push to make more money to support the corporation away from its traditional licence fee income. But companies in the commercial radio and podcasting industry hit out at the move, warning that the adverts would cannibalize their revenues, with the publicly funded and biggest British broadcaster posing unfair competition.”
The Hill / Zach Schonfeld
Trump administration restores funding for Radio Free Europe, Open Technology Fund after lawsuits →
“The Trump administration says it has restored funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund after the groups sued. The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) had cut off the funding as part of the administration’s broader effort to eliminate the agency, which also oversees Voice of America. In a pair of new court filings, the Justice Department said the groups’ demands for injunctions are effectively moot now that the government has restored the funding.”
The New York Times / Danielle Kaye
Voice of America director sues Trump officials over shutdown →
“The lawsuit, filed by Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America’s director, marks the latest legal challenge to the administration’s push to shrink the government … The suit argues that dismantling the broadcaster violates federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations. It is also a violation of separation of powers, the plaintiffs said, because Congress is solely responsible for creating or abolishing agencies, and for determining agencies’ mandates. The Agency for Global Media is congressionally chartered as an independent agency.”
Politico / Gregory Svirnovskiy
LA Times owner defends remaking paper to Tucker Carlson →
“Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong defended his decision to pull back his editorial board’s planned endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview on far-right host Tucker Carlson’s podcast. ‘I said, this is unacceptable. And as you can see, because it’s a left lean, they wrote terrible stories about President [Donald] Trump,’ Soon-Shiong told Carlson in an interview that aired Wednesday. ‘So my statement to them was, you may have an opinion, but all of us should have opinions based on facts.'”
The Guardian / Michael Savage
BBC reporter arrested and deported from Turkey after covering protests →
“In a statement, the BBC said: ‘This morning, the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours. Mark Lowen was in Turkey to report on the recent protests. He has been told he was deported for ‘being a threat to public order.'”
NPR / Bobby Allyn
Judge allows ‘New York Times’ copyright case against OpenAI to go forward →
“A federal judge on Wednesday rejected OpenAI’s request to toss out a copyright lawsuit from The New York Times that alleges that the tech company exploited the newspaper’s content without permission or payment. In an order allowing the lawsuit to go forward, Judge Sidney Stein, of the Southern District of New York, narrowed the scope of the lawsuit but allowed the case’s main copyright infringement claims to go forward … The judge’s ruling means that the suit can now proceed to trial, but a trial date has not been set.”
The Guardian / Nick Robins-Early
NPR and PBS testify in heated hearing of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Doge panel →
“‘NPR and PBS have increasingly become radical leftwing echo chambers,’ said the Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene during her opening remarks, accusing NPR of having a ‘communist agenda.’ The hearing, called ‘Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable,’ was chaired by Greene who is head of a ‘delivering on government efficiency’ group within the House oversight committee.”
Bloomberg / Paige Smith
Sports Illustrated is starting a prediction market so you can bet on everything about a game except who wins →
“The platform, which will be known as SI Predict, joins a growing field of quasi-betting exchanges, including Polymarket and Kalshi, which offer products based on derivatives contracts. SI Predict will be available globally and feature bets on things such as football-game attendance or what song a halftime musician will perform, but not who will win a specific game…the Sports Illustrated brand is now owned by Authentic Brands Group Inc., which licenses it out for ventures including ticketing platform SI Tickets, hospitality operator SI Resorts and film, television and podcast producer SI Studios.”
NPR / David Folkenflik
Judge freezes Trump plan to dismantle Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty →
“The international network is in court in Washington, D.C., seeking a permanent reversal of [Kari] Lake’s orders to kill all funding for it and to wind down all operations, despite a congressional appropriation of $142 million for the network in the current fiscal year…The network argued the agency’s effort to shut it down is unconstitutional. In his ruling on Tuesday, the judge presiding over the case suggested he found that argument compelling.”
Via Fuego: What the future-of-news crowd is talking about today around the web
Fuego is our heat-seeking Twitter bot, tracking the stories the future-of-journalism crowd is talking about most. Usually those are about journalism and technology, although sometimes they get distracted by politics, sports, or GIFs. Check out Fuego on the web to get up-to-the-minute news.