Unchecked, viral and misleading

Information degradation  

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to end fact-checking on the company’s platforms “does feel like it’s about to make that site a whole lot worse,” John Oliver mused in his recent “Last Week Tonight” episode on content moderation.

Journalists and researchers are offering evidence that it’s more than a feeling.

Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate have estimated that Facebook users could encounter at least 277 million more instances of hate speech and other harmful content each year, writes The Washington Post’s Geoffrey A. Fowler.

At ProPublica, Craig Silverman reports on how Facebook is offering bonuses for viral content, meaning a likely resurgence in false stories on the platform. He identified 95 pages that regularly posted “made-up” headlines to heighten engagement and divide people politically, saying it’s just a sample of those that could be used to cash in.

The concern is not limited to the United States. In the UK, members of Parliament are expressing concern that cutting fact-checkers will mean the amplification of racist content, Martyn Landi reports for The Independent.

• Related: Google gives up on data voids (The Platformer)

News In Focus 
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> NOTUS launches new initiative to provide Washington coverage to local newsrooms (Axios) 

Notus, the Allbritton Journalism Institute’s news outlet, has launched an initiative to bring Washington, D.C. coverage to local newsrooms that do not have their own Washington bureaus. Sara Fischer reports that its pilot partners include Verite News in Louisiana, The Assembly in North Carolina, Oklahoma Watch, Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News-Press, San José Spotlight, and Stocktonia in California.

—

Culture & Inclusion

>> A historic Black newspaper gets a museum (The New York Times)

The New York Amsterdam News, a 115-year old Black newspaper, is turning its newsroom and other parts of its Harlem headquarters into a museum. Elinor Tatum, the publisher and editor in chief, told James Barron that the intent is to celebrate the role that the paper and the Black press as a whole have played in advancing civil rights.

—

Community Engagement & Trust

>> The news is trying, the industry’s limping but great journalism continues (The Seattle Times)

Brier Dudley, editor of The Seattle Times’ Save the Free Press Initiative, used his column this week to shine a light on local journalism that’s making a difference at a difficult time. It includes two Polk Award winners as well as many other solid examples of journalism that engages audiences, holds officials accountable and improves dialogue.

—

Revenue & Resilience

>> Join us: Diversifying Revenue Q&A: Demystifying sales for better collaboration

Table Stakes alumni (including employees of companies that have participated in the program) are invited to join us Thursday, March 27 at 1 p.m. EDT for a conversation with Kenny Katzgrau —  the publisher of Red Bank Green and creator of Broadstreet — about how to reframe advertising to better align with organizational missions and break down silos. Learn more and register here.

>> The Daily Mail chases 1 million paying subscribers with its first US paywall (Adweek)

The Daily Mail introduced a paywall for its U.S. edition this week, report Mark Stenberg and Paul Hiebert. The paywall will be very limited, applying to only about 5% of the site’s content, but is aimed at attracting 1 million subscribers by 2029.

—

What else you need to know

📒 White House says it will now determine who will participate in press pool (Deadline)

⛰️ ‘Very unfortunate news’: Colorado Community Media closes 2 papers (Colorado Media)

📰 Appen Media, Decaturish to launch print newspaper (Appen Media)

😓 PBS and NPR on edge over FCC letter and Trump budget scrutiny (Los Angeles Times)

The post Unchecked, viral and misleading  appeared first on American Press Institute.