A new kind of activist journalism: Hunterbrook investigates corporations (and hopes to make bank trading off its reporting)

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Wednesday, April 3, 2024 [A new kind of activist journalism: Hunterbrook investigates corporations (and hopes to make bank trading off its reporting)]( “We know this may not be seen as traditional journalism, which is generally known for being dispassionate, reliant on inside sources, and indifferent to profitability.” By Joshua Benton. [More people than ever are listening to podcasts]( What We’re Reading The Verge / Tom Warren [WhatsApp is down worldwide →]( “Users started experiencing issues connecting to WhatsApp in multiple countries just after 2PM ET today, with the service stuck on ‘connecting’ for many. The Meta-owned messaging service appears to be experiencing a major outage worldwide.” Associated Press / John Hanna [A Kansas paper and its publisher are suing over police raids. They say damages exceed $10M →]( “The lawsuit accuses the city of Marion, the Marion County Commission and five current and former local officials of violating free press rights and the right to be free from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.” The New York Times / Elizabeth Williamson [From pizzagate to the 2020 election, defamation suits are forcing liars to pay or apologize →]( “Convinced that viral lies threaten public discourse and democracy, Gottlieb is at the forefront of a small but growing cadre of lawyers deploying defamation, one of the oldest areas of the law, as a weapon against a tide of political disinformation.” ProPublica / ProPublica [ProPublica vows to publish accountability journalism in every state over the next five years →]( ProPublica will accept at least 10 new projects a year through the end of 2029 (at least one from each state) as part of its new 50 State Initiative. “The program pays the salary and benefits for reporters at partner news organizations … Additionally, ProPublica provides editing support, along with our data, research, visual storytelling, graphics, design, audience and engagement expertise.” The New York Times / Cade Metz and Tiffany Hsu [TrueMedia is offering tools to fight AI-manipulated content →]( “When Dr. Etzioni fed TrueMedia’s tools a known deepfake of Mr. Trump sitting on a stoop with a group of young Black men, they labeled it ‘highly suspicious’ — their highest level of confidence. When he uploaded another known deepfake of Mr. Trump with blood on his fingers, they were ‘uncertain’ whether it was real or fake.” The Verge / David Pierce [The Google podcast app is only the latest good Google thing to die →]( “What Google should have done was find ways to actually connect its services. When you discover a podcast you love in YouTube Shorts, it should have offered you a one-tap way to subscribe to that podcast in Google Podcasts. It should have made transcripts searchable in Google so you can find the moments and insights you’re looking for right in the audio.” New York Times / Lachlan Cartwright [What I saw working at The National Enquirer during Donald Trump’s rise →]( “I called Howard and was struck by his response: He seemed less interested in the story than in the identity of my source.” Financial Times / Hannah Murphy [Local news is being swamped by ‘pink slime’ sites as U.S. election influence ramps up →]( “NewsGuard, which rates the quality and trustworthiness of news sites, has identified 1,197 pink slime sites operating in the US as of April 1 — about as many as the estimated 1,200 real news sites operated by daily local newspapers.” Axios / Sara Fischer [The New York Times will soon offer AI narration on most articles →]( “The Times plans to have all of its articles narrated in some way eventually, with the majority being automated, but 15%-20% of articles, especially more personal stories, will likely be read as ‘reporter reads.'” [Nieman Lab]( / [Fuego]( [Twitter]( / [Facebook]( [View email in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org. Nieman Journalism Lab Harvard University 1 Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138 [Add us to your address book](