A new proposed law would turn drone journalism into a swarm of lawsuits and make it easy to sue over news photography: The latest from Nieman Lab

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Friday, July 13, 2018 [A new proposed law would turn drone journalism into a swarm of lawsuits and make it easy to sue over news photography]( Imagine if a news photographer at a football game had to get permission from every single person in the stadium before taking a single shot — or else face hundreds of civil lawsuits. That’s what new model legislation wants to bring to public airspace. By Judd Slivka. [Three multi-billion-dollar companies dominate the Chinese internet landscape, from news media to AI]( Plus: WeChat now has 1.04 billion monthly active users, shortform video is booming, and a few other significant numbers out of a recent report on the state of the Chinese internet landscape. By Shan Wang. [Facebook might downrank the most vile conspiracy theories. But it won’t take them down.]( Plus: (Some) researchers can now get access to (some) Facebook data, WhatsApp is funding misinformation research too, and susceptibility to fake news may have more to do with laziness than partisanship. By Laura Hazard Owen. [AM/FM radio holds strong for American listeners]( What We’re Reading Digiday / Jessica Davies [Layered consent? Legitimate interest? A guide to speaking fluent GDPR →]( “Here’s a refresher on the most common terms you can throw around to establish your GDPR street cred.” Columbia Journalism Review / Justin Ray [In Vermont, an unlikely ombudsman spurs review of domestic violence coverage →]( “In the future, all Times Argus stories involving a loss of life will pass through additional editors, says Mitchell. The paper will also develop a checklist for reporting on domestic violence incidents. Finally, Mitchell says the paper is reconsidering its standards for stories in other beats to see if there is room for improvement.” The Splice Newsroom / Victoria Milko [India’s fight against fake news has a problem: Fact-checking needs to reach the regional languages →]( Fake news in India isn’t going unchallenged. But fact-checking operations often produce most of their content in English — a language only spoken by about 10 percent of India’s population. Some websites have also set up dedicated Hindi pages, extending their fact-checking news to the more than 60 percent of the population. But even with these efforts, 20 other official languages are still be excluded, which these sites don’t have resources to tackle. Poynter / Taylor Blatchford [The “jobs before journalism” threads revealed the importance of skills that come from outside of a newsroom →]( “These jobs are more than bullets at the end of a resume, though — there’s a lot to learn from taking a non-journalism summer job instead of, or in addition to, an internship, which is a financial necessity for many.” CNN Money / Tom Kludt and Oliver Darcy [The last vestiges of Gawker.com have been sold to Bryan Goldberg, the founder of Bustle and co-founder of Bleacher Report →]( “You are probably wondering what happens next. The short is this — not much. We have no immediate plans to re-launch Gawker. For now, things will stay as they are. I’m very excited about the possibilities for the future of Gawker. I will share more in the months ahead.” CNBC / Christine Wang [The Department of Justice surprise-appeals the Time Warner and AT&T merger →]( “Since announcing its bid in October 2016, AT&T has maintained that buying Time Warner would help the company compete against tech companies like Amazon and Netflix. AT&T, the No. 2 wireless carrier in the U.S., said the deal would help the company attract customers by bundling entertainment with mobile service.” Financial Times / Emily Feng [How Chinese state media spreads its message around the globe — via 200 “independent” publications →]( “A Financial Times investigation found that party-affiliated outlets were reprinting or broadcasting their content in at least 200 nominally independent Chinese-language publications around the world. Under such agreements, these publications now reach millions of readers outside China each year, rivalling the subscription pools for all of the world’s largest newspapers.” [Nieman Lab]( / [Fuego]( / [Encyclo]( [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](//niemanlab.us1.list-manage.com/vcard?u=dc756b20ebb9521ec3ad95e4a&id=d68264fd5e)