WhatsApp is a black box of viral misinformation — but in Brazil, 24 newsrooms are teaming up to fact-check it: The latest from Nieman Lab

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Monday, August 6, 2018 [WhatsApp is a black box of viral misinformation — but in Brazil, 24 newsrooms are teaming up to fact-check it]( And unlike previous efforts, WhatsApp is giving the fact-checkers an important tool to reach the public more easily. By Shan Wang. [What is a Scandinavian media company’s first-ever director of public policy up against?]( “We can’t say that Facebook is destroying democracy, but then have our newspapers collaborate with them very, very closely, and rely on them for traffic and distribution,” Karin Pettersson, Schibsted’s new director of public policy, said. By Shan Wang. [Echoing the network: The most interesting new digital and social media research]( Journalist’s Resource sifts through the academic journals so you don’t have to. Here’s their latest roundup, including research into Twitter echo chambers, harassment of female journalists, and the presence (or absence) of anecdotes in data journalism. By Denise-Marie Ordway. What We’re Reading Chartable / Lisa Charlotte Rost [A friendly guide to using color in data visualization →]( “Once upon a time, I tweeted on an urgent matter. ‘Can somebody tell me how to get better with color?’ I wrote. ‘My color decisions are awful.'” The Information / Priya Anand [The reality behind voice shopping hype →]( Leaked Amazon data finds only 2% of Alexa users have bought anything via it this year — and that small slice, only 1 in 10 have done it more than once. This despite survey data suggesting about a quarter of smart speaker owners have made a voice purchase. (I suspect survey data on news usage of Alexa & Co. is similarly inflated.) The Guardian / Alex Hern [Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify have moved to ban Infowars’ Alex Jones →]( “Apple remove five podcasts by Jones and his Infowars website from its director. Facebook unpublished four pages run by Jones for ‘repeated violations of community standards.’ YouTube terminated Jones’s account over him repeatedly appearing in videos despite being subject to a 90-day ban from the website. Spotify removed the entirety of one of Jones’s podcasts for ‘hate content.’ He remains on Twitter, where he has a ‘verified’ account.” BuzzFeed News / Ryan Broderick [Here’s a theory that QAnon is a leftist prank (?!) on Trump supporters →]( “Summing up exactly what QAnon is is hard to do and, frankly, a waste of time, but the crux of it is that Donald Trump is secretly fighting a global cabal of pedophiles. But as QAnon gained more media attention, many users on 4chan began to suspect it was probably all bullshit, actually pretty lame, and also, quite possibly, a giant prank. A large part of this seems to be based on the fact that QAnon supporters are, on the whole, usually a bit older than your typical far-right internet troll.” Digiday / Max Willens [‘Corporate drama almost every day’: Behind strong sales, deep discontent at Good and Upworthy →]( “There was literally corporate drama almost every day,” one former employee said. “The tension was due to nobody knowing what we were supposed to optimize for or our goals and never getting any answers. We were all exhausted.” Medium / Nicholas Whitaker [The Google News Initiative launches teaching tools for University Network Members →]( Modules include instructions on safety and security, verification, and data acquisition. MuckRock / Michael Morisy [oTranscribe is now part of MuckRock and DocumentCloud →]( The transcription tool will still be free to use and open source. [DocumentCloud and MuckRock merged into one organization earlier this summer.]( The Philadelphia Inquirer / Aubrey Nagle [H.F. ‘Gerry’ Lenfest, the Philadelphia philanthropist and namesake of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, dies at 88 →]( “Lenfest and his wife made their fortune in cable television, and they decided to give it all away. Among his most generous gestures was donating the Philadelphia Media Network, which includes the Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com, to establish a new nonprofit, now known as the Lenfest Institute, whose mission is to support local journalism.” The Washingtonian / Andrew Beaujon [Jeff Bezos has transformed The Washington Post since he bought it five years ago. Here’s what still needs changing. →]( “Some day, the White House is going to cease being so interesting. During the insane run-up to the 2016 election, some in the newsroom say, ad-hoc groups at the paper discussed preserving traffic during a presumably boring Hillary Clinton administration. It may be difficult to prioritize now, but employees would probably appreciate hearing there’s a plan for when the fire hose goes dry.” Wall Street Journal / Tripp Mickle [Apple removed Infowars from its podcast directory →]( “The company said Sunday it eliminated Infowars from its directory over the weekend for failing to comply with guidelines that are designed to create a safe environment for users, including prohibitions on ‘hate themes.’ Apple didn’t specify what part of Infowars’ content violated its rules.” Los Angeles Times / Janet Saidi [How podcasts are changing journalism →]( “Even as they draw from journalism standards and training, podcasters seem to embrace the idea that their tone, style and motivations go beyond traditional techniques, defining their craft in non-journalistic terms such as intimacy and connection.” [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. 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