The Ida B. Wells Society wants to build a better pipeline to connect news orgs with journalists of color: The latest from Nieman Lab

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, February 23, 2017 [The Ida B. Wells Society wants to build a better pipeline to connect news orgs with journalists of color]( While investigative reporting is some of the most critical work journalists do, few of the people doing it are non-white. By Ricardo Bilton. [Newsonomics: Softbank, Fortress, Trump – and the real story of Gatehouse’s boundless ambition]( A leadership void in newspaper companies has opened up local journalism further to private equity firms looking to vacuum out profits. By Ken Doctor. [This tool from Google parent Alphabet tries to tackle “toxic” comments through machine learning]( What We’re Reading Axios / Sara Fischer and Shannon Vavra [The recent explosion of right-wing news sites →]( “The data shows there has been an explosion of right-leaning news sites, coinciding with the rise of the Tea Party and alt-right movements beginning in 2010.” Spotlight Fellowship [March 1 is the deadline to apply for The Boston Globe’s $100,000 Spotlight Fellowship →]( “For one or more individuals or teams of journalists to work on in-depth research and reporting projects. The chosen journalist(s) will collaborate with established investigative reporters and editors from The Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Spotlight Team.” The New Yorker / Elizabeth Kolbert [Why facts don’t change our minds →]( “If we—or our friends or the pundits on CNN—spent less time pontificating and more trying to work through the implications of policy proposals, we’d realize how clueless we are and moderate our views. This, they write, ‘may be the only form of thinking that will shatter the illusion of explanatory depth and change people’s attitudes.'” Recode / Kurt Wagner [Facebook is starting to put ads in the middle of its videos →]( “This is big news for publishers, many of which have trouble making money off videos they share to Facebook. Facebook lets publishers make money from branded content, or videos they create for marketers, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg has always been opposed to pre-roll ads, which are standard in the industry.” BuzzFeed / Steven Perlberg [Facebook is meeting with top editors and news executives to smooth over its relationship with the media →]( “They are this enormous player in the news business, and they don’t yet know how to think about their own role and near hegemony,” said New Yorker editor David Remnick, who attended a meeting at the home of Campbell Brown, Facebook’s new head of news partnerships. Politico / Hadas Gold [The New York Times using the Oscars to launch a new ad campaign about ‘The Truth’ →]( “Thirty second ad spots for the Oscars can run as much as $2.5 million each, according to Broadcasting and Cable Magazine, meaning the Times is paying a hefty fee for their splashy campaign. Over the past decade, Academy Awards broadcasts have averaged between 34 and 44 million live viewers, an audience only matched by NFL games” Bloomberg / Joe Mayes [The FT is reportedly cutting 20 newsroom jobs as print revenue continues to fall →]( “The newspaper is offering a handful of voluntary buyouts and won’t replace some people who are leaving, which will cause headcount to shrink, said Kristina Eriksson, an FT spokeswoman, in an e-mailed statement. The Financial Times has about 600 editorial staff worldwide.” [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](