Defector’s most successful promo email was too “creepy” to repeat

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, October 27, 2022 [Defector’s most successful promo email was too “creepy” to repeat]( The worker-owned sports website released an admirably transparent annual report on Thursday. The report showed Defector brought in $3.8 million in its second year and that nearly every dollar came from readers. By Sarah Scire. [The LA Times’ Día de Muertos digital altar was its most successful audience call-out ever]( “Our initial hope was to get 40 or 50 submissions. We ended up receiving more than 1,000 ofrendas from across the country, and in four languages.” By Laura Hazard Owen. What We’re Reading The New York Times / Charlie Savage [Merrick Garland formally bars Justice Department from seizing reporters’ records →]( “The rule codifies and expands a policy [Garland] issued in 2021, after it came to light that the Trump administration had secretly gone after records of reporters for The Times, The Washington Post and CNN.” Noting that the rule could change under future administrations, Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan [called on Congress]( to enact the protections into law. BuzzFeed News / Julia Reinstein [New York Post employee fired for posting violent, racist tweets on the newspaper’s account →]( The New York Post originally said that it had been hacked. Wall Street Journal / Patience Haggin and Suzanne Vranica [Elon Musk, trying to address advertisers’ concerns, says Twitter won’t be a “free-for-all hellscape” →]( In a [message tweeted to advertisers]( Musk said that Twitter “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” and that it must be “warm and welcoming to all.” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and Federica Cherubini [What we can learn from how digital publishers in the Global South approach platforms →]( “Let’s put it this way, I employ more people in this country than Google and Facebook combined.” Semafor / Max Tani and Liz Hoffman [The former owner of The Hill says he’s raised $40 million to launch a “Daily Mail/Washington Post hybrid” →]( Jimmy Finkelstein “told associates he’s looking for a political center that appeals to supporters of Donald Trump, whom he knows socially, and to Democrats.” The Wire [The Wire seems to admit it was deceived by one of its employees →]( A new letter to readers mentions “deception to which we were subjected by a member of our Meta investigation team.” The Korea Times / Lee Yeon-woo [Professor combs through trash for clues about North Korea →]( “The trash offers him unique insights and clues into North Korea and its socio-economic life, which has largely remained a riddle, if not unknown, to most people.” Heated / Emily Atkin [Semafor’s infuriating climate misinformation →]( “If you’re someone who works at Semafor or any of these outlets that runs misleading fossil fuel ads, I am begging you: stop getting mad at this newsletter for asking questions, and start getting mad at your newsroom leaders for not giving answers. I am not undermining trust in your news outlet by pointing out they are hiding from accountability. Your newsroom leaders are doing that on their own.” Poynter / Regina Lawrence [The Agora Journalism Center mapped local news in Oregon. Here’s how it can be stronger. →]( “We found eight out of Oregon’s 36 counties that have only one or two outlets that contain civic affairs reporting—and in some cases, one of those outlets was a public radio rebroadcasting station that may not be producing its own news content.” [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](