What types of local news stories should be automated? The Toronto Star is figuring it out

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, November 3, 2022 [What types of local news stories should be automated? The Toronto Star is figuring it out]( In the case of break-and-enter stories, “everybody recognized that a poor execution of the idea would be a problem.” By Hanaa' Tameez. [Are journalism intermediaries getting too much foundation money?]( More money should go to news organizations directly — even if that means making hard choices. By Richard Tofel. What We’re Reading Twitter / Matthew Yglesias [Thread: “A few years ago The New York Times made a weird editorial decision with its tech coverage….” →]( “This was a very deliberate top-down decision.” (This take is [corroborated]( [by]( others.) Columbia Journalism Review / Kyle Pope [How much coverage are you worth? →]( “If you’re young, white, female, and a resident of a big city, the coverage you’d receive if you went missing is vastly out of proportion…To highlight the scale of the problem, CJR has developed a tool to test your own newsworthiness.” TechCrunch / Sarah Perez [Substack targets Twitter with launch of discussions feature, Substack Chat →]( “The feature could benefit those who spend a lot of time reading on Substack or those who want to more closely network with fellow creators or readers. However, it isn’t really a direct replacement for tweeting more publicly as it lacks Twitter’s reach.” Vanity Fair / Joe Pompeo [Blue-check havoc: Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover fuels a media meltdown →]( “Some journalists are painstakingly deleting all of their DMs and asking contacts to do the same because, well, who knows what could happen with that? I received one such request the other day, and when I asked the person on the other end whether I should also consider a mass DM purge, they told me they were doing it because they’d been asked by several people to delete their DMs. And so the cycle goes.” Twitter / Insider Union [Insider’s union demands management bargain over changes to metrics goals and job roles →]( “They’re also now saying they will only bargain with us in person and will stop our members from observing. Seriously? Coming from a newsroom that prides itself on a permanent ‘work from anywhere’ policy, these demands are hypocritical and insulting.” Wall Street Journal / Alexandra Bruell [Alabama’s three largest newspapers are going digital-only next year →]( “Advance Publications, which owns 24 newspapers as well as the Condé Nast magazine-publishing empire, plans to announce it will end the print operations of the Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, and Mobile’s Press-Register in February.” Press Gazette / William Turvill [Facebook will replace News Tab’s human editors with AI →]( Press Gazette [first reported]( this was happening in the UK; Gizmodo [confirms]( it’s happening everywhere. New York Times / Rebecca Robbins and Benjamin Mullin [Les Moonves and Paramount to pay $9.75 million in state case tied to sexual misconduct →]( “The New York attorney general’s office [said in a news release]( that its investigation had found that the company’s leadership knew about the allegations against Mr. Moonves and concealed them for months before they became public.” Popular Information / Judd Legum and Emily Atkin [A New York Times columnist went to Greenland and discovered fossil fuel talking points →]( “The Times marketed Stephens’ piece as if it were a fresh and important new approach to tackling climate change. In reality, it is a collection of discredited talking points from the fossil fuel industry, and a prime example of [delay discourse]( Digiday / Sara Guaglione [How The Washington Post, NBC News, and SmartNews are retooling their apps ahead of the midterms →]( “Vertical video will also be a key part of midterms coverage for The Post and will be shared on the app.” Washington Post / Jeremy Barr [Two Fox journalists were killed in Ukraine. A widow still searches for answers. →]( Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, was killed in March, along with a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist on his team, Oleksandra Kuvshynova. The third member of their reporting team, Benjamin Hall, then 39, was alive but suffering grave injuries that would cost him a foot, an eye and part of his leg. Two Ukrainian soldiers they were traveling with were killed as well, The Washington Post discovered. Fortune / David Bauder [A BBC reporter created 5 fake American identities on social media to try to understand the midterm elections →]( “We’re doing it with very good intentions because it’s important to understand what is going on,” [BBC reporter Marianna] Spring said. In the world of disinformation, “the U.S. is the key battleground,” she said. [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](