The future of local news is “civic information,” not “declining legacy systems,” says new report

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Thursday, February 2, 2023 [The future of local news is “civic information,” not “declining legacy systems,” says new report]( “In this vision, the community librarian facilitating conversations around authoritative, trusted digital news is as celebrated as the dogged reporter pursuing a scoop.” By Laura Hazard Owen. [Is text-generating AI an industry killer or just another wave of hype?]( “There can potentially be massive shifts, benefits, and risks in many industries, but I cannot see a scenario where this is a ‘sky is falling’ kind of issue.” By Julia Angwin, The Markup. What We’re Reading The Verge / Mia Sato [CNET pushed reporters to be more favorable to advertisers, staffers say →]( “Former CNET staff say the guardrails that keep editorial content independent, like a divide between revenue teams and journalists, or a clear chain of command among leadership, were repeatedly breached after the Red Ventures acquisition.” Houston Landing / Mizanur Rahman [Houston Landing, a nonprofit news outlet, will launch this spring →]( Mizanur Rahman, formerly of the Houston Chronicle, is editor-in-chief. The site, [announced a year ago]( will launch with $20 million in seed funding from three Houston philanthropies, the American Journalism Project, and the Knight Foundation. Substack / Chris Cillizza [Chris Cilizza: “Come 2024, I will be casting the first ballot of my life” →]( “I have never voted in a presidential election. Or a midterm. Or any election at all…What I’ve come to realize is that whether or not you vote — or who you vote for — is a poor stand-in for whether or not you can fairly cover a story.” TechCrunch / Ivan Mehta [Twitter is ending free access to its API →]( You can pay, but [it’s not cheap](. Here are some [bots that are likely to disappear](. Substack / Phil Lewis [A burst pipe at Third World Press has shed light on the precarious situation many Black publishers are in →]( “Black legacy publishers are lifelines that connect us to the Black intellectual thought of generations past — lifelines more vital than ever as state and federal officials work to block Black studies and thought. We stand to lose more than books if these publishers were to disappear.” Nebraska Public Media / Daniel Wheaton [Can a state organization charge $44,000 for emails? A lawsuit may answer that question. →]( “The Flatwater Free Press, a Nebraska-based nonprofit news organization, is suing the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy over a public records request related to nitrates in Nebraska’s waterways.” The Crimson / Miles J. Herszenhorn [Harvard misinformation expert Joan Donovan forced to leave by Kennedy School dean, sources say →]( “Donovan was told her prominence at the school led [Harvard Kennedy School dean Douglas Elmendorf] to end her time at the Shorenstein Center, two HKS staff members said.” (Shorenstein Center director Nancy Gibbs [said]( the project is ending because Donovan “is not a full faculty member,” and research projects at HKS “can’t continue indefinitely without a faculty member as the principal project leader and academic head.”) OpenAI [ChatGPT has introduced a paid subscription plan →]( It’s called ChatGPT Plus, naturally, and costs $20 per month. [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](