Elon Musk took the headlines away from Twitter — but you can bring them back with this one weird trick

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Tuesday, October 10, 2023 [Elon Musk took the headlines away from Twitter — but you can bring them back with this one weird trick]( This browser extension can help you undo one piece of the misinformation-related damage Musk has done to the newsiest of social platforms. By Joshua Benton. [Five former journalists on why they left the industry]( “I felt like I kind of hit a ceiling. And the ceiling was dropping.” By Laura Entis. What We’re Reading Twitter / Ben Mullin [The Washington Post is reducing its workforce by 240 positions →]( “We have determined that our prior projections for traffic, subscriptions, and advertising growth for the past two years — and into 2024 — have been overly optimistic and we are working to find ways to return our business to a healthier place in the coming year.” Press Gazette / Bron Maher [The New York Times opinion section has tripled in size since 2017 →]( “[Editor Kathleen] Kingsbury said the section gets ‘a lot of interest from lawmakers and politicians who would like to write for us…98% of the time, the answer is no.'” Rest of World / Victoria Turk [How generative AI reduces the world to stereotypes →]( “My personal worry is that for a long time, we sought to diversify the voices — you know, who is telling the stories? And we tried to give agency to people from different parts of the world. Now we’re giving a voice to machines.” Poynter / Angela Fu [Staff at Gannett’s product reviews site stage one-day strike during Amazon deals event →]( “The striking workers are asking readers not to click on any Reviewed links while the walkout is ongoing. Shopping holidays, like Amazon’s Prime Days and Black Friday, are the site’s biggest revenue drivers.” The Washington Post / Joseph Menn, Max Hoppenstedt, Michael Birnbaum, Yann Philippin, Rafael Buschmann and Nicola Naber [Vietnam tried to hack U.S. officials and CNN with posts on X, according to a new investigation →]( “The spies used the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, to try to induce the politicians and others to visit websites designed to install a hacking software known as Predator, according to the probe.” TechCrunch / Ivan Mehta [X changes its public interest policy to redefine “newsworthiness” of posts →]( “The earlier policy said only verified accounts would be considered for newsworthy posts. But since X has made it possible for people to get verified by paying for a subscription under Elon Musk’s leadership, the new version of the policy says posts only by ‘a high-profile account’ counts as a newsworthy post. However, the updated page doesn’t give any details on what kind of accounts are considered ‘high-profile.’” Laboratorio de Periodismo Luca de Tena [El País, El Mundo and elDiario.es all launch on WhatsApp Channels →]( In Spanish: “In the case of El País, users will have access to daily summaries of the most talked about, featured videos, audios and updates on relevant topics of the moment. The objective is also to combat misinformation by publishing specific content to debunk viral hoaxes.” Columbia Journalism Review / Jon Allsop [Poland’s hard-right government wages war on a U.S.-owned network →]( “Key to this wider attack on the media has been the government’s push for ‘re-Polonization,’ or the idea that Poland is so encircled by external enemies—not only Russia, but also Germany and other Western countries—that the media must be brought back under domestic ownership (EU rules be damned).” The Guardian / Angelique Chrisafis [New Sunday paper launches in France amid spotlight on media ownership →]( “…the launch of La Tribune Dimanche was a longstanding project and was not about going to war with rival papers, but it enters the market at the moment when France’s only standalone Sunday paper, Le Journal du Dimanche, has been radically overhauled as a showcase of identity politics and far-right ideas after a takeover by the conservative Catholic billionnaire Vincent Bolloré.” Digiday / Sara Guaglione [“What a bozo move”: Publishers react to X update removing headlines from posts →]( Slate’s social team took a humorous approach to it all, [tweeting out a string of link posts]( with the simple text, ‘Whoa—you have GOT to read this.’” The Associated Press [Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich lost an appeal in Russia and will stay in jail until the end of November →]( “It was the second time in less than a month he had appeared before a judge to appeal an August decision to extend his pre-trial detention through November. On Sept. 19, the court declined to hear the appeal, citing unspecified procedural violations.” The Washington Post / Cat Zakrzewski [Amazon’s Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen →]( “After The Washington Post contacted Amazon for comment, Alexa’s responses changed. To questions The Post had flagged to the company, Alexa answered, ‘I’m sorry. I’m not able to answer that.’ Other questions still prompt the device to say there was election fraud in 2020.” Hell Gate NYC / Max Rivlin-Nadler [New York Public Radio laid off 20 staffers while high-paid executives refused to cut their six-figure salaries →]( “…Reporters and editors at the station questioned why management allowed the budget gap to grow so large, and why management continued to bring on new hires even as the budget gap increased. At the same time, employees voiced their frustration that while journalists were losing their jobs, no one in management was facing a pay cut.” Press Gazette / Jim Edwards [LinkedIn is doubling down on news →]( “You’re just going to see us increasingly find ways to be able to support newsrooms and high-quality news content and journalists, and make sure that they’re being successful on Linkedin, because we think it’s really important.” Platformer / Casey Newton [How the attacks in Israel are changing Threads →]( “While Threads captured only a fraction of the conversation you would have once found on Twitter, it was a serviceable place to understand the biggest beats of the weekend: Hamas’ attacks; Israel’s pledges of retaliation; and charged conversations about what should happen next.” Wired / David Gilbert [The Israel-Hamas war Is drowning X in disinformation →]( “Rather than being shown verified and fact-checked information, X users were presented with video game footage passed off as footage of a Hamas attack and images of firework celebrations in Algeria presented as Israeli strikes on Hamas.” [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. 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