“African media houses must do more investigative reporting to stay relevant”

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Tuesday, November 28, 2023 [“African media houses must do more investigative reporting to stay relevant”]( Manasseh Azure Awuni, founding editor-in-chief of The Fourth Estate, on the challenges faced by journalists in his native Ghana and beyond. By Patrick Egwu. [The Israeli government has Haaretz newspaper in its sights as it tightens the screws on media freedom]( Haaretz, an independent daily newspaper, has been publishing since 1919, and has frequently been the target of right-wing administrations. By Colleen Murrell. What We’re Reading The Atlantic / Jonathan M. Katz [Substack has a Nazi problem →]( “Some Substack newsletters by Nazis and white nationalists have thousands or tens of thousands of subscribers, making the platform a new and valuable tool for creating mailing lists for the far right. And many accept paid subscriptions through Substack, seemingly flouting terms of service that ban attempts to ‘publish content or fund initiatives that incite violence based on protected classes.'” Washington Post / Robyn Dixon [Russia extends detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich until at least January 30 →]( “It is the third time Gershkovich’s detention has been extended since Federal Security Service agents seized him from a restaurant in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals where he was on a reporting trip. Gershkovich then was flown to Moscow and has been in Lefortovo high security prison since.” The Daily Beast / Corbin Bolies [Washington Post threatens layoffs if it doesn’t reach 240 voluntary buyouts →]( “These layoffs would offer significantly less generous benefits than the voluntary package and will be consistent with prior layoff packages at The Post,” interim CEO Patty Stonesifer told employees on Tuesday in an ominous memo. Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt [Facebook still lets some publishers run online subscriptions; here’s one small publisher trying it →]( “Facebook first introduced subscriptions, formerly known as fan subscriptions, in 2018. But they have never taken off among news publishers and may now represent an opportunity to claw something back from the platform. [To be eligible]( a Facebook page must meet certain criteria including having either 10,000 followers or at least 250 return views. It must also have reached either 50,000 post engagements or 180,000 watch minutes in the previous 60 days, and be in compliance with Facebook’s monetisation policies. The Rebooting / Brian Morrissey [The tsunami of crap has arrived →]( “More brands will go downmarket. There’s more money to be made there. Black Friday has been a reminder that for all the talk of premium, most are like Gap: the 50% off sale is around the corner.” The Daily Beast / Corbin Bolies [Can this public radio show get “Middle America” to tune in? →]( “Hobson believes it is the only national public radio program in the U.S. that takes live calls.” Apple Newsroom [Crime Junkie was Apple’s most popular podcast of 2023 →]( “1. Crime Junkie 2. The Daily 3. Dateline NBC 4. SmartLess 5. This American Life” Reuters / Helen Coster [Rupert Murdoch to be deposed Tuesday and Wednesday in Smartmatic defamation case against Fox →]( “Murdoch is not a named defendant in the case. But by establishing that he was involved in making decisions about Fox’s coverage, Smartmatic would have a better chance of proving that Fox Corp is liable.” The Verge / Emma Roth [After 151 years, Popular Science will no longer offer a magazine →]( “In a post on LinkedIn, former PopSci editor Purbita Saha commented on the magazine’s discontinuation, stating she’s ‘frustrated, incensed, and appalled that the owners shut down a pioneering publication that’s adapted to 151 years worth of changes in the space of a five-minute Zoom call.'” Futurism / Maggie Harrison [Sports Illustrated published articles by fake, AI-generated writers →]( “Outside of Sports Illustrated, Drew Ortiz doesn’t seem to exist. He has no social media presence and no publishing history. And even more strangely, his profile photo on Sports Illustrated [is for sale]( on a website that sells AI-generated headshots, where he’s described as ‘neutral white young-adult male with short brown hair and blue eyes.'” ([Update.]( [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](