Is your Instagram feed “news”? Depends on how you feel.

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Wednesday, January 3, 2024 [Is your Instagram feed “news”? Depends on how you feel.]( Plus: How AI exacerbates the news industry’s reliance on Big Tech, how Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter led to “strategic disconnection,” and why journalism educators need to talk more about hostility. By Mark Coddington and Seth Lewis. [Conservatives’ “anti-woke” alternative to Disney has arrived]( As media grapples with declining advertising revenue, DailyWire+ and Bentkey are betting that loyal, politically engaged subscribers will drive their growth. By Nick Marx. What We’re Reading POLITICO / Ian Ward [“We have to work the media”: How Christopher Rufo and other conservative activists toppled Harvard’s president →]( “I’ve run the same playbook on critical race theory, on gender ideology, on DEI bureaucracy. For the time being, given the structure of our institutions, this is a universal strategy that can be applied by the right to most issues. I think that we’ve demonstrated that it can be successful.” Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media [Takeaways from local ad buyers survey: 11 tactics for generating revenue →]( “Dominate a niche. Quality audiences of just a few thousand can attract big ad buyers. Rarely do ad buyers come to local media for scale, as they can easily and cheaply get that from Meta and Google.” FT / Rasmus Nielsen [Forget technology — politicians pose the gravest misinformation threat →]( “Much of the policy discussion on the topic [of misinformation] ignores the most important source: members of the political elite … This oversight is problematic because misinformation coming from the top is likely to have a far greater impact than that from most other sources, whether social media posts by ordinary people, hostile actors, or commercial scammers. People pay more attention to what prominent politicians say, and supporters of those politicians are more inclined to believe it and act on it.” The Hollywood Reporter / Alex Weprin [CNN chief digital officer will depart as Mark Thompson rethinks the news org’s digital strategy →]( “Athan Stephanopoulos had joined CNN in Oct. 2022, filling a role that had been a priority for then-CEO Chris Licht. He was previously the president of the digital news brand NowThis.” WSJ / Sarah Krouse [Americans are canceling more of their streaming services →]( “About one-quarter of U.S. subscribers to major streaming services—a group that includes Apple TV+, Discovery+, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock and Starz—have canceled at least three of them over the past two years … Two years ago, that number stood at 15%, a sign that streaming users are becoming increasingly fickle.” International News Media Association (INMA) / Anjali Iyer [How The Washington Post uses triggered e-mails to personalize engagement →]( Lifecycle triggers sent emails at subscriber milestones, such as anniversaries or reading a certain number of articles. Article gifting triggers, meanwhile, target subscribers who have not gifted articles to educate on the benefit and encourage gifting. Platformer / Casey Newton [Casey Newton calls for Substack to remove pro-Nazi content (and plans to remove Platformer from Substack if it refuses) →]( “Substack is not always enforcing its own content guidelines, which state that ‘Substack cannot be used to publish content or fund initiatives that incite violence based on protected classes.’ It also seems all but certain to worsen the problem by inviting Nazis to Substack and telling them explicitly that they can make money there. (Substack takes 10 percent of subscription revenue from every paid site on the network, including Platformer.)” CBC / Cassandra Yanez-Leyton [Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil ends print edition after 127 years →]( In March 2020, the newspaper pared down its print edition to Saturdays only. Former editor-in-chief Valérie Gaudreau predicted that in five years there will no longer be any print newspapers circulating in Quebec. Los Angeles Times / Alejandra Molina [Investigative newsrooms don’t reflect communities they cover, survey finds →]( The National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists found that 60% of investigative news reporters are white and 75% of investigative editors are white. The report also found that women were significantly underrepresented in higher-ranking roles. Washington Post / Sarah Ellison [Behind the right-wing outlet still publishing election-related conspiracy theories →]( “Gateway Pundit has continued trumpeting disproven election fraud stories, even as it faces defamation suits over its coverage of the 2020 election … The site’s founder, Jim Hoft, who started blogging as a hobby in 2004, is among ‘the best at creating a right-wing echo system,’ right-wing podcast host and former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon said in an interview.” New York Times [The New York Times Magazine ends its poetry column after 9 years →]( “[Louise] Glück’s mode of lamentation was her signature, and it seems fitting that one of her poems occasions the end of this column.” The magazine’s last poetry editor, Anne Boyer, resigned in November over the paper’s coverage of the war in Gaza. “If this resignation leaves a hole in the news the size of poetry, then that is the true shape of the present,” Boyer [wrote](. Twitter / Joseph Cranney [Local news reporters broke important stories in 2023: A thread with examples from every U.S. state →]( “It’s easy to treat the media as a punching bag. But look to the nation’s local newsrooms. For little money or recognition, reporters in 2023 stood up to power brokers who tried to bully them into silence, exposed corrupt officials and even saved lives.” New York Times / Benjamin Mullin [Cheddar, the “CNBC for millennials,” furloughs workers →]( The “post-cable” news network said “unforeseen internal and external factors” caused the sudden work stoppage. The company was sold last week to Archetype, a media company whose portfolio includes military history titles and sites like RateMyProfessors. The New York Times / Benjamin Mullin [The Messenger plans layoffs amid “dwindling cash reserves” →]( “The employees are expected to be laid off later this week as part of a cost-cutting measure, said the person, who would speak only anonymously because the staff has not yet been notified. The company is facing financial headwinds in a tough digital ad market that have put a squeeze on its operations, the person 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](