A new study looks at the positive things that can happen when journalism and comedy intersect

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Wednesday, February 21, 2024 [A new study looks at the positive things that can happen when journalism and comedy intersect]( “When I asked people ‘Are you journalists?’ they would say no. But if I asked them ‘Is what is what you do journalistic?’ they say yes, of course.” By Hanaa' Tameez. [Press Forward adds 11 new local chapters]( What We’re Reading Garbage Day / Ryan Broderick [Does anyone even want an AI search engine? →]( “The Browser Company’s new app lets you ask semantic questions to a chatbot, which then summarizes live internet results in a simulation of a conversation. Which is great, in theory, as long as you don’t have any concerns about whether what it’s saying is accurate, don’t care where that information is coming from or who wrote it, and don’t think through the long-term feasibility of a product like this even a little bit.” Toolkits / Jack Marshall [Publishers are testing a new monetization tool from Google called Offerwall →]( “The tool, currently in ‘beta,’ is part of Google’s Ad Manager platform and is developed by its ‘Funding Choices’ team. Toolkits asked consumer revenue executives at major U.S. publishers if they had been briefed by Google on the product but most were unfamiliar with it. Google did not respond to requests for comment.” Jacobin / ALISSA QUART [U.S. media needs public subsidies and mutual aid for struggling journalists →]( “Social media is full of predictable ‘thoughts and prayers’ for American journalism in crisis, but not enough calls for action. Few people have any clue what to call for.” Washington Post / George Will [Counterpoint: Government subsidies for journalism would only make the situation worse →]( “The task force’s recommendations — journalism throwing itself into government’s muscular arms — are a recipe for making local news sources as admired and trusted as government is.” Slate Magazine / Dan Kois [She was the most feared woman in publishing. What happened? →]( “A Times reporter elevated to the critic’s chair at 28, she often seemed to approach the job of book reviewing as a reportorial one: She took great notes, she assembled them smartly, and she moved on to the next story. [Michiko] Kakutani did seem to take seriously the reviewer’s role as consumer guide. ‘My job as a critic was to give honest evaluations of new books and to try to explain why I thought they were worth reading—or not,’ she said after she left the paper.” The Hollywood Reporter / Lachlan Cartwright [Jeff Zucker is snapping up media properties at a frantic clip →]( “In a little over a year, he has invested in TV studio and motion picture company Media Res and news site Front Office Sports and just made an audacious bid to buy the U.K.’s Telegraph, provoking an outcry from journalists and politicians. On Feb. 17, Zucker’s firm bought powerhouse producer All3Media.” WSJ / Ann M. Simmons [A Russian court upheld the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich →]( “Tuesday’s rejection of the latest appeal by Gershkovich’s lawyers means he is set to remain behind bars until at least March 30, which would mark more than a year since he was taken into custody on an allegation of espionage that the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny.” ABC News / SYLVIA HUI and JILL LAWLESS [Lawyers for the U.S. to tell a British court Julian Assange went far beyond journalism and should face spying charges →]( Assange was “not someone who has just set up an online box to which people can provide classified information,” [Lawyer Clair Dobbin] said. TPR / Josh Peck [San Antonio Express-News becomes the fourth Texas newsroom to unionize in 2024 →]( The Houston Landing [announced]( their staff would unionize earlier this week. The San Antonio Report and [Texas Tribune]( received voluntary recognition from their respective managements. (Express-News management has already denied the staff’s request for voluntary recognition, an organizer said on Wednesday.) JSTOR [JSTOR is now available in 1,000 prisons →]( “Prior to 2021, JSTOR developed an offline index of its digital library. At the time, less than twenty prisons had access to it. Since then, developers have created an online version that meets the unique needs of carceral settings, most recently delivering online access on tablets. These changes — and the leadership of Stacy Burnett, a graduate of the Bard Prison Initiative who was hired to lead the JSTOR Access in Prison initiative — have enabled 1,000 prisons and more than 500,000 people to gain access to the digital equivalent of a college library.” Dublin Inquirer / Sam Tranum [In Ireland, a local paper battles on →]( A new paywall hasn’t brought a flood of subscribers. “‘We get a lot of people subscribing for a month and coming back off,’ [managing director Emma Kennedy] says. ‘Which initially we were like, “Ah”, and then we’re like, no, if they’re willing to pay five euros to read one thing that’s fine.'” Apple Newsroom [Apple debuts a free iPhone app for sports fans →]( Apple Sports is available to download beginning Wednesday in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada. Washington Post / Will Sommer [A reporter investigated neo-Nazis. Then they came to his house in masks. →]( “One had a shirt with a skull and a message praising the Einsatzkommando, German death squads in the Holocaust. Another held a sign aimed at Green: ‘Freedom of press does not equal freedom from consequences.”” CBC / Brishti Basu [Federal money has kept hundreds of journalists employed in Canada. But the program’s set to expire. →]( Funding is scheduled to end on March 31, and there are no answers on whether it will be renewed. (More on the Local Journalism Initiative [here]( Semafor / Max Tani [Mehdi Hasan joins The Guardian after abrupt departure from MSNBC →]( “In recent months, [the Guardian’s US arm]( has been staffing up, adding several well-known columnists and an investigative unit. It’s part of a larger uptick in interest in the US media market by established UK media players.” Press Gazette / Aisha Majid [U.S. print newspaper subscriptions continue to drop →]( “News Corp’s business-focused The Wall Street Journal (555,182) and The New York Times (267,639) remain the biggest dailies in the US, although their print circulations fell by 14% and 13% year-on-year respectively.” [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](