With Midwest expansion, the Pivot Fund tries to put grassroots news sources on philanthropy’s radar

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Tuesday, March 5, 2024 [With Midwest expansion, the Pivot Fund tries to put grassroots news sources on philanthropy’s radar]( “If we really want to serve communities that are increasingly tuning us out, increasingly unsubscribing, increasingly looking the other way — my God, we’ve got to go to the communities directly.” By Sophie Culpepper. [“Mutual incomprehension now exists seemingly everywhere”: The New York Times’ publisher responds to its critics]( “I don’t believe a news organization must be doing something right because people on all sides are angry. But it’s also not a sign that a news organization must be doing something wrong.” By A.G. Sulzberger. What We’re Reading The Verge / David Pierce [Google is starting to squash more spam and more AI in search results →]( “For Google to announce the changes it’s making signals two things. First, that these are big changes that could meaningfully change your search experience — Nayak says that Google’s measurements show a reduction in ‘unhelpful content’ by up to 40 percent. And second, that Google is sending a message to the web: your spammy, sketchy behavior ends now.” The New York Times / Cade Metz and Karen Weise [Microsoft seeks to dismiss parts of suit filed by The New York Times →]( “The tech giant compared L.L.M.s to videocassette recorders, arguing that both are allowed under the law. ‘Despite The Times’s contentions, copyright law is no more an obstacle to the L.L.M. than it was to the VCR (or the player piano, copy machine, personal computer, internet or search engine),’ the motion read.” 404 Media / Jason Koebler [Inside the world of TikTok spammers and the AI tools that enable them →]( “What I found was a complex ecosystem of content parasitism, with thousands of people using a variety of AI tools to make low-quality spammy videos that recycle Reddit AMAs, weird ‘Would You Rather’ games, AI-narrated ‘scary ocean’ clips, ChatGPT-generated fun facts, slideshows of tweets, clips lifted from celebrities, YouTubers, and podcasts.” Link in Bio / Rachel Karten [Why you’re seeing brands in the comment sections of viral TikTok videos →]( “I want the reaction to be more ‘omg I feel so seen,’ and less ‘wtf how did this get past your legal team.'” Axios / Sara Fischer [LinkedIn doubles down on news →]( “Because of the company’s professional focus, political and polarizing content is not intentionally elevated the way business content is.” Editor-in-chief and vice president Dan Roth said the company is “very guarded” about the kind of content that we know members want to see. (See also: [How 13 news outlets are using LinkedIn newsletters]( Business Insider / Katie Warren [The Juggernaut promised to revolutionize South Asian news. But insiders say the company’s founder misled investors and struggled to raise money. →]( “Multiple people told BI that they witnessed Sur misrepresent aspects of The Juggernaut’s business to potential hires and investors, including falsely claiming that Oprah Winfrey had invested in the publication. Sur promised staffers they’d have equity in the company. The Juggernaut spokesperson told BI that ‘multiple employees have equity in the company,’ but BI was unable to identify any such employees. Several people said Sur often didn’t pay freelancers and vendors the rate they originally negotiated, which made employees worry about the company’s health.” The Walrus / Carmine Starnino [Beware of the newsroom-destroying “answer engine” →]( “By keeping readers off our pages (away from the ads they might see) and depriving us of any donations or subscriptions that accrue from their visits, AI-generated search will make it harder for us to pay the bills.” STAT / Torie Bosch [Why the health and medicine news site STAT doesn’t cover awareness days →]( “These days/weeks/months are very important to the communities they revolve around. But the rest of the world, frankly, does not care…STAT is a news site, and such occasions are not news. Fundamentally, these days/weeks/months are about marketing.” THE CITY / Tazbia Fatima [How The City used AI to map their stories across all five boroughs →]( “As editors we knew intuitively that our coverage chronicles parts of the city that don’t have neighborhood papers or blogs, which are usually only in the news because of a crime or a fire,” said Alyssa Katz, THE CITY’s executive editor. “It is powerful to actually see our articles mapped out across New York City, a visual record of which communities we’ve been able to reach, as well as well where we still have more work to do.” The Verge / Nilay Patel [Nilay Patel on blogs, massive tech shifts, and how The Verge stays profitable →]( “The kinds of things people write about, the containers that we write in, are mostly designed to be optimized for Google Search. They’re not designed for, ‘I need to just quickly tell you about this and move on.’ Our little insight was, ‘Well, what if we just don’t do that? What if we only write for the people who come directly to our website instead of the people who find our articles through Search or Google Discover or whatever other Google platforms are in the world?'” [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](