Tuesday 5th April: Will these constant crises save news outlets?

April 05, 2022

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Esther and I have been talking about the 'Trump Bump' for years and years. The idea that the more volatile a global situation, the more likely people are to seek out genuine and authoritative news sources is an especially beguiling one. The past two years have demonstrated that legit news sources have benefited from providing that information - but is it enough to save the majority of newspapers?

For the Guardian, Mark Sweney asks if the 'news boom' will save more newspapers. I think this is a headline in search of a story, to be honest, as the article fails to address the reality that papers are responsible for creating 'news' in many cases. But what's interesting is the extent to which this is still framed as 'the tech giants have stolen money from newspapers'.

That's not true, and it's never been true, and anyone who says it is lying to you. It, like the idea that people seek out trusted sources in times of crisis, is beguiling because it flatters our journalistic sensibilities. But as Sweney eventually gets around to mentioning - this is a crisis of our own making. We didn't react fast enough, we're still too tethered to print, and we're learning the wrong lessons from these crises.

There isn't enough coverage of race in the UK. That's why - in spite all the shit that comes with it - Nadine White's work in so vital. In this podcast episode she "reflects on the good, the bad and the ugly that come with the territory". Frankly, a must-listen.

The more news of a certain bent you consume, you more likely to are to align your beliefs with those outlets. It's just a fact of reality - you're bound to believe what you're told everyone else believes. This is a fascinating study into what happens when people who traditionally watch Murdoch's favourite news channel are asked to watch something else.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has bought almost a tenth of Twitter shares, worth almost $3bn. Despite his stated goal of improving 'free speech' on the platform, you can guarantee this will actually be mostly about preventing people being critical of the thin-skinned, daddy's boy Tesla owner himself.

This week's episode:

This week we hear from President and GM of Consumer at Yahoo Joanna Lambert. She talks about the changes at Yahoo over the last few years and how Covid forced them to adapt, its 900 million users including a growing Gen Z audience, and Yahoo’s revenue strategies outside of advertising.

In the third of our mini-series on Lessons from award-winning podcasts, Peter speaks to The Atlantic’s Vann Newkirk, host of the Floodlines podcast. In just 20 minutes he talks about how the idea for the series came about, the process for collecting the interviews, and the role of music in enhancing the narration.

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