Engadget: Google tests tools that encourage you to pay for news. “It’s no secret that Google and conventional news outlets have a fraught relationship, and that’s in no small part due to the problems publishers have turning Google searchers into paying customers. Why subscribe when you just read an article for free? It might soon give you more incentives to sign up, though. The company is conducting tests with the New York Times and Financial Times that would encourage and streamline subscriptions. They’re not necessarily good if you prefer free news, but they might influence your decision if you’re sitting on the fence.”
journalism
The Guardian: Experts sound alarm over news websites’ fake news twins
The Guardian: Experts sound alarm over news websites’ fake news twins. “Fake articles made to look like they have been published by legitimate news websites have emerged as a new avenue for propaganda on the internet, with experts concerned about the increasing sophistication of the latest attempts to spread disinformation.”
Online Journalism Blog: The 2nd edition of Scraping for Journalists is now live
Online Journalism Blog: The 2nd edition of Scraping for Journalists is now live. “When I began publishing Scraping for Journalists in 2012, one of the reasons for choosing to publish online was the ability to publish chapters as I wrote them, and update the book in response to readers’ feedback. The book was finally ‘finished’ in 2013 — but earlier this year I decided to go through it from cover to cover and update everything. The result — a ‘second edition’ of Scraping for Journalists — is now live.”
The Mozilla Information Trust Initiative: Building a movement to fight misinformation online (Mozilla Blog)
Mozilla Blog: The Mozilla Information Trust Initiative: Building a movement to fight misinformation online. “Today, we are announcing the Mozilla Information Trust Initiative (MITI)—a comprehensive effort to keep the Internet credible and healthy. Mozilla is developing products, research, and communities to battle information pollution and so-called ‘fake news’ online. And we’re seeking partners and allies to help us do so.”
TechCrunch: Facebook fights fake news with links to other angles
TechCrunch: Facebook fights fake news with links to other angles. “Facebook will become the suggester of perspective to avoid being the ‘arbiter of truth’. It’s rolling out ‘Related Articles’ that appear below news links to stories lots of people are posting about on Facebook, or that are suspected to be false news and have been externally fact checked by Facebook’s partners. “
RCFP: New website tracks press freedom violations in United States
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: New website tracks press freedom violations in United States. “Today, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press joins more than 20 press freedom organizations announcing the launch of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a new nonpartisan website dedicated to documenting press freedom abuses across the United States.”
Yomiuri Shimbun Newspaper Launches New Digital Archive
The Yomiuri Shimbun is launching a digital archive. “The Yomiuri Shimbun will launch a new online archive called Yomiuri Kiji-Kensaku (Yomiuri article search) at noon on Tuesday — enabling people to access more than 13 million articles dating back to the newspaper’s first issue in 1874. The archive also includes articles from The Japan News (previously The Daily Yomiuri) dating back to 1989.” Only Japan-based cards are accepted for payment in accessing this archive, so….
