Fox News’ political and cultural influence, conspiracy theories, and the future of journalism

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edited by Marco Nurra

• What is Fox News? Researchers want to know. Now, the US has a president who openly campaigns alongside Fox’s most prominent commentators, hires former Fox employees for top executive branch posts, and depends on Fox to both carry his message to his supporters as well as give him positive reinforcement for a job well done. In light of these circumstances, the notion that Fox is simply another partisan news outlet is increasingly under attack. Fox no longer deserves to be treated as news, some argue, but as something more akin to state propaganda. The uncertainty surrounding Fox is a challenge for researchers attempting to study a constantly changing news media environment.
• Does journalism have a future? “There’s no shortage of amazing journalists at work, clear-eyed and courageous, broad-minded and brilliant, and no end of fascinating innovation in matters of form, especially in visual storytelling. Still, journalism, as a field, is as addled as an addict, gaunt, wasted, and twitchy, its pockets as empty as its nights are sleepless. It’s faster than it used to be, so fast. It’s also edgier, and needier, and angrier. It wants and it wants and it wants. But what does it need?”
• Five things everybody should know about the future of journalism, new report by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and Meera Selva. The report highlights risks posed by growing information inequality, struggling journalism business models, and the role of social media platforms. It also underlines that digital media drive more diverse news diets and argues that, despite the challenges, the best journalism is better than ever.
  🔔 Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and Meera Selva will be #ijf19 speakers
• Reuters article highlights ethical issues with native advertising. “The reason these advertorials exist is to fool at least some readers into thinking they are legitimate editorial content, or at least imbued with the rigor of Reuters reporting,” Aubrey Belford, who left Reuters in 2016, tells CJR.
• BuzzFeed to lay off 200 staff in latest round of cuts. “The restructuring we are undertaking will reduce our costs and improve our operating model so we can thrive and control our own destiny, without ever needing to raise funding again.”
• As HuffPost and BuzzFeed shed staff, has the digital content bubble burst? On Wednesday, HuffPost’s parent company, Verizon Media Group, and BuzzFeed both announced plans to lay off hundreds of staff. The news signalled a collision between the dream of an online media boom and the accountants’ harsher reality: questions over the long-term profitability of digital media companies, and, as a result, concerns over the future of online journalism itself.
• Is Google serious about pulling Google News out of Europe? Would the search giant really block all of Europe from using its news service over a copyright battle? Or are the threats a negotiating tactic, designed to put pressure on publishers and legislators and get them to water down their proposed laws? There’s evidence to support both scenarios.
• “Merchants of Truth”: Jill Abramson and the search for journalism’s future. Abramson spoke with Kyle Pope, CJR editor and publisher, about her new book.
• Trapped in a hoax: survivors of conspiracy theories speak out. What happens to those caught up in the toxic lies of conspiracy theorists? The Guardian spoke to five victims whose lives were wrecked by falsehoods.
• WhatsApp limits message forwarding in order to fight “misinformation and rumors”. “We settled on five because we believe this is a reasonable number to reach close friends while helping prevent abuse,” a WhatsApp spokesperson told The Guardian.
  🔔 Carl Woog (head of communications WhatsApp) will be a #ijf19 speaker
• Journalists killed in Libya and Mexico; crackdown on press escalates in Sudan; prominent journalist flees Nicaragua. The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world.

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