What We’ve Been Reading and Sharing — September 1–15
Each day Sourcefabric shares on social media a wide range of stories affecting the converging worlds of journalism and technology. If you haven’t had the opportunity, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@Sourcefabric), Facebook (Sourcefabric), YouTube (Sourcefabric), Instagram (@sourcefabric_org), LinkedIn (Sourcefabric) and, of course, here on Medium.
With so many new developments and changes taking place in the industry, we want to help you keep track with a bi-weekly roundup of the most popular stories we are reading and sharing with the community.
Sourcefabric News:
Sava Tatić, our co-founder and managing director, was a recent guest on @StateofDigitalP’s podcast and spoke with @vahearabianseo about Sourcefabric and the state of open-source tools for journalism. http://bit.ly/2MWwTPb
We also published key excerpts from Sava’s interview on @StateofDigitalP’s podcast, including the history of Sourcefabric, the tech trends shaping the media business, and our role in the future development of open-source software for journalism. http://bit.ly/31hhSuC
Education, Journalism Skills
It’s a new school year, and @openculture has a complete list of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) beginning this month from top universities. Thousands of courses are listed, ranging from Python Data Visualization to Journalism, the Future, and You! http://bit.ly/2zMW3aq
The Missouri School of Journalism has launched a free, 25-module online learning tool tailored to middle- and high-school teachers who want to teach or revamp their journalism or strategic communication lessons. http://bit.ly/2lFiv18 @mujschool
Technology, Tools, Open Source
Google has adjusted its news search algorithm to boost original journalism, stories that provide “original and in-depth” reporting, after facing years of criticism that its methods incentivised clickbait, fake news and “churnalism.” https://on.ft.com/2LRD8kj via @FT
The Most Comprehensive TweetDeck Research Guide in Existence (Probably): everything you could possibly want to know about conducting research on Twitter. http://bit.ly/2A8nICJ by @chargodart via @gjin
The key to open-source sustainability: Good old-fashioned self-interest. We must enable developers to maintain a project and a living at the same time. That starts with relying less on charity and more on self-interest, according to @mjasay. https://tek.io/2Q00WI5 via @TechRepublic
Journocoders (journalists who can code) are the unicorns of the media industry, rare creatures who not only have reporting skills but can program and do data analysis. Data journalist @rui_barros17 says: “My advice is to become one yourself.” http://bit.ly/2zXEKn4 via @GIJN
Most journalists have little to no experience with the financial side of news. This primer on accounting and budgeting will help make your newsroom more sustainable and identify opportunities for innovation and growth. http://bit.ly/2ZIWwEV by @jamesbreiner via @IJNet
How did Henk van Ess, lead investigator for Bellingcat, track down the Netherlands’ most wanted criminal? With open-source tools and software that any aspiring investigative reporter can use. http://bit.ly/2IbjtdU
Climate Reporting
More than 170 news outlets from around the world have signed up for Covering Climate Now, committing to run a week’s worth of climate coverage in the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on Sept. 23. http://bit.ly/2ZqkD01@CJR @thenation
Student reporters from six colleges in New Jersey recently kicked off a semester-long climate collaboration for fall 2019. The project is part of a growing trend of climate-related collaborative reporting among news organisations. http://bit.ly/2ZQKfyc by @jsamditis
Audience Building, Membership, Subscriptions
News executives find giving young people and students a real voice in their established media a risky business, but organisations that dare to try it are finding it’s good for business. http://bit.ly/2Lvfaei by @YouthandNews
With digital journalists getting together for @ONA’s big annual conference (#ONA19) last week (Sept. 11–14) in New Orleans, @pewresearch released these key findings about how Americans get their news online. https://pewrsr.ch/31dHvwB by @abigailgeiger
Teens care about the news, they just don’t like traditional media. That’s why they are creating their own news outlets. http://bit.ly/2HGoZFk by @Rainesford via @TeenVogue
Publishing Events
For those who couldn’t make it to New Orleans for @ONA’s big 20th-anniversary conference last week (Sept. 11–14), they’ve conveniently archived their session transcripts, podcasts and videos. http://bit.ly/2Luh9AZ #ONA19
@GIJN has released a user’s guide for the upcoming Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Hamburg (Sept. 26–29). It’s full of great tips for attendees, and even includes a Spotify playlist of cool Hamburg-related songs. http://bit.ly/31r5I2v #GIJC19
Funding
Craig Newmark Philanthropies has given a $1.5 million gift to Reporters Without Borders to support their Journalism Trust Initiative, which helps news and media outlets signal transparency and compliance with ethical norms. http://bit.ly/34tU2Os @RSF_en @craignewmark
Kickstarter campaigns can be a great source for journalism funding. An exemplary case is @curaffairs, a New Orleans-based magazine that launched in 2015 with minimal donations, and has since turned into a widely quoted and growing news outlet. http://bit.ly/2I50rpR
