Study Hall Digest 8/13/2018

By Study Hall staff writer Allegra Hobbs (@allegraehobbs)

The Digest is short and sweet today as everyone who runs Study Hall is simultaneously on different vacations.

Editor in Chief of Veteran News Site Resigns

Adam Weinstein, senior editor of veteran news site Task and Purpose, last week announced he had resigned after the site’s publisher made demands about editorial content, purportedly “ream[ing]” staff for a ProPublica investigative piece on three Mar-a-Lago members controlling Veteran Affairs and ordering a headline change. T&P Co-Founder Zach Isol released a statement that doesn’t actually seem to conflict with Weinstein’s account and acknowledges he had requested a changed headline, but re-frames the “demands” made of editorial as “demands” staff keep their biases in check (he note Weinstein was previously an opinion writer in an apparent indictment of his neutrality). The piece in question is incredibly straightforward and the headline is not misleading, so it seems a…strange instigator for concerns regarding bias? Anyway, Weinstein told The Wrap he had faced pressure to make the site less “liberal” and did not believe he could expect editorial independence at the site. Task and Purpose is owned by a tech company called Grid North, which operates other resources for veterans. I have to wonder if there was some anxiety stemming from the assumption veterans are uniformly conservative (veterans broadly voted for Trump). In any case, it seems intuitive that pandering to a specific readership could more easily slant coverage than keep it straight.

It’s Actually Our Job to Deal with Alex Jones, Says Twitter CEO

Journalists, I know you’re underpaid and overworked and broadly vilified by the American public but, hear me out — what if you took it upon yourselves to counter outright and provable lies spewed by a vile conspiracy theorist for our guy Jack over at Twitter.com, presumably for free? He’s just really overwhelmed by the pressure to regulate harmful content on his stupid platform and it would be so cool if you could just do it instead!! You see, after Facebook, Youtube, Spotify and Apple largely banned Alex Jones, Twitter has doubled down on its decision to keep him on the site, even after acknowledging he violated the rules they said could merit his being banned. Anyway, just think about it!

Anti-Journalist Vitriol Makes More People Wanna be Journalists

It turns out Trump’s attacks on the media, rather than deterring budding journalists, are actually drawing more young people into the fray — at least according to anecdotal evidence from journalism professors. Such an uptick in interest during fraught times is not unprecedented, notes the Atlantic — a similar surge took place during the Nixon administration, which was also notoriously hostile towards the press. The Watergate scandal specifically prompted interest in the profession, as Woodward and Bernstein were apparently a couple of relatively inexperienced up-and-comers when they broke the story. You too can meet anonymous sources in parking garages at night!

ANOTHER VOX SHOW, Y’ALL

In addition to the existing series “Explained” on Netflix, a new documentary series from the site’s Emmy-nominated YouTube producer, Estelle Caswell, is forthcoming. The series will be based on Caswell’s successful Youtube series “Earworm,” which focused on music stories, per Digiday. The line between online journalism and television seems to be becoming increasingly seamless! Start out a designer for an online media company, work your way up to your very own docu-series.

ProPublica Launching Newsrooms to Cover State Government

In an effort to combat a decline in aggressive statehouse coverage, ProPublica is launching a new set of newsrooms under a two-year grant! Reporters with seven news organizations will partner with ProPublica to investigate state governments for one year — Sept. 14 is the deadline to apply, selections will take place in October and the newsrooms will launch in January. These are the sorts of undertakings that may actually save local news (at least…for a year).

Longread of the Week: This batshit crazy Vanity Fair piece about a South Korea laboratory that clones hundreds of deceased dogs for bereaved owners. Imagine having 50 of the same Chihuahua!!

Short Links:

— A credentialed Post reporter was booted from an event by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s security detail for asking the mayor a question and trying to hand him a copy of the paper.

— German publisher Axel Springer SE, best known for European newspaper Bild, is striving to revolutionize digital journalism, constructing an atrium for digital content-creation called “The Valley” — yes, named after THAT valley. The Silicon one. Oh boy!

— The Wing goes global as it eyes a new Paris location, per Vogue, and Audrey Gelman voices aspirations to continue the expansion into…shuttered strip clubs. How feminist.

— This is very cool: New Jersey lawmakers are pouring millions into community journalism.