Journalism

Joe Arpaio, the former AZ sheriff who finished a distant third in 2018 in a Republican Senate primary, filed a libel suit against the New York Times and a member of its editorial board, arguing that they had undercut his chances for another run.

Craig Newmark, creator of Craigslist and often accused of destroying journalism, is now doing his best to revive it. Researchers eventually estimated that Craigslist had drained $5 billion from American newspapers over a seven-year period. In the Bay Area, the media was especially hard hit. Newmark is trying to stop the bleeding — although not there. He is among a gaggle of West Coast technology moguls who are riding to the rescue of the beleaguered East Coast media.

PEN America, the leading national organization representing writers and literary professionals and defending free expression, filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump for using the powers of the federal government to retaliate against journalists and media outlets he finds objectionable, in violation of the First Amendment.

For residents in thousands of communities across the country – inner-city neighborhoods, affluent suburbs and rural towns– local newspapers have been the prime, if not sole, source of credible and comprehensive news and information that can affect the quality of their everyday lives. Yet, in the past decade and a half, nearly one in five newspapers has disappeared, and countless others have become shells – or “ghosts” – of themselves. Our research found a net loss since 2004 of almost 1,800 local newspapers.

A staple of President Donald Trump’s rallies is criticism of the news media, which he has often labeled as “enemies of the people.” What do the people think? Asked if President Trump’s words were an example of his expressing frustration or whether he was issuing a serious warning when he makes those kinds of remarks, 45% said they believed he was serious compared to 55% who said he was expressing frustration, according to a recent USC-Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. The public also split closely on whether President Trump’s remarks are potentially harmful.

The term “fake news” has become a cudgel for political leaders trying to discredit reporting, but disinformation – false content created explicitly to deceive or misinform – runs rampant online. Politico is trying to identify and trace the origins of political disinformation and debunk it.

You think the insane flow of politics in your newsfeed, on your TV and lighting up your iPhone will slow when the Trump Show ends? Think again: Media companies are doubling down on even more politics, to generate even higher ratings and more clicks, as audiences seem to crave all politics, all the time. This is your life on politics. National newspapers and magazines are already staffing up for 2020 with some of their biggest field teams yet. 

When Facebook announced in April that it would create a public database of political advertising, it seemed like a meaningful step—something that might make it harder for Russian trolls and other bad actors to try to manipulate public opinion using the company’s self-serve ad platform. But it soon became obvious the move would cause problems for media companies: In a follow-up post, Facebook said that any news stories on political topics that were promoted or “boosted” to extend their reach in the News Feed would also be labeled as political ads and put in the database.