What We’re Reading

We keep an eye out for the most interesting stories about Labby subjects: digital media, startups, the web, journalism, strategy, and more.

Reuters / Jessica Toonkel

NBC News is planning a streaming service for younger viewers, and no, it’s not sharing with Facebook →

“Facebook doesn’t have value for publishers,” NBC News chairman Andy Lack said.

What else we were reading on March 15

Vanity Fair / Maya Kosoff

YouTube’s latest fix of relying on Wikipedia highlights the dilemma it faces →

“Adding a few lines of context may make YouTube feel good about offering a “solution” to its misinformation problem, but it won’t necessarily do anything to inform people who are watching conspiracy videos, or to change their minds.”

Poynter / Masato Kajimoto

In East and Southeast Asia, misinformation is a visible and growing concern →

How governments and journalists in Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Japan are dealing with their misinformation ecosystems.

TechCrunch / Devin Coldewey

Digg Reader is shutting down at the end of the month →

“I’ve come to rely on it as much as I did Google Reader in the past few years, so I am sad to see that the service is shutting down in two weeks. You’ll still be able to export your feeds for a while afterwards, though.”

Lenfest Institute for Journalism / Joseph Lichterman

Inside the Seattle Times’ newsletter strategy →

“Short-term: The Times wants to make it easier to automate some of its emails. Long-term: The Times wants to add more personalization features.”

Medium / Darryl Holliday

How City Bureau developed its first in-person summit for its Documenters →

“It’s one thing for folks to show up, but it’s another for them to participate in a way where they are holding you accountable to your mission and checking you because they believe in you.”

Digiday / Tim Peterson

Some media companies are shifting their attention from Facebook to YouTube →

“While Facebook Watch hasn’t taken off as a revenue source for publishers and the social network has deprioritized publisher content, YouTube offers something of a safe harbor for publishers that want to get into the video business. For example, publishers can direct-sell into their video on YouTube, said Kai Hsing, svp of marketing and operations at Bustle, which recently rekindled its interest in YouTube. YouTube was the most lucrative platform for publishers after Facebook, according to a Digital Content Next report.”

Global Editors Network / Freia Nahser

How the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Buzzfeed have been using machine learning in the newsroom →

“Is it repetitive/boring? Could an intern do it? But would you feel an overwhelming sense of shame if you asked an intern to do it?” —CS