As newspapers around the world struggle with revenue, News Corp Australia’s Melbourne tabloid the Herald Sun is trialling a bold idea to lure more readers over its paywall. The plan is to give its reporters bonuses of $10 to $50 based on page views and if casual readers attempting to read a paywalled story are motivated to buy a subscription. Herald Sun reporters could potentially make hundreds of dollars extra a week. But the rest of us should be concerned about this strategy – particularly that it might succeed.
The world’s a sorry mess. How do thoughtful people make sense of it all? David Everatt, Head of the Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg, explains why the book The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by American author and historian Timothy Snyder is a good place to start.
The 2019 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence and created “an intense climate of fear” worldwide.
Stephanie Grisham, communications director for Melania Trump, will replace Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary. Sanders’ controversial tenure will end June 30. At a time when the office of White House press secretary is the focus of controversy, we believe the first person to hold the position, journalist Ray Stannard Baker, could be a role model for Grisham and future press secretaries.
When the Associated Press published Julia Le Duc’s photograph of a drowned Salvadoran man, Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez, and his 23-month old daughter Valeria, it sparked outrage on social media. According to Le Duc, Ramírez had attempted to cross the Rio Grande after realizing he couldn’t present himself to U.S. authorities to request asylum. But beyond raising awareness via Twitter and Facebook feeds, does an image like this one have the power to sway public opinion or spur politicians to take action?
In Kenya, there’s growing debate about media accountability – that the media should act in the interests of the public good, and that it’s accurate, free and fair. Most of the debate has focused on the lack of quality journalism and a decline in journalistic ethics.
Days after the British parliament declared a “climate emergency”, The Guardian announced that it would start using “stronger” language to discuss the environment. Its updated style guide states that “climate change” no longer accurately reflects the seriousness of the situation and journalists are advised to use “climate emergency”, “climate crisis” or “climate breakdown” instead.
The Stonewall riots were a six-night series of protests that began in the early morning of June 28, 1969, and centered around the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. For six nights, protesters clashed off and on with police, while chanting and marching in and around Christopher Street. In the days after the Stonewall riots, depending on which paper you read, you would have been exposed to a vastly different version of events. The major dailies gave a megaphone to the police, while alternative outlets embedded themselves among the protesters.
Research and discoveries need to be shared. And when those discoveries are publicly funded, they should be openly accessible. Academic journals are the main forum researchers use to share new discoveries with other researchers, particularly in the sciences. For most academic journals, university libraries pay subscription fees on behalf of students and researchers. But, over the past 20 years, there has been a push to make journals freely available to anyone with an internet connection. In response, research funders have announced open access policies in the United States, Canada, Australia, South America and Europe.
It has been interesting, as an outsider currently in the US, to see some of the key issues that have emerged in the wake of the ABC network's 30 hours with Trump. From beginning to end, it has highlighted how far we the media still have to go if we want to be respected and trusted in holding powerful public figures to account.