Friday Reading S07E07

Friday Reading is a weekly series of recommended reads from the Guardian’s social media idiot Martin Belam, covering journalism, media and technology, and other interesting nerdy things. It is also available as an email newsletter. Sign up here.

This is worth your full attention. The Guardian’s Reader’s Editor on the steps to trace and block Russian trolls who spread fake news into media coverage. I should add the disclaimer here that of the two Guardian articles we found to embed tweets from Russian trolls – one was mine. It is now footnoted to that effect.

Good forensic look into where one of the anti-Muslim far-right videos that Trump retweeted came from. I got to do a Trump piece with ‘evil racist’ in the headline as a result. And this bizarre off-shoot, about the woman that Trump initially mistakenly tagged thinking she was the UK’s PM.

“As a regional newspaper editor recently told me, ‘I showed that graph to our newsroom and said: If that line keeps going, there’s no one left working here in 10 years.'”

“Journalism Is Imploding Just When We Need It Most – But we may have one last shot at a reset” – Monika Bauerlein

“You can’t have a nearly all white editorial workforce and not have it be subjective…And as long as they keep printing puff profiles of Nazis, while ignoring so many other important stories, we will all pay the price.”

“The media isn’t diverse – and this leads to appalling reporting” – Steven W Thrasher

Talking of endless puff profiles trying to understand the real genuine concerns of ABSOLUTELY STONE_COLD RACIST F***ING NAZIS, this might be of use. Kelly McBride explains “How to write about Nazis”

“We learned, through trial and error, that documenting their presence and their activities was a constant balancing act. Give the Nazis too much attention and you normalize or glorify their repugnant beliefs. Ignore them completely, and you spend a lot of time catching up when they finally do something violent that can’t be ignored.”

Tom Whitwell’s lists are always worth reading. Here are 52 things he learned in 2017.

Interesting look at how Snapchat’s walled garden approach to who can contribute to the media part of the platform is markedly different from the Facebook way.

“It is not coincidental that our industry employs so few women in the most senior roles. The fix is not sexual harassment training, but more people in leadership who already know better.”

“When Women Stand Up Against Harassers in the Newsroom” – Ann Marie Lipinski

Anders Eriksen on how one Norwegian data team keeps track of their data journalism projects.

“Almost nine in ten 12-15 year olds say they would make at least one practical attempt to check whether a social media news story is true or false.”

Or at least, that’s what they told Ofcom when Ofcom was researching how tweenagers consume news.

Alberto Nardelli and Craig Silverman exposing how one of the biggest alternative media networks in Italy is spreading anti-immigrant news and misinformation on Facebook.

The Ferret Fact Service has been helping loop non-journalists into their review process through live events in geographically more isolated pockets of Scotland. Here’s what it’s all about.

+++ JOB INTERLUDE KLAXON +++

Sky News are looking for a Digital Content Producer

People Management are looking for a Junior Staff Writer – entry level role for those looking to get into B2b journalism.

Head of UK Publishing Development role for Opinary based in Berlin

Editorial Work Experience at the Guardian on Data Projects

Assistant News Editor at the Telegraph

+++ JOB INTERLUDE KLAXON +++

This Brexit Bus game is so addictive it will destory your productivity and prevent you applying for any of the jobs above.

Nothing will shake me in my belief that since about 1971 the whole Scooby Doo franchise has been run by a couple of disguised villains who hate the whole premise of Scooby Doo. The fact that we appear to be getting a live action Daphne and Velma origins movie has not changed my mind.

This is like the phone pranks you used to pull at school in the 80s but turned up to 11 by the internet.

“YouTube star Alissa Violet left a Cleveland bar with a busted lip and a black eye. Then her fans made Clevelanders who were miles away from the skirmish pay for it.”

Six years since Gary Speed passed away: “Gary Speed and how Leeds United would always hold a special place in his heart”