Jailed Reuters journalists, Julia Angwin ouster, and Social media shut down in Sri Lanka

26 April 2019
Our personal weekly selection about journalism and innovation.

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Edited by Marco Nurra

Watch all #ijf19 sessions on-demand: media.journalismfestival.com

Myanmar court rejects final appeal by jailed Reuters journalists. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were accused of breaking Official Secrets Act for reporting on Rohingya crisis. Outside Myanmar, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been feted with awards for their groundbreaking reporting. This month, they were awarded the Pulitzer prize for international reporting for their investigation into the Rohingya crisis.

Philippine news and human rights organizations accused of ‘plot’ against Duterte. The Manila Times published an article alleging a conspiracy to oust the president by news website Rappler, independent fact-checking organization Verafiles, investigative reporting outlet the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and human rights organization the Philippines National Union of People’s Lawyers. The article specifically mentioned Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, winner of CPJ’s 2018 Gwen Ifill award and #ijf19 speaker:

https://www.facebook.com/journalismfest/videos/2341142492771194/

Here’s what happened inside The Markup. Support for Julia Angwin grows as funders investigate the “coup”. After her ouster as editor-in-chief, multiple funders say they are taking steps to “reassess” their support. Julia Angwin was an #ijf19 speaker:

Changes at Der Spiegel, soul-searching in German media. “If any consensus has been reached so far, it’s that many things needed to change. There needs to be less reporting written in an omniscient tone; uncertainties should be wrestled with. More sources need to be identified and hyperlinked.” We tackled this topic at #ijf19:

What media can learn from other member-driven movements. Membership models are fundamentally different from subscription or product models–and they require whole new methods and mindsets to be successful. Emily Goligoski was an #ijf19 speaker:

Climate change: The media are complacent while the world burns. “Don’t blame the audience, and listen to the kids. The onus is on news organizations to craft the story in ways that will demand the attention of readers and viewers. The specifics of how to do this will vary depending on whether a given outlet works in text, radio, TV or some other medium and whether it is commercially or publicly funded, but the core challenge is the same. A majority of Americans are interested in climate change and want to hear what can be done about it. This is especially true of the younger people that news organizations covet as an audience. Even most young Republicans want climate action. And no one is speaking with more clarity now than Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor and the other teenagers who have rallied hundreds of thousands of people into the streets worldwide for the School Strike 4 Climate demonstrations.” We tackled this topic at #ijf19:

Sri Lanka blocked social media to stop misinformation about the Easter terror attacks. But it didn’t work.

10 percent of Twitter users create 80 percent of tweets, study finds. These users tweet 138 times per month, while the median Twitter user only tweets twice per month. These superusers are more likely to be women and more likely to tweet about politics.

The International Journalism Festival #ijf19 On-Demand

Every week, one recommendation from the extensive programme of the last edition of the International Journalism Festival.

Today we are inviting you to watch “Activism, feminism and the fight for human rights. In conversation with Inna Shevchenko“. The activist, feminist campaigner, speaker and writer talked about the use of the body as an instrument for impactful activism. She is the current leader of the international women’s movement FEMEN, the movement of topless activists that stage their demonstrations against patriarchy (especially dictatorship), religion and the sex industry.