Good morning. The weekend is in sight. Here are 10 media stories.
- Malala Yousafzai wins Nobel Peace Prize: The former BBC blogger turned activist “has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee writes. Indian children’s advocate Kailash Satyarthi shares the prize with her. (Nobelprize.org)
- Back in St. Louis: During protests last night following an officer-involved shooting in the city’s Shaw neighborhood, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Valerie Schremp Hahn saw people “slamming a brick on the ground to break it in two.” One “asked what I was tweeting and I said nothing. He basically but me in a headlock and asked to get my phone. I said no,” she tweeted. Then, this: “I screamed ‘get away from me! Get away from me!’ And ran towards the crowd. My press pass fell off but I still have my damn phone.” She adds: “If it makes him feel better I didn’t get his picture.” | Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery tweeted a photo of the Ferguson, Missouri, McDonald’s earlier on Thursday: “@ryanjreilly wish u were here 🙁” | I noticed some other Ferguson vets and national outlet reporters on the scene: L.A. Times reporter Matt Pearce, New York Times reporter Alan Blinder and USA Today reporter Yamiche Alcindor were among those tweeting about the protests last night. | Never stops being useful: Kristen Hare‘s Twitter list of journalists covering STL, Ferg. | The cover story of the new issue of the NPPA’s News Photographer magazine is about the Post-Dispatch’s photo staff. (NPAA)
- President Obama finds another route around the press: “Over at the White House, we aim to connect with people where they are and engage with citizens on the issues they care about most. That’s where Medium comes in — and why you can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and more sites, too.” (@WhiteHouse) | Obama’s first post uses scare quotes! “History has dubbed you the ‘Millennials.'” (Medium)
- Great advice for beat reporters: Wall Street Journal fashion-biz reporter Teri Agins tells Lauren Indvik how to get big scoops on a competitive beat. “I always tell young journalists, when you’re trying to do a story, go for a story that’s doable.” Also: “People love to talk, they won’t stop talking, they’ll tell you more than you’re asking.” (Fashionista)
- Chuck Todd makes a good case for reporting bullshit: The “Meet the Press” host says, “We in the so-called MSM should be willing to report what is not true, rather than ignoring and claiming that ‘well, we didn’t deem it worthy’ and therefore don’t have a responsibility for debunking someone else’s rumor,” in a fascinating interview with Jay Rosen. “I’m not sure we can defend not sharing publicly what we know is true and false.” (PressThink)
- Deadspin wants to hire Bill Simmons: Among the incentives, according to Drew Magary: “KINJA! It makes you a better writer by erasing your posts suddenly and forcing you to start from scratch!” (Deadspin)
- The hazards of working in a British-American newsroom: “I use Ss almost exclusively in place of Zs, which look too harsh to me now,” Maraithe Thomas writes. “I catch myself saying ‘Give us a bite’ or ‘It was quite crowded, actually’ instead of ‘Give me a bite’ and ‘It was packed.'” (The Guardian)
- The economic imperatives of first-person essays: They’re multiplying, maybe because of “the slashing of budgets for in-depth reporting and the necessarily more superficial coverage that results,” Eve Fairbanks writes. “An essayist giving a personal take on an event in the news … may not result from a month of reporting with a big budget, as in the older days, but instead brings a whole lifetime of experience to the story.” (WP)
- Why can’t Facebook crack apps? It’s planning an anonymous sharing app, but “every standalone app Facebook has created thus far has been a flop,” John McDermott writes. “The only reason anyone downloads Messenger is because they’re forced to, and it has one star in the App Store,” Neetzan Zimmerman tells McDermott. (Digiday) | Related: Mathew Ingram on the frenmity between media orgs and Facebook. (Gigaom)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin: Jonah Freedman is now editor-in-chief of StubHub. Previously, he was managing editor of mlssoccer.com. (Pando Daily) | David Plotz is now CEO of Atlas Obscura. Previously, he was editor of Slate (Washington Post) | Brie Dyas is now senior work life editor at The Huffington Post. Previously, she was executive home editor there. (The Huffington Post) | Jordan Chariton will be New York media editor at The Wrap. He’s editor of TVNewser. Mark Joyella will be a co-editor for TV Spy and TVNewser. Previously, he was a TV editor at Mediaite. Brian Flood is now co-editor of TVNewser. Previously, he had written for Sports Illustrated and RotoExperts. (TVNewser) | Job of the day: WBEZ is looking for a midday anchor. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org
Suggestions? Criticisms? Would like me to send you this roundup each morning? Please email me: abeaujon@poynter.org.
