Yo. Here are some media stories.
- Is the Yo app ridiculous or revolutionary? That’s the question Cory Blair asks. It’s definitely the former, but it has potential to be the latter, especially now that users can send links and not just notifications with no content. Robert Hernandez has an interesting idea for what news organizations like The Washington Post could use Yo for: “whenever an unarmed person dies at the hands of the police, or every time somebody is killed with a gun.” (American Journalism Review)
- Diane Sawyer anchors her final ABC World News broadcast: But she’s staying with the network. David Muir is her successor. “Now, all three nightly news anchors are once again white men,” Brian Stelter notes. (CNN)
- NPR’s Michel Martin heads to Ferguson: The former “Tell Me More” host will lead a town hall meeting today. (Poynter) | Yesterday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Lynden Steele and Gary Hairlson spoke with Poynter’s Kenny Irby in a live video chat. (Poynter) | Kristen Hare’s ever-fluctuating list of journalists in Ferguson is down to 109. It peaked at 148 last week. (Twitter) | Related: Twitter was widely celebrated for breaking news during the protests, but Nick Bilton writes that “while those live streams were seen as an unfiltered window into events as they unfolded, they often bore little resemblance to reality.” (The New York Times) | Related: The first Ferguson dispatch paid for by Huffington Post’s controversial crowdfunded fellowship. (Huffington Post) | Previously: HuffPost’s Ferguson Fellow Mariah Stewart: “This is huge for me.” (Poynter)
- Playboy.com goes SFW: The new site will have a “safe-for-work look and editorial focus,” Ricardo Bilton reports. “More classic nude fare can be found on Playboy Plus, Playboy’s digital subscription service.” Sixty percent of Playboy’s traffic is social. (Digiday)
- A Sopranos saga: Is Tony Soprano dead? Vox.com wrote that “David Chase finally answers the question he wants fans to stop asking” in a story Wednesday. (Vox.com) | Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge (also a Vox Media site) was pissed that @SavedYouAClick tweeted the reveal of the story and “stole an experience” from readers. (The Verge) | And now Sopranos creator David Chase says the Vox.com story by Martha P. Nochimson misconstrued his remarks about the show’s finale. (NYT/ArtsBeat)
- Facebook’s ‘algorithmic censorship’: Here’s Alex Hern on the frightening power Facebook wields when it tweaks its News Feed algorithm: “The lack of transparency around this isn’t just worrying for media types: it should be concerning for everyone.” (The Guardian)
- NYT subscriptions still have room to grow: A Re/code story this week by Edmund Lee indicated New York Times digital-only subscriptions have plateaued; Ryan Chittum argues otherwise: “On a year-over-year basis, digital subs were up 19 percent in the second quarter and paywall revenue was up 13.5 percent. That’s hardly hitting a wall.” But he emphasizes growth in digital ad revenue will of course be crucial for medium- to long-term success. (Columbia Journalism Review)
- Who’s the most evasive press secretary of them all? BuzzFeed’s John Templon tracks the number of “weasel phrases” used by White House press secretaries in 5,000 press briefings since 1993. (BuzzFeed)
- Newspaper front page of the day: The Duluth (Minnesota) News Tribune, selected by Kristen Hare. (Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin: Noah Chestnut will be the lead developer for BuzzFeed’s news app. He’s currently director of labs at The New Republic. (Capital) | Rob Mennie is now senior vice president of Gannett Broadcasting and general manager for WTLV/WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida. Previously, he was senior vice president of news for Gannett Broadcasting. (Gannett) | Ben Walsh will be a business reporter at The Huffington Post. He’s currently a writer for Reuters. (@BenDWalsh) | Kimberly Leonard will be a healthcare reporter for U.S. News and World Report. Previously, she was a health producer there. (@leonardkl) | Larry Abramson is now dean of the journalism school at the University of Montana. Previously, he was a correspondent for National Public Radio. Eric Whitney is now director of news for Montana Public Radio. Previously, he was a health reporter for National Public Radio. (The Missoulian) | Job of the day: KFSN in Fresno, California is looking for a news photojournalist and live truck operator. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org
Suggestions? Criticisms? Would you like this roundup each morning? This week, please email me: skirkland@poynter.org. You can reach your regular roundup guy at: abeaujon@poynter.org
Correction: The headline in this post originally misspelled Diane Sawyer’s last name.
