#Apple#AppleNews#Media#Journalism#News: "At the moment, Apple News is as good a partner in Big Tech as many media companies are going to find. Almost every publisher Semafor spoke to said that Apple paid well and directed eyeballs to their longer, more ambitious work. While some of the articles surfaced by the app are algorithmic and based on user behavior, the company also employs a team of journalists — led by editor-in-chief Lauren Kern, a well-regarded former New York Magazine editor — who seem to prioritize putting quality journalism front-and-center on the app. As a reader, it’s a nice product, and in many cases a better reading experience than publishers’ own homepages and apps.
But the partnership also raises some of the questions publishers avoided during the peak social media era. It incentivizes users to subscribe to Apple News+ rather than to publications directly, likely cannibalizing some potential revenue. It’s driving editorial decisions, meaning publishers are once again changing their content strategy to placate a platform. And of course the company could wake up one day and decide, like Facebook, that it no longer really wants to be in the news business, leaving news publishers stranded."
JUST IN: Tesla reported its biggest year-on-year drop in revenue since 2012, in yet another sign that the once-dominant EV giant is struggling amid intense competition from Chinese automakers.
More than a third of board members at the world’s largest advertising and PR firms — all of which have made public commitments to slash their own carbon emissions — also hold roles at high-emissions companies, according to analysis compiled by DeSmog.
The “journalists” that work there just use AI to summarize other articles and “curate” what they want people to see.
A cynic would say this period is when they’re trying to build up trust and gain users, like Uber operating at a loss until it drove taxis out of business then raising prices.
Once people start using it, that “ai curation” could be used to edit their blog posts in a way to get people to agree with what they want. Like, two different people go to the same website, and see bespoke headlines engineered to get various users to reach the same desired outcome.
People worry about all type of AI stuff but this is what’s actual dangerous.
A tailor made propaganda website.
It’s not a news organization, it’s an algorithm. They don’t create anything of value on their own, they don’t write anything on their own
They just rephrase things in a way to trick people into agreeing with the wealthy
We are working on the best way of sharing the 1,000 Magazines we've federated, but in the meantime, here's a taste of what you can now follow, which includes Magazines about news, politics, technology, science food, culture, travel, sports, and much more.
THREAD: This week in Ethiopia, the strange and less than ethical conduct of Tobias Rasmussen, a Danish economist and the IMF's (International Monetary Fund) rep in Ethiopia, has made local and international headlines.
Mr. Rasmussen appears to have used his privilege, and the forever vulnerable status of the local Ethiopian journalists, to issue a subtle and implied threat to reporters at a local newspaper to drop an interview he did with them. Or else. All this according to a report in Semafor.
Publicly, the paper's senior editor, Ashenafi Endale, criticized the paper's CEO for refusing to publish the interview.
But behind the scenes, staff at The Reporter requested anonymity and shared details about the blank page saga with the New York based business news website Semafor (semafor.com).
LEAST BIASED
These sources have minimal bias and use very few loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes). The reporting is factual and usually sourced. These are the most credible media sources. See all Least Biased Sources.
Overall, we rate Semafor Least Biased based on providing counter-arguments to stories that differ from the author’s perspective. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information.
Detailed Report Bias Rating: LEAST BIASED Factual Reporting: HIGH Country: USA Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE Media Type: Website Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Launched on October 19, 2022, Semafor is a news website that hosts 8 newsletters. The website was co-founded by Ben Smith, a media columnist at The New York Times, and Justin Smith, a Bloomberg Media CEO. According to their about page, “We’re exposing the architecture of our original journalism in an effort to rebuild trust from our audience. Our journalists are experts in their own right — but they also know the difference between the facts and their analysis. Our “Semaform” structure makes clear the lines between facts, analysis, opinion, counter-narratives, and global perspectives.”
Funded by / Ownership
The website was funded with $25 million in private capital. Advertising and sponsorships generate revenue. However, according to CNBC, Semafor will move to a paywall and subscription model within 18 months.
Analysis / Bias
The Semafor website features 8 different newsletters: Flagship, Principals, Business, Technology, Climate, Africa, Americana, and Media. News is reported in their “Semaform” format featuring sections for straight facts, the reporter’s analysis, and counter-narratives. Each story is broken down as follows:
The News
The Reporter’s View (or analysis)
Room For Disagreement (or counterargument)
The View From (or different perspectives on the topic)
Notable (or some of the best other writing on the subject)
The website also features news aggregation, where they “distill news, analysis, and opinion from a global range of sources,” summarized so “readers don’t have to search the internet trying to triangulate the truth.”
Articles and headlines use moderately loaded emotional language such as this Russia headed for demographic disaster due to war. All articles reviewed rely on credible sources such as Bloomberg, New York Times, and Foreign Policy.
Editorially, more stories favor the left, such as this Donald Trump’s plan to kill mail ballots in Pennsylvania. A biased quote from the author reads, “Trump’s involvement in the new attack on Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law puts pressure on the state’s divided Republicans to pick a side.” However, due to their Semaform style, a counterpoint is given to balance the author’s point of view. Generally, the news is factual and well-sourced, while viewpoints tend to favor the left slightly. However, we will initially rate them as least biased based on offering counterpoints to their liberal-leaning perspectives. As the site matures and produces more content, we will re-evaluate and makes changes accordingly.
Failed Fact Checks
None in the Last 5 years
Overall, we rate Semafor Least Biased based on providing counter-arguments to stories that differ from the author’s perspective. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information. (D. Van Zandt 10/19/2022)
It sure would be a shame if everyone shared this story of hacker Rajat Khare covering up his hacking crimes and gagging governments and media outlets reporting it. I bet milionaire hacker Rajat Khare would hate that....
An Indian venture capitalist is mounting an international legal campaign to pressure major media outlets to remove his name from articles or take down the stories altogether, Confider has learned.
In a move that has press freedom campaigners troubled, Rajat Khare, co-founder of Appin, an India-based tech company, has used a variety of law firms in a number of different jurisdictions to threaten these U.S., British, Swiss, Indian, and French-language media organizations.
On Nov. 16, Reuters published a special investigation under the headline “How an Indian startup hacked the world,” detailing how Appin allegedly became a “hack for hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians, military officials and wealthy elites around the globe”—a claim that Khare strongly denies. Khare retained the powerhouse “media assassin” firm Clare Locke LLP, which boasts on its website about “killing stories,” to send Reuters several legal threats over the past year about the story, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Reuters was then forced to pull the article following a Dec. 4 order from a New Delhi, India, court ruling that the article was prima facie “indicative of defamation,” according to a copy of the order obtained and reviewed by Confider. In a brief editor’s note replacing the article, Reuters wrote that it is appealing the decision and stands by its reporting, which “was based on interviews with hundreds of people, thousands of documents, and research from several cybersecurity firms.”
This is not the first time Khare has flexed his legal muscles and managed to threaten reporters into removing his name from stories about the hack-for-hire industry.
Across the pond, Khare had his name removed from a joint investigation between The Sunday Times and the nonprofit Bureau of Investigative Journalism, titled, “Caught on camera: confessions of the hackers for hire.” Three paragraphs that reported on Khare were removed from both publications following legal threats on his behalf, according to two people familiar with the situation. Luxembourg-based Paperjam, a French-language business news outlet, dramatically altered its story “after discussions with Mr. Khare’s advisors,” removing references to his alleged links to cyber-mercenary activity. Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to the Confider newsletter here and have The Daily Beast media team’s stellar reporting sent straight to your inbox every Monday night.
In Switzerland, meanwhile, lawyers acting for Khare managed to take out an injunction that forced the Swiss Radio and Television’s investigative team (SRF Investigativ) to scrub the tech entrepreneur’s name from a story alleging that Appin assisted the Qatari government in spying on FIFA officials ahead of the 2022 World Cup. An editor’s note now added to that story reads: “On November 6, 2022, this publication was amended due to an interim court order. The name of the entrepreneur concerned has been removed from the publication.”
Clare Locke also sent legal threats on behalf of Khare to The New Yorker as the magazine worked on a story about India’s hack-for-hire industry, Semafor reported. Khare’s efforts also appear to have gotten similar stories about him killed in India-based outlets including The Times of India and The Scroll.
“Mr. Khare does not comment on legal proceedings, but he defends himself judicially in all relevant jurisdictions against any attacks that target him and illegitimately damage his reputation,” Clare Locke partner Joseph Oliveri wrote in a statement to Confider. “Mr. Khare has dedicated much of his career to the field of information technology security—that is, cyber-defense and the prevention of illicit hacking—and it is truly unfortunate that he has found himself the subject of false accusations of involvement in a ‘hack-for hire’ industry or supporting or engaging in illicit hacking or cyber activities. Those accusations are categorically false. They have been rejected by courts and regulatory bodies and debunked by experts. And Mr. Khare will not hesitate to continue to take steps to enforce his rights and protect his reputation from such false attacks.”
While the metaphorical jury’s still out on the veracity of reports about Khare, the issue for press freedom activists is the sheer scale of his endeavor to kill stories across three continents.
“This is certainly a very concerning and very troubling series of lawsuits against the media outlets involved and we see as a global organization a growing trend of… lawsuits of this very nature to silence and censor the press including by wealthy business people,” Scott Griffen, deputy director of the International Press Institute, told Confider. “This is absolutely a huge concern worldwide and powerful business people need to be able to accept and withstand the public scrutiny that comes with that position.”
A rep for Reuters pointed Confider to their published editor’s note, while reps for The New Yorker and The Sunday Times declined to comment, and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism did not respond to a request for one.
I think it's really funny that they are specifically doing the type of thing have been advising not to do on their podcast for large businesses....which is using someone else instance....
> Forbes has confirmed that Yaccarino has been contacted by a groundswell of leading advertising executives who questioned why she is risking her reputation to shield Musk’s behavior—and suggested that she could make a statement about racism and antisemitism by stepping down. She has so far resisted their entreaties, sources said.
Sam Altman has been fired as CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup announced on Friday, claiming that a lack of candidness in the co-founder's communications with the company's board had been affecting its ability to fulfill its responsibilities. Wall Street Journal (LR: 3 CP: 5)...
With the House still paralyzed in the absence of a speaker, the idea of giving Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry more power to conduct normal business is picking up growing bipartisan support,” Semafor reports.
A number of Republicans have been pushing to let the North Carolina lawmaker bring bills to the floor in order to keep the chamber functioning while the party works through its infighting. Now at least a handful of moderate Democrats are getting behind the concept as well, especially as it becomes clear that the GOP’s latest speaker nominee, Jim Jordan, faces an uphill battle.”
Pretty good summary of the year. Of course #Twitter and #FTX are there, but observations about #Wallstreet getting things wrong, and the fall of growth stocks is a good call.
Next year is going to be more interesting for #tech as there is a glut of chips and the companies are likely to slow production... This could lead to a bigger decline in the tech sector, or may save it. It's all a big coin-flip.
Trump and Nebraska governor push to deny Biden a crucial electoral vote | Semafor (www.semafor.com)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deployed in Yemen (www.semafor.com)
Who Is Killing All These Stories About Rajat Khare, Controversial Tech Mogul? (www.thedailybeast.com)
It sure would be a shame if everyone shared this story of hacker Rajat Khare covering up his hacking crimes and gagging governments and media outlets reporting it. I bet milionaire hacker Rajat Khare would hate that....
OpenAI Fires CEO Sam Altman (www.improvethenews.org)
Sam Altman has been fired as CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup announced on Friday, claiming that a lack of candidness in the co-founder's communications with the company's board had been affecting its ability to fulfill its responsibilities. Wall Street Journal (LR: 3 CP: 5)...
Moderate Democrats get behind temporary speaker fix (www.semafor.com)