Your Tuesday news roundup

Media and guests tour Facebook's new 130,000-square-foot offices, which occupy the top three floors of a 10-story Cambridge, Massachusetts, building, on Jan. 9, 2019. Facebook has announced a major gift to local news. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

By: Tom Jones

January 15, 2019

HERE’S SOMETHING TO LIKE

Facebook announced Tuesday morning that it is giving $300 million over three years to several organizations and initiatives devoted to the health and sustainability of local news. Campbell Brown, head of Facebook’s News Partnerships, said, “This is just the beginning.’’

Check out Poynter’s Kristen Hare’s story about Facebook’s plans.

THE PERILS OF LIVE BROADCAST

Television reporter Meaghan Mackey was doing her job. Then she was attacked.

Mackey was live-streaming a report for KRCR in Northern California on Facebook about an overdose incident that left one dead and 14 hospitalized. Reporting from outside a taped-off area last Saturday, Mackey was approached, out of camera’s sight, by a female. The woman can be heard saying, “This is disrespectful. Do you understand that? Do you understand that?’’

Then the woman began cursing at Mackey, calling her an explicit name and taking a swing at her before she was stopped by a male.

The New York Post posted a video of the incident. (Warning: strong language.)

KRCR tweeted out a statement that read:

“As many of you know, our reporter Meaghan Mackey was attacked at the scene of a mass overdose in Chico tonight. Meaghan is very shaken up but is okay. We are thankful law enforcement was right there and handled the situation quickly. We appreciate all your kind words.’’

Then Mackey took to Twitter to defend her work. She wrote:

“As many of you know, I was attacked and assaulted at the scene of a mass overdose in Chico, California last night. I was doing my job, reporting the facts on a major incident during a Facebook live for my news station KRCR-7.

I am thankful for the quick response from law enforcement. I am also very appreciative of all the support I’ve received from colleagues, viewers, friends and family. I am still shaken up, but am doing okay. I stand with all journalists working in defense of the truth.

Thank you to anyone who has reached out or expressed their concerns. I appreciate your kind words of support. I will not live in fear of doing my job. I value the freedom of the press & will continue to report on the truth and inform the public, even during times of tragedy.’’

It’s unclear if anyone was arrested. Mackey did not respond to an e-mail request Monday for comment.

BUILDING A BRAND

Fighting to stay relevant in media isn’t easy. There’s more to it than just good journalism. It also includes building and trumpeting your brand, which could lead to valuable revenue.

That’s the job of David Rubin, the first chief marketing officer for the New York Times. Rubin says there are 175 million digital news readers in the United States, but fewer than 15 million pay for it. Talking on the Digiday Podcast, Rubin said the first group that marketing has to sell is not the public, but the newsroom.

“You have to win the newsroom,’’ Rubin said. “We have nothing to do with the process of writing an article. Where we get involved is shaping how users interact with the Times as a whole.’’

It also is Rubin’s job to help the public understand what, exactly, journalists do.

“One of the things that surprised journalists was how little the average person, including the people engaged in our work, really understand how journalists do their work,’’ Rubin said. “They think journalists are in a tower in Manhattan reporting on a bunch of facts that could be gotten anywhere and that all journalists are working with the same facts. Our industry is tough. We’re in a category that needs to be much larger. So journalists are the first to realize that they need to close that gap.’’

TRUMP AND THE MEDIA

As we told you about in Monday’s newsletter, The Atlantic unveiled an ambitious project called Unthinkable — 50 essays detailing what the Atlantic calls 50 norm-shattering moments of the Trump administration.

Emily Bell, frequent writer and a professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, weighed in on Trump and the media.

Bell wrote, “His attacks on the press are frequent, and go far beyond his many tweets claiming ‘fake news’ about accurate coverage he finds unflattering.’’

She also wrote that the real damage Trump has done is “in his general attitude of undermining journalists’ credibility, particularly those he sees as investigating his affairs, or those who are more generally considered to be adversarial.’’

Aside from that, what does Bell think is the most difficult part of covering Trump?

She writes, “Journalists must grapple with the mass distraction of chasing the slippery eel of truth through the chaotic corridors of power.’’

SPORTS JOURNALISTS HONORED

The National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame announced its latest class Monday. It includes hockey announcer Mike “Doc’’ Emrick, ESPN host Bob Ley, NFL writer Peter King, and ESPN “Pardon the Interruption” host and former Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser. The NSMA also announced that ESPN basketball analyst Doris Burke is its 2018 National Sportscaster of the Year and that ESPN and ESPN.com basketball reporter Adrian Wojnarowski is the 2018 National Sportswriter of the Year. The group will be honored during the 60th annual NSMA Awards Weekend in June in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Poynter’s ICYMI headlines:

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