The Flack

A Call to Digital Arms, ‘The Social Dilemma’ Demands Change — Jeff Orlowski’s new documentary, The Social Dilemma, is a lot like its subject: social media. It’s fascinating, terrifying and hard to turn away from. The film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is now available on Netflix, takes a comprehensive look at surveillance capitalism, the work that goes into getting you addicted and the unimaginable result it has had on society. Check out this review from the Los Angeles Times or click here to see the trailer.

Internal Meetings Don’t Always Remain Internal — Companies hold internal meetings every day, and, understandably, it can feel like a confidential setting. However, every employee has a camera and a recording device in their pocket. So those slides, video and audio from the meeting can quickly find their way to social media. Last week Goodyear found this out the hard way. During a meeting in which they discussed what is “acceptable” and “unacceptable” in the workplace, images of the slides and audio from the meeting were leaked. This leak resulted in a firestorm of controversy and a call by President Trump to boycott the company’s products. Check it out.

Americans Who Mainly Get Their News from Social Media Are Less Knowledgeable — Social media has changed many aspects of society. Today, social media is among the most common sources for people — particularly young adults — to get their political news. This new Pew Research Center analysis finds those who rely most on social media for political news tend to be less likely to closely follow and have knowledge of major news stories, such as the coronavirus outbreak and the 2020 presidential election.

Are You Willing to Pay for News? The Future of Journalism May Depend on It — It seems more and more Americans are willing to pay for online content (Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, etc.) but unwilling to pay for quality journalism. And it appears many factors are driving it. Check out this sharp take from the School of Communication at Purdue University about the importance of paying for solid, unbiased journalism.

Bari Weiss Resigns from the New York Times — Earlier this week, Bari Weiss, opinion editor and writer for the New York Times, submitted her resignation saying she was bullied by colleagues and that, “showing up as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.” Weiss joined the paper in 2017 to help offer a different perspective following the Times’ “failure to anticipate the outcome of the 2016 election meant that it didn’t have a firm grasp of the country it covers.”

Journalists Know News and Opinion Are Separate, but Readers Often Can’t Tell the Difference — The New York Times opinion editor James Bennet resigned recently after the paper published this controversial opinion essay by Sen. Tom Cotton that advocated using the military to put down protests. Cotton’s column was published on the opinion pages — not the news pages. But that’s a distinction often lost on the public, whose criticisms of the decision to run the piece were often directed at the paper as a whole, including its news coverage. All of which raises a longstanding question: What’s the difference between the news and opinion side of a news organization? This article from NiemanLab explores that question.

Avoid Politics — Given the growing politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as states gradually begin to reopen, spokespeople should expect to be asked about decisions made by local, state and federal governments. And while it is reasonable for reporters to ask such questions, in most cases spokespeople should avoid endorsing or disagreeing with political decisions. Instead, they should address the question and bridge to the messages they need to deliver. Example: “Local and state governments are working hard to keep the public safe while finding ways to gradually restart our economy. At (insert company) our No. 1 priority is keeping our employees and customers safe, that’s why …”