Tag: Frequent Flyer

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Facebook is Great!

Welp, here I am, back on page 3, writing the Letter From the Editor. It’s weird, sure, but I’ve only done this 837 times in the last 20 years, so I think I can handle it. The Flyer staff is rotating this column until we hire a new full-time editor, and this week, the honor is mine.

As most publications do, the Flyer keeps close track of its internet traffic. Editorial staffers get a read-out each week of which web posts drew the most readers. Food stories get a lot of action. So do breaking news posts and oddball stories, like, say, a wallaby escaping from the zoo. My “At Large” column typically makes it somewhere into the top 10, though not every week. I don’t say this to brag, but to help illustrate the following point: Facebook literally shapes what you read. Here’s a real-world example:

On Wednesday morning, when the weekly Flyer issue goes online, I post my column on my Facebook page. Within two hours, I know whether or not Facebook approves of the content. Most weeks, by noon, I have 75 to 100 “likes.” Over the course of the rest of the week, I usually hit 120-140 likes and 40 or 50 comments. Several people usually “share” my post, which also helps get it out into the world. Facebook is a big driver of readers to the Memphis Flyer site, and not just for my column.

But then there are those weeks when Facebook apparently decides that nobody needs to see “At Large.” Two hours after I post it, the column will have two or three likes. At the end of the week, maybe 20 people will have seen the story link on Facebook. My friends say they don’t see it in their feed, even though they “follow” me. I can’t figure out what negative algorithms are being triggered on these off-weeks, but it’s frustrating as hell, knowing Facebook is “curating” my audience. And, sadly, it’s about to get worse.

In late July, Meta, er, Facebook announced it was moving entirely to algorithmic, “recommendation-based” content rather than that of a true social media platform based primarily on friend/acquaintance-based content. Instagram, owned by Meta, has already made the switch, which is why you’re seeing tons of “reels” from strangers on IG, instead of pictures of your friend’s vacation. Instagram’s algorithms are prioritizing content based on your browsing habits and geo-fenced locations, not your social media contacts.

All this is helping further de-platform and destroy local news-media operations. Facebook has since its founding used content from news operations without paying for it. News is just another piece of “content,” along with cat videos and comely “influencers” dancing on TikTok.

There is a bipartisan bill called the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) that’s been floating around Congress for months. It would provide a temporary, limited-antitrust, safe harbor for local news publishers to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google for fair compensation for the use of their content. The act is tailored to ensure that coordination by news publishers protects trustworthy, quality journalism and rewards publishers who invest in journalists, giving them a higher portion of the funds that result from the negotiations.

If you value trustworthy local news produced by legitimate journalists, I urge you to learn more about the JCPA and bring it to the attention of your congressperson.

And on that note, if you’re reading this online, I urge you to scroll down below this column, read the text in that big yellow box, and then click the black bar that reads “donate.” You’ll learn how to support the Flyer’s work by chipping in any amount you’d like. You’ll also see a list of the hundreds of folks who already support us as part of our Frequent Flyer program.

If you’re reading this in print, we thank you, as well! We take pride in being one of the very few progressive voices in the Mid-South, and we’d appreciate your help in keeping that voice alive and free to the public. Facebook sure isn’t going to provide original local news or content. … And they’re probably going to make it really difficult for you to read this column.

The Memphis Flyer is now seeking candidates for its editor position. Send your resume to hr@contemporary-media.com.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

That Escalated Quickly

To quote noted television anchor, Ron Burgundy: “Well, that escalated quickly.”

Seems like only a week ago I was writing a hopeful column that suggested maybe we in Memphis wouldn’t suffer the fate of Seattle, which was then taking drastic measures to limit most public human interaction, and has now, seven days later, basically shut down everything in the city but essential services.

Since I wrote that now-seemingly naïve column, several states and cities have banned gatherings of 50 or more people and ordered the closure of restaurants and bars and clubs, or restricted their hours and seating capacity. Memphis isn’t there yet, but it would be foolish to think the COVID-19 virus won’t impact us in similarly significant ways.

I’m writing this while sprawled on the bed in our guest bedroom. Downstairs, my wife is running her law office from the dining room. The art, production, and editorial staffers of the Flyer are all working from home, communicating via Slack. We’re all reading copy and seeing the pages on a server, which allows only one of us to engage with it at any given time. So we click in, read the copy, click out, then let everyone know. Every two minutes or so, when Slack communication happens, my computer makes a little ticking sound, as, for example, the copy editor posts to the art director: “Cover story is ready to be PDFed.”

Or some such.

I’m old enough to remember when the managing editor would walk into my office with a printout of, say, the music column. I would then read it and make corrections on it with something we liked to call a “pen.” Then I would take that marked-up printout to the copy editor, who would then make corrections on his computer. It was a simpler time. It was a week ago.

I don’t know when we’ll all see each other in one place again. Weeks from now, I suppose.

The snowball effect is in place. The Flyer calendar of events is the core of the paper — in print and online. It’s the most comprehensive such listing in the city. We pull from the calendar to decide what to write about each week. The Steppin’ Out spread highlights 10 or 12 things going on in town — fundraisers, food festivals, plays, book-signings, casino events, you name it. The calendar and our After Dark listings for bands and musical happenings usually fill half the editorial space in the paper.

Not now. During this work-from-home production cycle, the recurring theme has been a message from a staffer on Slack saying, “Oops, Event X just canceled. We’ll have to pull that photo.” The calendar has basically gone away as we’ve been producing this issue. Temporarily (we hope), we’re renaming our entertainment spread “Steppin’ Out (and Stayin’ In),” on the theory that humor, even weak humor, is essential in times of stress.

Similarly, many Flyer advertisers are pulling ads, understandably spooked by what will no doubt be a tough time in the weeks ahead. That’s the snowball effect I referenced above. When advertisers pull from the paper and events stop happening, the Flyer struggles. Just like most other commercial enterprises, our business model depends on a vibrant, thriving city.

But we’re determined to get through this, one way or another. The paper may be smaller in the weeks ahead, but our online presence will be stronger than ever. We post several stories a day at memphisflyer.com, including lots of material that doesn’t make it into the print edition. For the past couple of weeks, we’ve posted daily (or more often) about the effects of COVID-19. The Flyer website is an essential read for any Memphian trying to keep up with the latest developments.

There is lots of essential information in this issue — on the virus itself, and on how to deal with the effects of social distancing. We’ve got to support each other, any way we can. Order takeout from your favorite restaurants and leave a big tip. Everyone in the service industry is going to need it. And be nice to the checkout folks at your pharmacy and grocery store and other retail outlets. They’re on the front lines of this fight, being exposed to a potentially lethal disease all day long.

And if you are thinking about ways you might help your favorite weekly paper get through this time, I suggest going to our website and becoming a Frequent Flyer. We’re going to have a hell of a party when this is all over.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Keeping the Light Alive

“If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you.”

That’s a tweet from New York Daily News editor Jim Rich, in response to his newspaper’s management’s announcement Monday that it was cutting the paper’s newsroom staff in half, leaving the DN with just 45 reporters and editors. Rich was among those who got the ax.

The Daily News owners, the Chicago-based Tronc, announced in a staff memo that it would refocus its remaining staff on breaking news about “crime, civil justice, and public responsibility.” Whatever that means.

It’s become an all-too-familiar story in recent years, as daily newspapers around the country get squeezed for profits by out-of-town corporate owners. Most newspapers are now about as local as your nearest Walmart.

The Denver Post is another example. The newspaper’s owner is “vulture capitalist” Randall Smith, whose company, Digital First Media, also owns major daily papers in St. Paul, San Jose, Orange County, California, and elsewhere. Smith’s “business model” is to lay off massive numbers of editorial staffers and wring profits from the shell of what’s left. His 17 percent profit margin is the envy of the industry. His company’s newspapers are pathetic.

Closer to home, the Gannett Company has stripped The Commercial Appeal newsroom back to a small cadre of journalists and editors, most of whom you’ve never heard of. The paper still does some excellent reporting (see its recent election preview coverage), but too often it’s stuffed with Nashville-centric copy and odd non sequitur stories from around the country. Last week, for instance, readers were treated to a big story in the weekly entertainment and dining section about the Homegirl Cafe … in Los Angeles, complete with an “if you go” info box.

And the Flyer‘s alt-weekly compatriots around the country are not immune to corporate pressures either. Many have been corporately “chained” and, for the most part, have suffered mightily for it. Even local ownership can be perilous. At the Nashville Scene, once a proud and vital journalistic force in the state capital, new owners have forced out several respected writers, reporters, and editors, and the paper’s future direction and prospects are in question.

Even so, all is not lost. Some papers have figured out a business model that works. The New York Times and Washington Post are doing fine; paywall revenues have largely replaced advertising as their primary source of funding. But will that model work for papers that aren’t national in scope? We may soon find out.

Here in Memphis, for example, a new, much-discussed journalism venture is on the horizon — The Daily Memphian — staffed with a plethora of Commercial Appeal ex-pats, including Geoff Calkins, Jennifer Biggs, Chris Herrington, and many other familiar CA bylines. It will be run as a nonprofit with a paywall and charge $7 a month for access. There will be no print product.

Other news options hereabouts now include the Tri-State Defender, the Memphis Business Journal, and the Memphis Daily News. None of these publications are free.

In a poor city like Memphis, where 49 percent of the population doesn’t have broadband access, we at the Flyer believe having a free news option is important. Being able to pick up a free paper all over town means that access to news and information is available to anyone. Our website is free, as well. That’s been our philosophy for almost 30 years, and we’re sticking with it, thanks to our advertisers, who recognize that our 90-percent-plus pickup rate means their ads are being seen by tens of thousands of Memphians each week — and our hands-off local owners.

This year, we’ve launched a series we call the “Justice Project.” Thus far, we’ve published JP cover stories on food deserts, wealth, poverty, race, and the city council’s secrecy, with three more to come in 2018, including a story tentatively titled “Information Justice,” that will take a look at how Memphians get their news, and how that process is affected by their education and poverty levels.

We’ve also begun a “Frequent Flyer” membership program to help support our journalism (support.memphisflyer.com) and help keep it available for all, even those who can’t afford anything but a literally free press.

The Memphis media landscape is in flux, but I’m hopeful that all these options — old and new — will help keep the city’s residents informed and enlightened, because the fewer of us who are left “in the dark,” the better off we all are.