No. 60 — Oops!
It's July 6, 2023, and you're reading the newsletter from Médianes.
Today, we're going to mess up
Hello, everyone,
That’s it—all the episodes of *Chemins*, our podcast that goes out to meet the people behind the media, are in the can! Join us on Monday, July 10, at 7 p.m. at the Belleville Sauvage bar in Paris to celebrate the release of this second season.
Back to this issue. Today, we’re sharing examples of media outlets that, one day, made a mistake, admitted it, and issued an apology. And in our roundup: an interactive experience on typefaces put together by The Washington Post, a look at what it’s like to be a volunteer moderator on Twitter, and, of course, job listings.
Want to help us imagine what’s next? We’re launching a survey to learn more about you and your needs, and to get your feedback on our new projects. See you at the end of this issue!
Enjoy the read,
— Marine Slavitch, Owen Huchon, and Marine Doux
Why not?
Ideas for Your Media
Like everyone else, journalists can make mistakes. But while it may seem convenient to sweep your missteps under the rug, the warning signs might make you change your mind. By transparently acknowledging your mistakes, you build trust with your readers and demonstrate your commitment to ethical practices.
Prevent
This automated Twitter account allows readers of the New York Times to track all changes made to the link, headline, or body text of an article published on the web. While the bot in this case wasn't programmed by the newspaper itself, the idea is replicable for your media outlet—if only by noting modifications directly at the beginning or end of an article.
Explain
Last September, the team at Arrêt sur images mistakenly published confidential working notes in their daily newsletter. In this article, the outlet provides a detailed account of the technical and human factors that led to this error, offers an apology, and outlines the implementation of “new review processes.” Simple.
Exchange
Once the damage is done and apologies are made, it's time to rebuild trust. Nothing works better than good old-fashioned chat. Each month, the daily newspaper Le Monde answers questions from its readers, who are often numerous in challenging the outlet's editorial choices and asking for explanations about changes or factual errors.
Over in Médianes
Spotlight on a Project
After a first season focused on launching a project, our podcast *Chemins* is back this summer to meet the people behind the media. What’s on the agenda for this new season? Acceleration.
Cécile Sourd (Mediapart), Jean-Christophe Boulanger (Contexte), Lauren Boudard (Climax), Frédéric Desiles (Alternatives Économiques), Emmanuelle Josse (La Déferlante), and Valentin Levetti (Stupid Economics) are this season’s guests.
Management, transformation, scaling up, audience engagement, editorial and business innovations: a season dedicated to sharing strategies and best practices, available July 10. In the meantime, check out the trailer.
CHRISTELLE PERRIN — MÉDIANES, THE STUDIO
On Our Radar
Our market monitoring to support your projects
DAMIEN LELOUP / LE MONDE
FACT-CHECKER ON TWITTER
In the form of short messages that appear below certain tweets, “Community Notes” aim to correct misinformation or put quotes back into context. The system, praised by Elon Musk, is powered by volunteer users. Journalist Damien Leloup had the opportunity to step into the shoes of one of these “truth arbiters.”
EMMA KUMER, GEOFFREY A. FOWLER, LESLIE SHAPIRO / THE WASHINGTON POST
TO EACH HIS OWN PERSONALITY
Through an interactive experience, The Washington Post invites you to explore the different characteristics that make each typeface unique. Through a series of tests, you can also learn more about how typographic choices can influence the reading experience for your readers—and for you.
On medianes.org
It's homemade
OWEN HUCHON – MEDIANES.ORG
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE
Along with some 40 media professionals, [name] is participatingMédianes in the launch of the Itinéraire Bis collective. Convinced that the current approach to travel and tourism is incompatible with climate change, the collective aims to encourage the press to change its practices by offering recommendations and resources.
In Brief
That way, you'll know
→ StreetPress, Arte, Dure Vie, Libération: These media outlets are hiring. Check out their job openings.
→ Reflets.info is launching its newsletter, designed to maintain a direct connection with its community without necessarily relying on Twitter.
→ To fund its report on the A69 highway project, Mediacités is launching a fundraising campaign.
→ Online News: Our 10 Key Takeaways from the 2023 Digital News Report with its co-author, Alice Antheaume.
→ A discussion about the “Femmes à Abattre” investigation by the Youpress collective on political femicides will be held on July 12 in Paris. The project is supported by Médianes, le studio.
See you on July 20!
We’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the teams at BFMTV and Mediapart, as well as everyone who has recently subscribed to this newsletter.
Would you mind sharing your thoughts with us? We’d love to learn more about you, your expectations, and your needs so we can plan the next steps togetherMédianes. If you could take a few minutes to fill out our questionnaire, it would be a great help to us!
See you on July 20 for the next edition. Until then, take care of yourselves and your social media.
— THIS NEWSLETTER WAS PREPARED BY MARINE SLAVITCH, OWEN HUCHON, AND MARINE DOUX, TOGETHER WITH THE MÉDIANES TEAM.
MEDIANES.ORG — MEDIANES.STUDIO
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