Media Insider: Fox News Deletes False Tweet, Instagram Beta Reveals New Feature, Soft News Still Thriving

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round up of media stories from the week.

Photo by Governor Rick Perry, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

THE GUARDIAN | ASHIFA KASSAM
Fox News Deletes False Quebec Shooting Tweet After Canadian PM’s Office Steps In

The office of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau sent a letter to Fox News asking the network to retract or update a misleading tweet that inaccurately described the suspect in the Quebec City mosque shooting. According to The Guardian, a Fox News tweet suggested that there was one suspect who was of Moroccan origin. Even after police announced the suspect as French-Canadian Alexandre Bissonnette, the network did not remove the tweet, though the story linked to the tweet had been corrected. The “false and misleading” tweet was retweeted more than 900 times and received 1600 likes. The letter explained that the tweets by Fox News helped to spread misinformation. The tweets have now been deleted, and Fox News issued an apology.

Is social media helping or hurting journalism? Reporters and editors discussed how the boundaries of journalism are expanding at a recent Harvard event.

THE VERGE | CHRIS WELCH
Instagram Will Soon Let You Share Multiple Photos In One Post

Instagram will soon have a feature that lets users include multiple photos in a single post, just like advertisers. The feature was discovered in the latest Instagram beta for Android, reports The Verge, which credits Droid Life and Philip Chang on Twitter for first noticing the update. A “long press” on a photo will prompt users to select up to 10 photos. Users can choose to apply a single filter to the series, or apply a different effect to each photo before posting. “Once this is checked off the list, maybe Instagram will move onto other common feature requests like a native regram function and scheduled posts,” says the Verge’s Chris Welch. An Instagram spokesperson declined to comment with more information.

We know that Instagram Stories and Snapchat are practically clones, but did you know that the Instagram CEO hands all the credit to Snapchat? Speaking of Snapchat, did you also see it officially filed for its massive IPO? 

DIGIDAY | ROSS BENES
Entertainment And Lifestyle Publishers Thrive Even As Interest In Hard News Spikes

Politically-aware millennials haven’t abandoned entertainment and lifestyle news — at least not yet. Non-hard news publishers haven’t suffered from the public’s intensified interest in political news, reports Digiday. In fact, some publishers are seeing a spike in entertainment and lifestyle viewership. According to Digiday’s findings, this can be attributed to a few things: 1) The lines between hard and soft news continue to blur as entertainment and lifestyle personalities join the political conversation; 2) People spend more aggregate time online consuming more content, an uptick largely driven by political coverage; and 3) Interest in political coverage could be saturated in urban areas, and not as intense outside of cities.

Not convinced about the blurred lines of news coverage? Read The End of “Stick to Sports.” Also, Poynter recently shared ideas for how to design the news for people who are burned out. 

THE HUFFINGTON POST | MICHAEL CALDERONE
The Huffington Post Ratifies Union Contract

The Huffington Post employees’ union successfully bargained its first contract after negotiations with management, who voluntarily recognized the union a year ago. More than 200 employees are represented by the Writers Guild of America, East, making HuffPo the largest digital news site to collectively bargain amid a series of newsroom organizing drives, reports Michael Calderone. Contract features include across-the-board raises of at least three percent, editorial independence, and newsroom diversity enhancements. Both sides appear to be pleased with the outcome of the negotiations.

Also in journalism news: #PressOn Campaign Wants You To Support Facts By Paying For Journalism

BUZZFEED NEWS | CRAIG SILVERMAN
Facebook And Google Are Facing Criticism Over Unexplained Content Takedowns

Google and Facebook are once again under scrutiny — but this time it’s not for spreading “fake news.” The two tech giants are being accused of censoring conservative content. However, BuzzFeed News reports that Facebook’s removal of certain users’ posts is a result of automated systems meant to thwart spammers and other bad actors; it’s not an algorithm that specifically targets conservative content. As for Google, the company removed 340 websites from its AdSense platform after reviewing sites “suspected of misrepresenting content to users.” Opinions from the left and the right suggest that Google and Facebook should be more transparent about why content is removed, in order to address user concerns about censorship and malicious intent.

Is “fake news” a fake problem? Columbia Journalism Review provides some data.

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Tabresha B. Langham is a Customer Content Specialist with PR Newswire. She also is a social media junkie, foodie, music fiend and Auburn University Alumn (War Eagle!). Tune into her insights as a social curator at @PRNmedia, or follow @TabreshaL.