For the Record

Borealis Launches Racial Equity Fund:

Borealis Philanthropy has announced the creation of its Racial Equity in Journalism Fund. The $3.6 million program will support news organizations developed by people of color in addition to those that serve communities of color, low-income communities, rural areas and immigrant populations. Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Democracy Fund, the Ford Foundation, the Google News Initiative and CUNY's News Integrity Initiative have donated to the fund.

Google Changes Original Reporting Rankings:

Google is modifying its algorithm to elevate original reporting more consistently, Vice President of News Richard Gingras announced Thursday. "There is no absolute definition of original reporting, nor is there an absolute standard for establishing how original a given article is," he said. "It can mean different things to different newsrooms and publishers at different times, so our efforts will constantly evolve as we work to understand the life cycle of a story."

Apple News Privileges Blue Chip Organizations:

A new open-source study from Northwestern University's Computational Media Lab has revealed that Apple News "excludes local newsrooms" from its curated Top Stories and algorithmic Trending Stories sections, with much of the content derived from a small coterie of national news organizations. "Is it really good for the public when only 20 sources account for more than 80% of articles?" asked Nicholas Diakopoulos, the principal author of the study.

ASNE Diversity Survey Released:

The 2019 Newsroom Diversity Survey was released by the American Society of Newspaper Editors Wednesday. According to the report, journalists of color made up "nearly a third of the full-time workforce among online-only news organizations" as of December 31, 2018, while 50 percent of the online journalism workforce consists of women. However, only 22 percent of staff positions and 19 percent of leadership roles at legacy publications are filled by people of color, trailing representation in the general population (24 percent).

Coral Project Expands:

Vox Media's Coral software platform is now being used by more than 60 brands in 13 countries, including Mother Jones, Los Angeles Times, The Intercept and The Washington Post. The media company acquired the suite from the Mozilla Foundation in January.

Business Insider Hosts Republican Debate:

Business Insider will host a debate featuring Republican candidates who have announced challenges to President Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination, the news organization announced Tuesday. Former Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld have agreed to appear at the event, while former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and the president have yet to accept their invitations. The president dismissed their challenges as "a publicity stunt" and indicated that he would not participate in any potential debate at a Monday media huddle.

King and Young Confront MBS With Khashoggi Allegations:

Senators Angus King (I—Maine) and Todd Young (R—Indiana) told CNN Tuesday that they "pressed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about last year's murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a meeting in Jeddah over the weekend." Although King would not confirm specifics of the conversation, he said that their inquiries were "very, very direct." He continued: "I think he knows he's got a problem. He knows he has to be more open and people have to be held accountable."

Duke Study: Local Newspapers Persist:

According to a new study by Duke University public policy scholars Philip Napoli and Jessica Mahone, local newspapers have generated nearly 60 percent of the stories in their sample set while accounting for only 25 percent of publications. Additionaly, "local newspapers also produced just over 38 percent of the stories that addressed a critical information need" in various communities. "In sum," they conclude, "by all of the criteria we employed to assess local journalism output, local newspapers over-performed relative to their prominence amongst local media outlets."

Times Removes Mao Obit Tweet:

The New York Times archives Twitter account has deleted a post highlighting a 1976 obituary of Mao Zedong which lauded the longtime Communist Party of China chair as "one of history's great revolutionary figures." According to Josh Feldman of Mediaite, the news organization "received social media criticism for that framing and omission of the mass murder of at least 45 million people under [his] rule." In a follow-up tweet, The Times said that the post "lacked critical historical context."

Sports Media Embraces Gambling:

The 2018 legalization of sports betting in New Jersey and a related Supreme Court ruling have led to the profusion of online gambling platforms among major media brands, including Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated and Vox. "Our whole philosophy is if we do it right and give people an opportunity to bet within theScore, they're not going to go elsewhere," said John Levy, CEO of the sports news site.