Engaged Reading Time - Issue #54

Adam Tinworth

Oct 18, 2019 — 3 min read

Well, that week just flew by. I'm busy putting something together for next week (hopefully) that I'm excited to announce. In the mean time, here's some more useful links for you.

Podcasts

Can Spotify be the one to finally get people listening to short podcasts?

I am still unconvinced about the value of short podcasts. Given the secondary nature of the medium, they need to fit into a commutable chunk of someone's day - and, in general, short ones are too fiddly to do that.

Dawn Ostroff's plan to turn Spotify into the ultimate podcast hub

Dawn Ostroff, Spotify's chief content officer, says she plans on making hundreds of original podcast series next year as part of a strategy to expand the streaming platform's podcast offerings. The company aims to have 20% of the listening on its service be non-music.

The Video Problem

Facebook Went to War Against White Supremacist Terror After Christchurch. Will It Work?

Facebook’s 350-person counterterrorism team is retraining its tools for far-right meme culture.

The German Synagogue Shooter's Twitch Video Didn't Go Viral. Here's Why

Wednesday's shooting was the first big test of Big Tech’s new alliance to defend against viral violence.

Why Axios is skipping original digital video entirely in favor of TV

Axios has decided to do away with the established model for digital publishers’ video businesses.

Adobe adds Auto Reframe to Premiere Pro for quick vertical video

They've been talking about this for over a year. Nice to see it finally arrive.

Misinformation

Machine learning isn’t effective at identifying fake news

A lot of the platforms are pinning their hopes on this happening. It won't - not in the near future, anyway.

RealClear Media Has a Secret Facebook Page Filled With Far-Right Memes

RealClearPolitics has carefully cultivated a non-partisan image—while in the shadows its parent company pushes images of killer Clintons and a freedom-loving Kremlin. A company with two, very different faces.