Breaking news is reaching people in new ways

When news broke on Sunday afternoon that President Joe Biden was dropping out of the presidential race, his announcement came via a letter posted to various social media platforms, including X, Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Sara Fischer at Axios writes that while this allowed the campaign to control the timing and avoid leaks, it also invited skepticism about the validity of the announcement. 

The news of Biden’s withdrawal spread quickly via a slew of information sources — many of them not mainstream news sources. Minutes after Biden’s announcement was posted, X accounts like the Liza Minnelli fan account LizaMinnelliOutlives and NBA reporter Shams Charania shared the news with followers before major news outlets had confirmed it. As Taylor Lorenz writes in her Substack newsletter, “When I polled a group of friends, one person heard the news in the comment section of a bird’s Instagram account, another learned of it in a Discord gaming lobby.” 

As Joshua Benton at Nieman Lab wrote after the announcement, “Social media has encouraged people to think that, if the news is really important, it’ll find them.” He recounts examples of how people heard the news, from announcements at sports games or public spaces to a “chat in a Twitch stream of a live crossword competition” and “in a discipleship class at church.” 

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> New from API: How news leaders can focus election coverage and what follows

The American Press Institute’s Local News Summit gathered nearly 70 news leaders to discuss how to use information and access to support their communities and democracy. The two-day summit also led to a 5-step process for how news organizations can do this work now — and year-round. 

>> I pushed for press freedom in Hong Kong. The Wall Street Journal fired me. (Columbia Journalism Review) 

Selina Cheng, former Hong Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, writes that she was fired for becoming chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. Her supervisor told her that the paper did not “want its reporters seen calling for greater freedoms — because, unlike in Western nations, it is not an established principle in Hong Kong.” 

>> Join us tomorrow: Retaining and engaging audiences post-election (American Press Institute)

Elections can energize existing audiences and bring in new eyes and ears to your news organization. Tune in to experts at the American Press Institute, The Associated Press and Louisville Public Media who will share a “lightning round” of ideas on how to keep everyone engaged after votes are counted and winners are announced. Join us for the webinar tomorrow, July 25 from 1 to 2 pm ET. 

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Culture & Inclusion

>> The impact of generative AI on journalistic labor (Medium, Generative AI in the Newsroom)

A recent study found that more than 80% of a reporter’s work can be improved with either current AI tools or new tools that are likely to be created. Nick Diakopoulos writes that a priority for newsrooms will be hiring people to build bespoke tools for journalists based on LLMs. 

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> Behind the scenes of China’s first independent fact-checking initiative (IJNet)

China Fact Check is a volunteer-run organization that fact-checks international news for a Chinese audience. The entire operation runs on social platform WeChat, and maintains 24-hour operations thanks to volunteers in Europe and the U.S. 

>> New from API: How The Current GA used Reddit to understand the election information needs of Coastal Georgians (Better News) 

Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: Meet your target audiences in the online spaces where they’re already gathering. The Current GA shared two surveys on social media and on Reddit, and found that while Reddit was a good platform for ongoing conversations, users were hesitant to leave the platform to fill out a survey, which meant they were unable to collect demographic information.

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Revenue & Resilience

>> B2B newsletter publisher without journalists exceeds one million subs (Press Gazette)

Trending Now hosts 27 B2B newsletters entirely driven by AI — and claims to have more than a million subscribers. The AI software scours the internet for industry news and produces five key stories in each newsletter. 

>> Join us tomorrow: Diversifying Revenue Series: Finding alignment with potential funders

Table Stakes alumni, join a conversation with Michael Grant of Get Current Studio to discuss aligning revenue goals with capacity and mission. Register for tomorrow’s webinar here.

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What else you need to know

🫱🏽‍🫲🏿 Ford Foundation president Darren Walker announces departure in 2025 (Ford Foundation)

⚖️ ​Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against Fox News over ‘mock trial’ miniseries (CNN)

🏆 Judge rejects bid to dismiss Trump libel suit against Pulitzer Board (The New York Times) 

🇬🇧 BBC to lay off hundreds more staff with financial deficit projected to nearly double next year (Deadline)