Just one more week of me writing about media, I promise.  

In this issue:

And also: FiveThirtyEight shutters, prosecutors drop charges of a student journalist arrested while covering a Palestine solidarity protest, L.A. Times’ AI tool downplays Ku Klux Klan’s racist history, and six Gannett papers reach a tentative contract. Plus, the resource of the week is a toolkit targeted at building journalists’ understanding of algorithms both for sharing work and improving reporting.

—Gabe Schneider

Late last month, Semafor hosted an event that, per the description, brought together “the brightest minds in publishing, journalism, media, and investing.” The “Innovating to Restore Trust in News” summit brought together journalists, journalism executives, and leaders from media-adjacent organizations.

The idea for the summit was, as Semafor co-founder Justin Smith noted, a response to Jeff Bezos shifting the opinion section at The Washington Post, which Justin Smith found puzzling as “Jeff Bezos is one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world.” And so, Justin said, Semafor brought together “a broad and high level array of leaders from across the ideological spectrum.”

In the summit, there were as many white British media types as people of color. But missing were questions and answers that offered any analysis of how the media ecosystem in this country was built on racial exclusion — and how that may impact trust in media from Republicans, Democrats, and Americans at large.

Read the full piece here. And feel free to reply directly and let us know what you think!  

Goodbye to FiveThirtyEight: The political and sports forecasting and data analytics site is no more after ABC News eliminated it as part of wider layoffs across the Walt Disney parent company. Fifteen employees are being laid off, and the shutdown follows its creator’s departure in 2023 when ABC News also laid off several other employees in efforts to “streamline” FiveThirtyEight ahead of the 2024 election.

📉 Read more in The Hill.

Prosecutors drop charges against student journalist arrested for covering Palestine solidarity protest: Stanford student Dilan Gohill had faced allegations of burglary, vandalism, and conspiracy, with the university’s provost publicly calling for Santa Clara County’s district attorney to prosecute Gohill. “This case was not a close call,” said Max Szabo, attorney and spokesperson for Gohill. Twelve protesters also arrested nine months ago still face similar allegations, and their cases remain under review.

🧑‍⚖️ Read the story in Columbia Journalism Review.

LA Times pulls AI tool from story 24 hours after its launch for downplaying KKK’s impact: On an op-ed about the 100th anniversary of Anaheim removing Ku Klux Klan members from its city council, the tool “Insights” said “critics argue that focusing on past Klan influence distracts from Anaheim’s modern identity as a diverse city.” The bullet point was underneath a section called “different perspectives” and shared with similar other statements minimizing the Klan’s virulent racist violence. Insights’ comments were not reviewed by editors prior to publication or journalists; other Times op-eds still have an Insights section.

⚙️ Read the story in The Wrap.

Six Gannett papers reach a tentative contract deal with the conglomerate: The deal averts walkouts at the New York and New Jersey titles, namely the Asbury Park Press, Courier News, Home News Tribune, the Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Times Herald-Record. If ratified, the deal would provide guardrails around use of AI and lifted salary floors for new and current employees. Gannett continues to face pushback over AI as it seeks an AI sports editor despite prior controversy with AI-generated sports coverage and product reviews.

🤝 Read the story in MediaPost.

Thanks for reading. We run thanks to you, and we’ll have more for you next week.

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