Friends trump news

IN Media Watch Briefs | 02/07/2016

This week social media giant Facebook announced that it was changing its news feed algorithm in order to prioritise content posted by friends and family. So content posted by publishers will show up much less on FB news feeds, with considerable loss of traffic and revenue for them. Facebook too said it expected a drop in reach and referral traffic for news media sites whose audience comes chiefly in response to content posted on the publisher’s official Facebook page. It’s not the first time that Facebook has tweaked the algorithm for its news feed, which is watched by 1.65 billion users every month. But this deals an unkind cut to news media sites that have come to depend on it to expand their audience. Media businesses around the world are clearly not lining up to press a “like” on this one.

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Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.