Merja Myllylahti PhD

As long as there is journalism, there will (and must) be a human in the loop Journalists are struggling to find work, and the advent of AI in newsrooms makes the challenge even more daunting.

"While AI technologies retool newsrooms, they don’t replace human journalists or the need for them," @memy.bsky.social writes in her latest blog.

2024 was a tumultuous year for NZ's media, where prevailing patterns of media ownership were dwarfed by major tech corporations with trillion-dollar+ market capitalisations. Read AUT's Journalism, Media and Democracy Research Centre’s Media Ownership Report 2024. www.jmadresearch.com/new-zealand-...

Dr Merja Myllylahti, JMAD Co-Director, (@memy.bsky.social) says NZ’s regional & local news is in danger of dying. “There are new solutions for funding local news, but readers and councils need to do their part. For example, councils must urgently rethink their advertising policies.”

I have has Bluesky account quite a while, but finally moved here from Twitter. As a journalism scholar, I continue to be stubborn: I will not give up to those who are hollowing up journalism principles.Truth matters. Sources matter. Verified facts matter. Public interest matters.

Public money well spent? Unintended consequences and challenges arising from Trans-Tasman public journalism funds This paper identifies various issues associated with the increase in direct public funding of news media across Australasia. We conduct a comparative analysis of outcomes from two Trans-Tasman publ...

Do the direct cash payments from the public purse aid news media? Does the government support help to save newsroom jobs? In our new article, @jammh.bsky.social and I argue that direct support can lead to unintended consequences such as decline in trust in news. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Call for abstracts! The AUT research centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy is organising a one-day IAMCR pre-conference "Political Economy of Journalism" on June 27, 2024. Abstracts are due on April 5, 2024. Come along!
iamcr.org/christchurch...

Thanks Aske. After the year I have had... it is going to be strictly me time.

Arrived to Finland to celebrate the 106th independence day. When you have a long border with Russia, the independence today feels more important (perhaps) than ever. Happy Independence Day Finland!

An important date change! ABSTRACTS for the JMAD Political Economy of Journalism conference in Auckland June 27, 2024 are now due on April 5, 2024 to align with the dates of IAMCR conference in Christchurch, New Zealand. Please check here: www.jmadresearch.com/conferences

This is what happened today. The book investigating how platforms affect news, journalism and democracy is out. The risks of doing news business on platforms is not decreasing, you know!

Kate, it is out now... so you can buy a copy... it is so expensive.:)

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

New Zealand's new Deputy Minister Winston Peters has
clearly consulted Trump. He accuses legacy media of bribery and attacks its independence, pedalling misinformation in the process. And this guy is presenting New Zealand overseas as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Be warned overseas media.

Let's have a chat when I get the book out of way... launch is nearing! I would love to talk to you about this.

Still have to read through all of them.

I am on to this.... Microsoft next under my microscope.

Hi @askekammer.bsky.social your special issue is mentioned here in my INMA blog! www.inma.org/blogs/resear...

Here is a cautionary tale. A journalist reports on death of a young woman and Microsoft's AI creates a poll next to it asking people to guess what the reason for her death is. Highly unethical. Watch those AI tools and chatbots! www.theguardian.com/media/2023/o...

What is in common with my blog and a famous celebrity couple? Check this headline: The (un)conscious uncoupling of platforms and news publishers is happening quickly. My latest effort for INMA: www.inma.org/blogs/resear...

Nah. I think it is just Elon. There is friction between most platforms and governments, I am not aware any specific issue with NZ.

So that we can bury it...:)

Hi, nice to meet you here!

Well, it is co-organised with a news outlet BusinessDesk... so perhaps for journalists too.

Funnily enough there is a wake for Twitter (X) in New Zealand next week. An event called Bury the Bird, so here downunder, Twitter will be officially dead. stoppress.co.nz/events/the-g...

Juu, taa kylla muistuttaa sita vanhaa Twitteria mukavasti.

IAMCR pre-conference in June next year is in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, and we are hosting it. AUT research centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD) invites abstracts, due December 15, 2023. Submit and check this out! www.jmadresearch.com/conferences

Somewhat paradoxical to post this here, but the book From Print to Platform is soon out and it deals with multiple platform roles and risks in media ecosystem. www.bwb.co.nz/books/from-p...