Newsbites + Other Bits: A Weekly Roundup (vol. 3)

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Taqueros preparing tacos.

Sunday night nostalgia. Sorely missing tacos (especially tacos de suadero). Image: From the Instagram of one of my favourite taquerías, Los Cocuyos, in downtown Mexico City.

A weekly edition of content I think you'd like to read, listen to, and watch

The last weeks of 2020 have been hectic and I’m barely keeping up. Apologies for this delayed content roundup.

❤️ Be kind to yourself and others. Have a good week.

📖 To Read

  • The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University released a report on how Covid-19 has impacted independent news outlets worldwide. It reveals interesting insights on how and why the pandemic will dramatically and unequally impact independent news media. A few independent outlets will benefit from this crisis, but many more will lose.

  • At least 250 Canadian newspapers have shut down since 2013, turning swathes of Canada into "news deserts," where there are few or no journalists covering those communities at all. Joanna Chiu reports for The Toronto Star, the issue isn't due to a lack of readership. If anything, Canadian media outlets have seen massive audience growth in print and online. Chiu explores the reasons why increased readership isn’t translating to increased revenues.

    • 👂 To Listen

    Lessons from the past to help us deal with this current pandemic. Why the press in Europe (except in Spain) and the U.S. downplayed the 1918 Flu? (From the On the Media podcast by WNYC Studios in New York City.)

    👁️ To Watch

    Amusing discomfort. Nata Metlukh's animation, Awkward, lives up to its name as it transports viewers right back to the last time they bumbled a handshake or didn't correctly judge the distance during a parallel park.


    🎇 Other Bits

    This beautiful and informative micro-site by Pablo Robles explaining the differences among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean chopsticks. 🥢

    👀 Did I miss anything? Make a mistake? Let me know. Share with me your thoughts, suggestions, or critiques. Follow me on Twitter: @e_sarin. Or email me at: elenasosalerin@gmail.com.