Mediagazer: First Look Media ends ‘Racket’ project, fires staff (Jeremy Barr/Capital New York)

1:45 AM ET, November 26, 2014

Top News:

First Look Media ends ‘Racket’ project, fires staff — First Look Media has decided to pull the plug on “Racket,” its would-be digital magazine, and to fire the staff that had been hired for the project. — “Racket,” which was to train a humorous eye on political and corporate corruption, never got off the ground.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, bookforum.com, @mtaibbi, @amzam, @felixsalmon, @lauraolin, @steveahorn, @riceid, @elongreen and Washington Post

First Look Media:

The team Matt Taibbi hired at First Look Media is being let go — Update — Since Matt Taibbi's departure, we've been working with the team he hired to consider various options for launching a project without him. After multiple explorations, we've decided not to pursue the project.

Discussion: @nickbaumann, The Huffington Post, Politico, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, In These Times, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, FishbowlNY, @invstg8net, @drgrist, @ericlach, @daveweigel, @mlcalderone, @mattbuchanan and The New York Observer

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

NYT editor Dean Baquet's newsroom memo on the hiring of Kinsey Wilson — Times firms up digital leadership with Kinsey Wilson — The New York Times has scooped up an NPR refugee to lead digital transformation in its newsroom. — Kinsey Wilson, the chief content officer ousted from NPR last month …

Discussion: Media News International, FishbowlDC, FishbowlNY and NetNewsCheck Latest

New York Times Company:
New York Times names former senior NPR exec Kinsey Wilson as editor, innovation and strategy

Discussion: New York Times, @jeffjarvis, @davidfolkenflik, @vivian, @jimbradysp, @vivian, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @kinseywilson, @amyoleary, Politico, NPR, @jcstearns, @sfiegerman and @digiphile

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

BuzzFeed passes $100M in revenue for 2014, promises staff Apple Watches if traffic goals hit — Buzzfeed passes $100 M. in revenue for 2014 — Buzzfeed hit $100 million in revenue for 2014 “earlier this year,” according to an email sent by C.E.O. Jonah Peretti to staff at the company.

Discussion: @stevekovach, Business Insider, @chrisjortiz, @jackshafer, @markgurman, @juddlegum, @elanazak, @theferocity, @mattbellassai and @bcappelbaum

Hollywood Reporter:

Vimeo earned more in 2 days for High Maintenance than potentially 2 years of YouTube ad sales — Vimeo Charging $8 for Six Episodes of ‘High Maintenance’ — The company is continuing to test the pay model with the project it picked up from FX — A version of this story first appeared …

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Spotify's 2013 revenues were €746.9M, 91% of revenue coming from subscriptions — Spotify revenues grew sharply in 2013, but operating losses also rose — Streaming music service's turnover up 74% to €746.9m, with 91% coming from its paying subscribers rather than ads

Discussion: Re/code, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Music Ally, The Verge, Guardian, Gigaom, Myce.com and mUmBRELLA

Mark Wilson / BetaNews:

GreatFire.org and BBC punch uncensored news through the Great Firewall of China — The Great Firewall of China is renowned for the restrictions it places on what Chinese citizens can access online. Free speech advocates have long called for the Chinese government to allow access to the wider web …

Discussion: Slate, Gigaom and GreatFire.org

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Tumblr Rolls Out Mobile App Install Ads In The Form Of Shareable Sponsored Posts — Tumblr this morning is rolling a new mobile-only ad unit called “Tumblr Sponsored Apps” which will allow app publishers to target the social blogging service's largely Millennial (and heavily mobile) …

Discussion: @mb

James Bradshaw / Canadian Press:

Former radio host Jian Ghomeshi withdraws $55-million lawsuit against CBC — The CBC says former radio host Jian Ghomeshi has withdrawn a $55-million lawsuit against the public broadcaster. — CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson says “the civil suit has been dismissed with costs in favour of CBC.”

Discussion: Canadian Press, CTVNews, @picardonhealth, National Post, CBC News, Bloomberg, Reuters, @michaelbolen, Jezebel, canada.com, @jeffreybgray and @josh_wingrove

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Sir Ray Tindle launches four new local newspapers for London reviving three centuries-old titles — Tindle Newsapers today announced the launch four new newspapers for London. — The move comes just weeks after Trinity Mirror killed off seven newspapers in the South East of England including …

Discussion: Guardian, HoldTheFrontPage and Guardian

Todd Pitman / Associated Press:

Thai web editor sentenced to 4.5 years by military court for 2009 article said to defame King — Thai editor sentenced to jail for defaming king — 1 photo — BANGKOK (AP) — A military court in junta-ruled Thailand sentenced a Web editor to 4 1/2 years in jail Monday for publishing …

Discussion: BBC, http://www.bangkokpost.com, World Bulletin, JURIST, Asian Correspondent, Guardian and The Drum

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Mobile phone records of 1,700 News UK staff supplied to Met Police after Vodafone blunder — The Metropolitan Police has been supplied with the phone records of some 1,700 News UK employees after a mistake by Vodafone. — Staff have been told that the records relate to staff using company mobile phones between 2005 and 2007.

Discussion: @tomjharper, The Times and @domponsford