Top News:
Ev Williams / Medium:
Medium says it's laying off 50 employees, about a third of its staff, and closing its NY and DC offices, as it refocuses on a “less proven” means to pay writers — We've decided to make some major changes at Medium. — I'll start with the hard part: As of today …
Discussion:
Reynolds Center, CNNMoney, @sdkstl, @jbenton, New York Times, @mikeisaac, Recode, Business Insider, The Tech Portal, @derektmead, The Verge, Recode, @seanblanda, Digiday, @seanblanda, @seanblanda, New York Magazine, Forbes, Engadget, The Digital Reader, TechCrunch, @bluechoochoo, @janefriedman, @sarahjeong, @jessicalessin, @viss, @laurahazardowen, @micahgodbolt, @neilcharles_uk, @alicusofficial, @max_read, @jbenton, Reuters, Media Wire Daily, @nikkiusher, Adweek, The Wrap, @songadaymann, Mashable, @timjhanrahan, @janessalantz, @b_fung, @readdanwrite, @eringriffith, @erikwemple, @ilparone, @katienotopoulos, @sdkstl, @mathewi, @kevinmarks, @lizweil, FishbowlNY, Daring Fireball and Fortune
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M.G. Siegler / Medium:
Medium strayed toward the easy but broken legacy publishing model, and is now refocusing on exploring the correct model for the future — As is often the case, there's quite a bit of nuance... Publishing, as we know it, is broken. More specifically, publishing on the internet is broken.
Discussion:
@zeynep, @sarahwarn, @davezatz, @shaunnalmurphy, @gadyepstein, @rossgrady and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check
Politico:
At least five publishing partners say they had no advance notice Medium would stop selling its native ad unit “Promoted Stories” — On Wednesday, Medium co-founder Evan Williams announced in a blog post that the publishing platform would abandon its strategy to sell native advertising …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, @craigsilverman, @harrysiegel, @asanwal, @petersterne, @tayhatmaker, @petersterne and Ad Age
New York Times:
Apple removed news apps made by The New York Times from its App Store in China, complying with what it vaguely described as a request from Chinese authorities — Apple, complying with what it said was a request from Chinese authorities, removed news apps created by The New York Times from its app store in China late last month.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Recode, @ktbenner, Reuters, @yahoofinance, ZDNet, Business Insider, @edewittks, Quartz, The Verge, VentureBeat, @lpolgreen, AppleInsider, @alexburnsnyt, TechCrunch, @scottthurm, @bhaggs, @mattyglesias, The Guardian, @ronlieber, @arstechnica, The Hill, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Mediaite, Mashable, @dangillmor, @amyfiscus, @ktbenner, @kavehwaddell and Fortune
Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Sources: Kelly will be replaced by a pro-Trump conservative, and Rupert Murdoch may lobby Trump to place conditions on AT&T-Time Warner merger — Megyn Kelly's decision to jump from Fox News to NBC resolves one of the last unanswered questions of the Roger Ailes scandal: Would she stay or would she go when her contract ended?
Discussion:
Fortune, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, @jbenton, AOL, Vanity Fair, The Verge, Variety, Forbes, TheBlaze, NBC News, Talking Biz News, Politico, The Wrap, Media Matters for America, NPR, @nataliemicale and New York Times
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Sarah Ellison / Vanity Fair:
Source: Kelly left because NBC News offered her creative freedom; the network likely did not exceed Fox News' $20M offer — “Everyone else came to her with an idea of what they wanted,” a person close to Kelly says. “NBC really wanted to hear what she wanted to do, and then they delivered it.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, @monaeltahawy, Fortune, AOL, New York Magazine and @ericboehlert
Chicago Sun Times:
Sean Spicer says Trump's tweets are the first thing he checks every morning because they drive the news cycle — Sign-Up for our News & Politics Newsletter — Sean Spicer, a Republican strategist tapped to be President-elect Donald Trump's press secretary, confirmed a widely held notion …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, @samjcharles, Mashable and The Week
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Heather Caygle / Politico:
GOP approves new fines of up to $2.5K for Congress members who livestream or take photos from House floor; Dem. John Larson blasts the move as unconstitutional — Republicans barreled ahead with a plan to fine members who use their phones to broadcast future floor protests …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, New York Times, @karlfrisch, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Washington Post, KFOR-TV, The Verge, The Week, NPR, Slate, Mediaite, Common Dreams, TheBlaze, AOL, Techdirt, RT, New York Magazine, Mother Jones and www.wnyc.org
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast Buys Video-Metadata Startup Watchwith — Comcast has acquired Watchwith, a startup that has built a “deep metadata” video platform that tracks info down to the scene level. — Terms of the deal, which closed last month, were not disclosed. San Francisco-based Watchwith had raised …
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Light Reading and Press Association
Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:
Hulu's live TV service, expected in Q1 2017, will cost under $40 per month and will include CBS, Hulu's VOD offering, and cloud DVR — Hulu will offer its upcoming live TV service at a price under $40. — Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced the price point at Citi's 2017 Internet …
Al Tompkins / Poynter:
Q&A with nine graduates on why they chose journalism, what they read, and why they're optimistic — Since today's college journalism students have been in school, the forecasts for their futures has been filled with words like “layoffs,” “cutbacks,” “buyouts” and “freelance.”
Discussion:
@no1jenn, @prowag, @sagespeaks1, @journaloga and @msucomartsci
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Twitter begins showing blue checks for verified users on main timeline as well as on individual profiles — Twitter just made it a little easier to determine which users have that little blue tick. — Beginning today, the social network is identifying verified users in additional places across its platform.
Discussion:
@twitterfornews
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