Top News:
Nathan McAlone / Business Insider:
Digital media startup Odyssey lays off 55 people, over a third of its employees, less than a year after raising $25M — Digital media startup Odyssey has laid off 55 people, slashing over a third of its full-time, paid staff less than a year after raising $25 million, CEO Evan Burns confirmed to Business Insider.
Discussion:
@trengriffin, @rafat and @jbenton
Jose Pagliery / CNNMoney:
CEO of Russia's XBT, which owns Webzilla and invested in Prisma app, sues BuzzFeed and Ben Smith for posting Trump dossier; BuzzFeed has now redacted CEO's name — A Russian technology executive has sued BuzzFeed and its editor Ben Smith for publishing the unverified Trump dossier, calling it …
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Recode, @raju, @pkafka, @pkafka, @liamstack, Politico and iMediaEthics
Colin Lecher / The Verge:
FCC closes the investigations into sponsored-data offerings by T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast, new agency Chairman Ajit Pai confirms — Under recently departed chief Tom Wheeler, the FCC opened inquiries into how companies might be using free data programs, which allow customers …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @spacekatgal, Multichannel News, Fast Company, @mattyglesias, @jessamyn, @dangillmor, @onejarednewman, @chillmage, Variety, Fast Company, The Wrap, @ajitpaifcc, Fortune and @tomgara
Shelley Hepworth / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Olivia Nuzzi on her new role at New York magazine and the antagonism between the Trump administration and the White House press corps — Politico named Olivia Nuzzi one of the breakout media stars of the 2016 election thanks to her political reporting for The Daily Beast.
Rachael Revesz / The Independent:
After 818 advertisers pledge to pull ads from Breitbart, one consumer group says it will target ad agencies and Amazon and Google next — Hundreds of advertisers are pulling away from ultra-conservative news website Breitbart, and campaigners are confident the backlash is snowballing.
Discussion:
@adellewaldman, BuzzFeed, @rjonesx and CNET
Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
Tensions over immigration complicate the planning of Super Bowl ads, which now cost an average of $5M for 30 seconds — The Super Bowl is a popular destination for commercials showcasing premium water, candy and beer — but politics can make it a difficult forum.
Discussion:
Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, Variety, Los Angeles Times, NPR, HBR.org, Polygon and Los Angeles Times
Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:
The era of “stick to sports” has ended as Trump's election emboldens sportswriters to enter the realm of political advocacy — Sportswriters have been awakened by Donald Trump's presidency. Is that what their readers want? — Did you read sports Twitter over the weekend?
Discussion:
@ringer and Vanity Fair
James Rainey / Variety:
Steven Mnuchin, nominee for US treasury secretary, faces a fraud claim in lawsuit related to Relativity Media financing — Steve Mnuchin may be headed for U.S. Senate approval as America's next treasury secretary, but he's getting a big thumbs down from a film lending company that alleges …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @coco_wms, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Franziska Kues / Poynter:
Persecuted at home in Turkey, two journalists launch a website to publish independent journalism about Turkey from the relative safety of Germany — The Turkish government is trying to shut down two journalists who left the country to publish their work. But they're not giving up without a fight.
Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed:
Two Bengaluru engineers fight WhatsApp's fake news problem in India by fact-checking user-submitted stories on their website, Check4Spam.com — Shammas Oliyath has spent every lunch break for the last six months telling strangers all over India that a Gujarati woman didn't really give birth …
Discussion:
@regajha and @pranavdixit
New York Times:
New Yorker and Vanity Fair pull out of WHCD parties on April 29, underscoring the awkward nature of throwing a splashy dinner for a media-hostile president — The White House Correspondents' Dinner has gone from a hoary ritual to the apex of Washington's social calendar, replete with Hollywood A-listers …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @ingrahamangle, @davidfrum, Variety, @resnikoff, Hollywood Reporter, @nickbilton, Fortune, @perezhilton, @katherinemiller, The Daily Caller, AOL, @dangillmor, @weinbergersa, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, @alexanderchee, @tarapalmeri, @mrdanzak, @delwilliams, @palafo, @silviakillings, @qhardy, @mlcalderone, @jakebeckman, @grynbaum, @daveweigel, Mother Jones, Axios, Mashable, @jeffjarvis, @nycjim, @mekosoff, @aaronzitner, @hadas_gold and @jeremyneely
Knight Foundation / Informed and Engaged:
Knight Foundation podcasting report: not a traditional public radio audience, diversity remains a challenge, more — INTRODUCTION — Podcasting and other forms of on-demand digital audio are growing. Edison Research reports that, based on a survey conducted in January and February 2016 …
Discussion:
@brett_antenna, @mkramer and RAIN News