Mediagazer: Contributor networks are fading away from sites like Bleacher Report, HuffPo, and Forbes, as publishers pursue quality over scale (Max Willens/Digiday)

2:55 PM ET, March 4, 2017

Top News:

Study of 1.25M stories from April 2015 until the US election shows that a right-wing media network, anchored around Breitbart, altered the broader media agenda — The 2016 Presidential election shook the foundations of American politics. Media reports immediately looked for external disruption …

Discussion: @cyrusshepard, @justinhendrix, @sulliview, @umairh, @jayrosen_nyu, @ethanz, @vishne0 and @sheilacoronel

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Discussion among a Breitbart editor and other journalists shows the challenges and dangers for media covering Trump — It was a cross between Poynter.org and “The Five.” Today at a journalism conference titled “Covering Trump” and organized by the Columbia Journalism Review …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @daviduberti, @alexmleo, @pharmasean, @gabrielsherman and @erikwemple

Andrew Ross Sorkin / CNBC:

NBCUniversal invested $500M in Snap IPO as part of a strategic investment and partnership, making it the only US media company with a stake — NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast and parent of CNBC, invested $500 million in Snap during its IPO as part of a strategic investment and partnership, according to sources.

Peter Kafka / Recode:
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke's note to employees: Snap investment “builds on our strategy to drive digital growth for our business”

Discussion: @adamjohnsonnyc, @recode, @joshconstine, Engadget, Variety, @thedomino, @jarroddicker, @alexweprin, @edmundlee, @pkafka, The Wrap, Fortune and TechCrunch

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with New York Times editor Jake Silverstein, on the paper's recent front-of-book redesign and how the Times sees print and digital working together — “One thing that's cool on this project is seeing how print and digital can be friends.” — New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman's tweetstorm …

Discussion: Recode, @darth and @laurahazardowen

Julia Felsenthal / Vogue:

Interviews with female White House correspondents who are navigating the new presidency, including April Ryan, Ashley Parker, and Julie Pace — Nailing down the truth is a reporter's fundamental task, and it's one that has proved exceptionally difficult with the current administration …

Discussion: @halliejackson

T.C. Sottek / The Verge:

JetSmarter, the “Uber for private jets”, wanted to charge a Verge reporter $2K if they didn't publish a positive story about their flight after service demo — We've seen plenty of aggressive requests from companies that want positive coverage, but perhaps none as absurd …

Discussion: @chillmage, @caseynewton, @reckless, @anjalimullany, @urvaksh, @jtemple, @jguynn, @mattbevi and Talking Biz News

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

Juan Thompson, who was fired from The Intercept for fabricating quotes, is arrested on suspicion of making bomb threats against eight Jewish community centers — Juan Thompson, who was fired from The Intercept last year for fabricating quotes, has been arrested on suspicion of making bomb threats against Jewish community centers.

Michael Canyon Meyer / Columbia Journalism Review:

This Land Press, a Tulsa-based startup founded in 2010 to bring literary journalism to the heartland, will suspend publication of its magazine this spring — This Land Press, the Tulsa-based startup founded in 2010 to bring literary journalism to Middle America, will suspend publication of its celebrated magazine this spring.

Discussion: @usprojectcjr, @k8tmac, @nbj914 and @mcm_nm

Max Willens / Digiday:

Contributor networks are fading away from sites like Bleacher Report, HuffPo, and Forbes, as publishers pursue quality over scale — For years, the contributor network has been seen as a proven way for publishers to grow quickly and cheaply. But that model is getting harder to prop up amid today's emphasis on quality over scale.

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Editor of Barron's Ed Finn is leaving after 24 years; Jack Otter, head of Barron's Digital, to take over as interim editor — Almar Latour, publisher and executive vice president of the Dow Jones Media Group, sent out the following announcement on Friday:

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

Vox Media names Elena Bergeron as SB Nation's first editor in chief, says it will add employees “in the double digits” to expand sports site's newsroom — One of these sites is not like the other: ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, FoxSports.com, SBNation.com.

Discussion: Adweek, Awful Announcing, @mattsbn, @mikepradasbn, @rodger_sherman, @hels, @benmullin, @thewilderthings, @mattyglesias, @harrylylesjr, @brendanporath and @thewilderthings

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Automattic, the company behind WordPress, launches new importing tool that makes it easier to copy Medium content to a WordPress site — Publishing platform Medium recently laid off dozens of people. So if you don't want to hand away your precious writing to a startup that is still looking …

Discussion: @triketora, @wordpressdotcom, @techcrunch, The WordPress.com Blog and VentureBeat

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 2:55 PM ET, March 4, 2017.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

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Anya Schiffrin / Columbia Journalism Review:
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Barnes & Noble sees its biggest holiday-quarter decline since 2005 as it misses Q3 targets, with Nook sales down 26%; stock falls over 8%

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Pew Research Center:
Pew survey: 76% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans say freedom of the press to criticize political leaders is very important

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From Techmeme:

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems

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