Top News:
Recode:
The reason behind ESPN's layoffs: its costs are expected to rise 11% this year, and it has lost 10M+ subscribers since 2010 — Short version: Costs are up. Subscribers are down. — Why did ESPN let go of 100 of its writers, reporters and on-air staff today?
Discussion:
ESPN Front Row, @pcarrespn, The Wrap, USA Today, @tonypaul1984, @espnpubliced, Motherboard, Talking New Media, CNBC, Bloomberg, @comedianspank, @lilmissrightie, Multichannel News and Deadspin
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CNNMoney:
Source: ESPN to lay off 100 on-air personalities and writers plus a limited number of off-air jobs — ESPN plans to lay off 100 on-air personalities and writers, a source familiar with the matter told CNNMoney on Wednesday. — The job cuts, including television, radio and online personalities …
Discussion:
Deadspin, Columbia Journalism Review, The Week, Digiday, Hit & Run, Variety, @marisaguthrie, The Daily Caller, Crain's New York Business, USA Today, Hollywood Reporter, @buccigross, New York Magazine, Fortune, CinemaBlend, SI.com, @daveholmestv, NESN.com, Vanity Fair, @jimmiller, @ourand_sbj, ESPN MediaZone, The Guardian, Mediaite, Yahoo! Finance, Richard Deitsch, @jimmiller, @braddjaffy, @hotlinejosh, @richarddeitsch, The Huffington Post, Mashable, 9to5Mac, @jimmiller, @jimmiller, @ourand_sbj, @jimmiller, @jimmiller, Variety, @seyitaylor, @edmundlee, Forbes and Poynter
Kevin Draper / Deadspin:
A list of ESPN layoffs, as they become known — With phone calls and meetings beginning informing some ESPN employees that they have been laid off, word will slowly trickle out all day long about who they are. There will be plenty of names you have heard of, as ESPN reorients their daily lineup of shows …
Discussion:
SBD Articles, SI.com, New York Times, Forbes, @buster_espn, New York Post, @markcoddington, Newser, TVNewser, Washington Post, @sbnlukethomas, NPR, @hotlinejosh, @allahpundit, @bradwellsnfl, @mysportsupdate, @mr4thandlong, @edsbs, Charlotte Business Journal, @sportswatch, @nick_mcintyre, @chrismartin17, @readdanwrite, @davidrivals, @brentscher, @conorsen, @mattlombardophl, @t_sharp4 and @rafat
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai outlines plan to roll back Title II net neutrality rules, plans to release full proposal on April 27 for FCC vote on May 18 — Vote to begin net neutrality rollback scheduled for May 18. — The Federal Communications Commission will vote next month to start the process …
Discussion:
Recode, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Variety, New York Times, The Verge, Broadcasting & Cable, Broadcasting & Cable, Boing Boing, eMarketer and Newsroom Posts, CBS San Francisco, @ajitpaifcc, Bloomberg, @pattymurray, @videograndpa, Fortune, Radio & Television …, @harrisonweber, @backlon, Reuters, @stevekovach, @eff, @katecrawford, @tonyromm, @waltmossberg, @mollywood, Vanity Fair, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Radio & Television …, Free Press Blog, TechCrunch, Axios, Business Insider, The Verge, The Guardian, Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable, Motherboard, Fortune, WRAL Tech Wire, Electronic Frontier Foundation, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »
George Slefo / Ad Age:
IAB: digital ad revenue grew 22% YoY to $72.5B in 2016, surpassing TV for the first time; idea that Google/Facebook ‘duopoly’ is driving ad growth is incorrect — Digital advertising saw $72.5 billion revenue in 2016, a 22% upswing from the previous year.
Discussion:
@jason_kint, Adweek, TechCrunch, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Marketing Land and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »
Connie Bruck / New Yorker:
A look at Steve Bannon's background in the film industry, including looking for proof of Seinfeld royalties — Stephen K. Bannon, who maintains a precarious hold over the nativist wing of the Trump White House, honed his skills in the art of conservative persuasion in the most liberal precinct of the American imagination, Hollywood.
Discussion:
@davidbrockdc and Longreads
Richard Smirke / Billboard:
IFPI Global Report 2017: 50%, or $7.8B, of all music sales come from digital; paid music subs hit 112M, with total streaming rev up 60% YoY to just over $3.9B — Increase of six percent is the highest year-over-year gain since the IFPI first started tracking the market in 1997.
Discussion:
Variety, Forbes, Radioandmusic.com, Music Week, Salon, AllAccess.com, Financial Times, Engadget and Variety
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
The staff of the East Bay Times have been told layoffs are coming to the paper, two weeks after winning a Pulitzer Prize — Earlier this month, the staff of the East Bay Times won a Pulitzer Prize for their breaking news coverage of the Oakland Ghost Ship Fire. Last week, their editor informed them of coming newsroom layoffs.
Discussion:
@testycopyeditor, @umairh, @davidsirota, @kristenhare, @journalistslike and Adweek
Jeff Stein / Vox:
Interview with Bret Stephens, the NYT's new right-wing columnist, in which he defends his views on climate change and the campus rape epidemic — On April 12, the New York Times's vaunted editorial page got a new addition. Bret Stephens, formerly a columnist at the Wall Street Journal …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, @upstreamism and The Daily Caller
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan / Poynter:
Breitbart News, which started as an insurgent outsider, faces ethical challenges as it weighs how to position itself during Trump presidency — Breitbart News hit a wall Tuesday in its campaign to storm the ramparts of the media establishment when one of the most influential press associations …
Discussion:
@indira_l, @benmullin, @poynter and USA Today
Jonathan Randles / Wall Street Journal:
Gawker advisers ask judge for permission to subpoena Peter Thiel on his motivations for financing Hogan suit, for a possible legal case — Gawker seeking information about Thiel's motivations for financing Hulk Hogan's suit against media company — Advisers who represent what remains …
Discussion:
@sparkyrandles, @mekosoff, @ashleyfeinberg, @rmac18 and Forbes
A.J. Katz / TVNewser:
At a press conference, Fox News anchor Kelly Wright discussed racial discrimination at the network and his encounters with Bill O'Reilly — It's another chaotic morning for Fox News. One day after veteran FNC anchor and reporter Kelly Wright announced that he was joining …
Discussion:
Jezebel, New York Daily News and @bear_force
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Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:
Number of plaintiffs claiming racial discrimination and harassment at Fox News rises to 13 as anchor Kelly Wright joins suit, alleging involvement of Bill Shine
Number of plaintiffs claiming racial discrimination and harassment at Fox News rises to 13 as anchor Kelly Wright joins suit, alleging involvement of Bill Shine
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS New York, Common Dreams, Mashable, Gothamist, USA Today, Variety, Refinery29, @waynedupreeshow, Mediaite, TVWeek.com, New York Times, Newser and @kylegriffin1
Politico:
Sources: Drudge Report hires Daniel Halper, who was most recently Washington bureau chief of The New York Post and previously of The Weekly Standard — Matt Drudge, the founder and editor of the influential site DrudgeReport.com, has hired Daniel Halper, two sources familiar with the move confirmed to POLITICO.