Top News:
Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Fox News has dropped the marketing slogan “Fair & Balanced”, invented by Roger Ailes in 1996, to be replaced by “Most Watched. Most Trusted.” — As Fox News moves further into the post-Roger Ailes era, the network is shedding one of its most iconic elements.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, Mashable, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Talking New Media, Politicus USA, Newser, Business Insider, Fortune, @jbflint, The Week and TVNewser
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Vocativ lays off editorial staff and says in a statement it will focus exclusively on video distributed via social media and other platforms — “RIP fake deep web data reporting.” — That was one reaction Wednesday morning after Vocativ announced it was cutting its entire newsroom focused …
Discussion:
@adrjeffries, Vocativ, Talking New Media, @ryanbeckler, @zenalbatross, @lemirejoe, @parkermolloy, Fast Company, @clarajeffery, @s_m_i, @poynter, @rafat, @rafat, @jbenton, @erik_hayden, @johnjcook, @benmullin, @emilybell, Adweek, @jayrosen_nyu, @jonlemire, Folio, @meena_thiru, @mathewi and @caleweissman
Michael Calderone / HuffPost:
HuffPost layoffs affect 39 people including reporter David Wood, who won the site its first and only Pulitzer Prize — HuffPost laid off over three-dozen employees Wednesday, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, as part of broader corporate cutbacks.
Discussion:
@bendwalsh, The Wrap, CNBC, Casual Information, Poynter, @bluechoochoo, Adweek, @mlcalderone, @xokasia, @mlcalderone, @ethanklapper, @jessicaschulb, @caitlin__kelly, @screenslaver, @sfiegerman, Fast Company, @edgeofsports, @timothynoah1, @tomzellerjr, @dceiver, @samsteinhp, @mlcalderone, USA Today, @gsparks94, @christinawilkie, @tomkludt, CNNMoney, Deadline, @juliacraven, @alexkotch, Softpedia News and BuzzFeed
Allan Smith / Business Insider:
US Office of Government Ethics calls retroactive, unsigned ethics waiver that applies to Steve Bannon “problematic”, in reply to Democratic senators — The Office of Government Ethics said in a letter to Democratic senators this week that the Trump administration's blanket ethics …
Discussion:
United States Office …, @maggiejordanacn, @normeisen, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, @bystevereilly and The Week
Kristine Lu / Pew Research Center:
Pew: 80%+ of US adults get news on their phones, up from half that four years ago, with 25% of growth over past year coming from 65-year-old adults — Mobile devices have rapidly become one of the most common ways for Americans to get news, and the sharpest growth in the past year …
Discussion:
INMA
Kelsey Sutton / Mic:
The Intercept is conducting an internal review after the publication of an NSA doc may have led to the government contractor who leaked it being identified — The investigative news site the Intercept has launched an internal investigation into the publication of a classified NSA document, the site's co-founders said Tuesday.
Discussion:
@micahflee, @auerbachkeller, @ggreenwald, @markamesexiled, @jackmurphyrgr and @jeremyscahill
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Report: full-time Dow Jones female employees earn on average less than 85% of their male counterparts — The union that represents many journalists at The Wall Street Journal has published an analysis that shows a persistent wage gap between men and women employed by Dow Jones & Company.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair
Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
IJR asks all staffers to sign noncompete clause barring work at any news organization for six months after leaving — Executives at the Independent Journal Review, the conservative millennial-focused news website, have asked employees to sign a new noncompete agreement as the upstart website continues …
Discussion:
@cernovich, @mckaycoppins, @rolandsmartin, @pbump, @mlcalderone and @oliverdarcy
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Filings reveal Spotify's revenue grew more than 50% YoY to $3.3B last year, and that it has guaranteed to pay big music labels $2B+ over the next two years — The streaming service posted revenue of $3.3 billion last year; it has promised big checks in exchange for better rates.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Social video app Musical.ly launches a series of short original shows, after signing deals with Hearst, NBCUniversal, and Viacom — Musical.ly, the lip-syncing social video app popular among teen girls, is stirring professionally produced content into its mix of user-generated content.
Ian Morris / Forbes:
Report: Netflix has 50.85M subscribers, surpassing major US cable networks' 48.61M for the first time, cable subs down 4M in the five years Netflix's doubled — Netflix has, for the first time, surpassed cable in total subscribers according to Leichtman Research.
Discussion:
Engadget, 9to5Mac and Statista Infographics
Shan Wang / Nieman Lab:
English-language Indian business news site The Ken publishes one longform story each weekday and has 1,000+ paying subscribers — The digital business reporting outlet — think The Information for India — isn't yet a year old and has paying subscribers in “the low to mid-1,000s.”
Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
As JPMorgan becomes one of the latest brands to pull ads from news shows or events, questions arise about whether sponsors are becoming too involved in content — A production of Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar” in Central Park featuring a look-alike of President Trump as Caesar.
Discussion:
@jason_kint, Mediaite, @profcarroll, @davidsable, @nytimesbusiness and Boing Boing
RELATED:
Carlos Greer / Page Six:
Source: NBC needs controversies like the Alex Jones scandal to shake up Sunday night ratings; they hired Megyn Kelly to create such buzz
Source: NBC needs controversies like the Alex Jones scandal to shake up Sunday night ratings; they hired Megyn Kelly to create such buzz
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, New York Magazine, @jjohnsonlaw, The Wrap, @ericboehlert, @owillis, @marksimoneny, The Week, The Drum and CNNMoney