Top News:
Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
Glenn Beck announces layoffs for 20% of staff at TheBlaze and Mercury Radio Arts; source estimates number at about 50 — The host announced that 20 percent of his staff was dismissed on Thursday. — Despite an uptick of interest in political news and the ascendant trajectory …
Discussion:
TheBlaze, The Hill, @betsyscribeindc, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Washington Times, Brandon Morse, @rafat, IJR and @oliverdarcy
Jazmine Hughes / New York Times:
Profile of Elaine Welteroth, EIC of Teen Vogue, which is monetizing its progressiveness with a coming TV integration, a reader convention, a line of merchandise — The editor in chief has taken on a seemingly impossible task: reinventing the glossy magazine for a hyperempathetic generation.
Discussion:
Jezebel, @nicoleblades, @susandominus, @ellieshechet, @jakesilverstein, @hezelanna, @dstfelix and @taffyakner
The Daily Beast:
Sources: Lifezette has become an uncomfortable place for women to work, with CEO Peter Anthony often making sexually suggestive comments about female staffers — LifeZette, the politics and culture website founded by prominent ally of President Donald Trump and longtime talk radio host Laura Ingraham, is in trouble.
Discussion:
@justinjm1, @clarajeffery, The Daily Caller, @brianbeutler, The Wrap, @mattgertz, Mediaite, @nycjim, @joshtpm, @clare_oc, @noahshachtman, @lachlan, @noahshachtman, @evepeyser, @joshsternberg, @noahshachtman and @marlownyc
Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:
The appointment of neoconservative journalist Bari Weiss to The New York Times' op-ed team reinforces the paper's lack of viewpoint diversity — Controversy erupted on April 14 over the New York Times' hiring of neoconservative climate-skeptic and anti-Arab polemicist Bret Stephens …
Discussion:
@mariabustillos, @theintercept, @alexbkane, @jkirchick, @ggreenwald and Jezebel
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
How The Houston Chronicle's ~200 journalists are covering Harvey, reporting from home, jogging to work, wading through water, filing from a stranded car, more — Albert Gonzalez tugged a pallet piled with newspapers through a maze of donated clothes, pillows and blankets on Tuesday.
Discussion:
@mercpurdy, @cshalby, @benbartenstein, @poynter, @ben_brasch, @johnastoehr, @reporterlknake, @dsilverman, @lydiadepillis, @lizentman, @votreami, @andy_ed_brown, @kristenhare and @benmullin
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Spotify's head of original video and podcasting, Tom Calderone, is leaving as firm rethinks its video strategy, tying it more closely to music — Streaming company says videos will focus around music — Spotify Ltd. is parting ways with Tom Calderone, the head of original video and podcasts …
Discussion:
Variety, @pkafka, @digitalshields and @lucas_shaw, more at Techmeme »
Natt Garun / The Verge:
Instagram rolls out Stories to desktop and mobile web starting today, with ability to upload from mobile web coming in next few months — Mobile web upload is coming soon — Instagram is adding the ability for you to view Stories on desktop and mobile web so you can see the ephemeral posts on larger screens.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, SlashGear, Fast Company, BuzzFeed and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
Alison Weissbrot / AdExchanger:
HowStuffWorks is spinning off from parent company System1 as an independent podcast network with a $15M Series A investment from The Raine Group — Digital media publisher HowStuffWorks is spinning out from parent company System1 as an independent podcast network with a $15 million Series …
Discussion:
Recode
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
UK's Oldham Evening Chronicle folds after 163 years as the majority of its 49 staffers were made redundant — The Oldham Evening Chronicle has gone into administration with the majority of its 49 staff made redundant and the daily paper, first established in 1854, ceasing publication.
Discussion:
@martinsfp, @pressgazette, @rosalynrodenoc and @jamesshield1
DFRLab:
After documenting botnet attack on ProPublica, DFR Lab faced its own attack from bots and impersonators, including one tweet saying DFR staffer had died — Twitter bots unleashed in a social media disruption tactic — Overnight from August 28 to August 29, a major Twitter botnet opened …
Discussion:
Forbes, Krebs on Security, @grahambrookie, @sieverts, @maksczuperski and @jonathanstray, more at Techmeme »
Michael Blanding / Nieman Reports:
How some news outlets are covering climate change well, amid a dearth of coverage from networks, uneven newspaper coverage, and issues with false balance — A look at news outlets bringing innovation, urgency and new audiences to stories on climate change — The assignment was simple …
Discussion:
@niemanfdn, @benswasey, @benswasey and @niemanreports
Al Jazeera English:
Al Jazeera English disables comments on its website, finds social media to be the preferred platform for online debate — Today, we disabled the ability to comment on stories on aljazeera.com. It's a decision that we've given much thought to, and one that we feel ultimately best serves our audience.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera English and Press Gazette