Mediagazer: The Awl, born in 2009 from the idea that intelligent readers wanted resonant, weird, and amusing news and ideas, has now passed away; archives survive (Alex Balk/The Awl)

5:20 AM ET, February 1, 2018

Top News:

Facebook's daily active user base in the US and Canada fell for the first time ever in Q4, dropping from 185M to 184M in the previous quarter — It was a small but negative change to daily active users in Facebook's most valuable market. — Here's a troubling data point if you're a Facebook investor …

Discussion: CNBC, Bloomberg, MediaNama, Fortune, @dhh, @jmichaelwaller, GeekWire, The Next Web and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »

Richard Nieva / CNET:

Mark Zuckerberg says showing fewer viral videos reduced the total time people spent on Facebook by ~50M hours every day, as MAUs reach 2.13B, up 14% YoY — The world's biggest social network is almost minting money, but Mark Zuckerberg has warned news feed changes could hurt business.

Discussion: Facebook, CNBC, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Ad Age, Recode, New York Times, New York Magazine, VentureBeat, AdExchanger, Forbes, TechCrunch, CNBC, Variety and @anthony, more at Techmeme »

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Memo: The Hill bars staffers from buying Twitter followers after NYT report on Devumi selling fake followers — The Hill announced to its staffers Wednesday morning that employees are now prohibited from purchasing Twitter followers. The new rule, conveyed via an internal memo obtained by The Daily Beast …

Discussion: iMediaEthics, @maxwelltani, @charles_gaba, @klasfeldreports, Adweek and Gizmodo

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Examining the ethics of journalists buying Twitter followers, after the suspension of Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Richard Roeper

Discussion: @charliemagne, The Ringer and One Man & His Blog

New York Times:
Twitter accounts for celebrities and media figures lose followers after NYT probe into firm that sold followers and as officials call for scrutiny of practice

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @wexler, @grantstern, @alicialutes, @peterwsinger, @shoq, @nickconfessore, @briankrebs, @rasmus_kleis, @mathewi, @anthony, @nickconfessore and New York Magazine

Darren Rovell / ESPN:

21st Century Fox wins 5-year contract for NFL's Thursday Night Football in deal sources say is worth $660M+/year; streaming rights to be sold in next few weeks — Thursday Night Football is changing networks once again. — The NFL announced Wednesday morning that the package will go to Fox for the next five seasons.

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:

Twitter now says 1.4M+ US users interacted with tweets from Russia-linked accounts during 2016 election, up from 670K previously announced, has notified them — Twitter on Wednesday said it notified 1.4 million people in the US that they engaged with Kremlin-linked troll accounts during the 2016 US election.

Discussion: @cfarivar, @kantrowitz, @markseibel, The Hill, Recode, TechCrunch, Engadget and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Dirk VanderHart / Portland Mercury:

Memo: The Oregonian, owned by Advance Publications, lays off 11 newsroom staffers — After repeated rounds of layoffs, it's hard to imagine the Oregonian having anywhere else to cut. But the news business's grim prognosis marches on, so the cuts continue.

Discussion: Willamette Week, @ryanchittum, @byrosenberg, @lucashammill, @cohencomms, @dabeard, @alecmacgillis, @ryanchittum, @editorswindler, @lucashammill, @editorswindler, @leah_sottile, @ryanchittum, @halejamesb and Blazer's Edge

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

National Book Awards will recognize translated books, giving awards jointly to living authors and translators for works published in the US — The National Book Awards, among the most prestigious literary prizes, are going global. — Starting this year, the National Book Foundation …

Discussion: @likaluca, Melville House Books, @likaluca and NPR

Alex Balk / The Awl:

The Awl, born in 2009 from the idea that intelligent readers wanted resonant, weird, and amusing news and ideas, has now passed away; archives survive — The Awl was born of the following thoughts: What if there were a website with a wealth of resonant, weird, important, frightening and amusing bits of news and ideas?

Discussion: Eamonn Fitzgerald, @dvnjr, @kottke, @tomscocca, Boing Boing, @snackwave_julie, @andrewlavallee, @mishaangrist, @johndelsignore, @casey_cac, @tcarmody and @jyarvin

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Meredith CEO Tom Harty says editorial staff face no changes yet at Time Inc. as Meredith takes over; Time Inc. CEO Rich Battista, other top executives to leave — Meredith is moving in. — The $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc. becomes final on Jan. 31, and Meredith officially takes over Feb. 1.

Discussion: @davidzmorris, @abbywestnyc, Page Six, TVWeek.com and Vanity Fair

Jim Bankoff / Vox Media:

Memo: Vox CEO Jim Bankoff says company hit its financial targets for 2017, says hiring growth will slow in 2018, and hints at some projects being “scaled back” — Vox Media Chairman & CEO Jim Bankoff on an era where quality, scale and sustainability matter more than ever.

Discussion: Business Insider, @mikeisaac, @jayrosen_nyu, @jonsteinberg, @plante, @jason_kint, @petersontee, @hollygressley, @voxmediainc, @jeremymbarr, @petersontee, @lmoses, @gavinpurcell, @mattyglesias, @sarafischer and @charlie_l_hall

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Pandora announces restructuring, shifting resources to ad tech and audience development, cutting workforce by 5% to save $45M annually, will expand in Atlanta — Pandora Media is pink-slipping about 5% of its workforce, a move the streaming-music company said will help it save $45 million annually.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, MediaPost, Pandora, RAIN News, TechCrunch, Radio Ink, @conorsen, Business Insider, AdExchanger, MarketWatch, @urvaksh and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Vanity Fair:

Alt-right personality Mike Cernovich has made a $500K bid for Gawker's assets — A leaked pitch deck shows how Cernovich would turn Gawker into a platform for his media ambitions—and, perhaps, a cudgel to get back at a site that once called him a “D-list right-winger.”

Discussion: Freedom of the Press …, TechCrunch, @freedomofpress, @internetarchive, @jacremes, @boston_dsa, @nonwhitehat, Wired, Wonkette, Fast Company, Mediaite, @cernovich, @katiedrumm, The Wrap, @jordansarge, @willsommer, @crislopezg and @tina_nguyen

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

BBC Director-General Tony Hall says the corporation made a “mistake” in failing to review Carrie Gracie's salary as China editor — Tony Hall appears in London's House of Commons in a public evidence session along with other top executives of the public broadcaster and former China editor Carrie Gracie.

BBC:
Speaking to MPs, Carrie Gracie said the BBC offered her £100K in back pay and said she hadn't earned as much as male colleagues because she was “in development”

Discussion: Jon Slattery, Press Association, Chorley Citizen, The Guardian, @bbckarishma, @girlinbeijing, @markdistef, @jamesworldnews, The Guardian, @janemartinson, Chorley Citizen, Daily Mail and @christineelmer

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 5:20 AM ET, February 1, 2018.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

International Economics Reporter, DC — Bloomberg

Director of Audience Development, NY — WIRED

Deputy Editor - Playbook, VA — Politico

Senior Health Reporter/Editor, CA — El Tímpano

Midlands Correspondent, London — The Guardian

China Autos Correspondent, Beijing — Reuters

Outdoors Editor, ME — Bangor Daily News

Moving Writer, Remote US — Yahoo

Reporter, MI — Detroit News

Managing Editor, Remote US — Velo

Public Policy Editor, London — FT

Stock Picks Writer, NY — Barron's

Business Reporter/Editor, Toronto — Canadian Press

Assistant Producer, NY — Marketplace

Executive Editor, CA — Capital & Main

Sr. Reporter, Singapore — Pensions & Investments

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Commercial Real Estate Reporter, NY — Newsday

Senior Science & Health Writer, NY — Salon

Data Journalist, MN — NABJ

DeFi Correspondent, Remote — DL News

Breaking News Ed. - Markets, NY — Sherwood Media

Healthcare Business Reporter, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Consumer Tech Reporter, NY — Gizmodo

Longform Non-Fiction Writer — Switchboard

Editorial Director - Audio & Video, NY — The Verge

Local Editor - Morris County, Remote NJ — Patch

AI Columnist - Weekend, CA/NY — The Information

Washington Correspondent, DC — Texas Tribune

Deputy Managing Editor, IA — The Gazette

Senior Editor - News, NC — The Sporting News

Breaking News Editor - Weekend, HK — CNN

Reporter - National, Remote NY — ProPublica

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More News:

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Podcast network Gimlet Media launches Gimlet Pictures, a new film and TV division headed by Chris Giliberti

Bob Egelko / San Francisco Chronicle:
Federal appeals court rules Twitter not legally responsible for two American deaths in ISIS-linked attack, says ISIS' Twitter use not directly linked to attack

Discussion: MediaPost, LAW.com, Reuters, courthousenews.com, Law360, San Francisco, CA Patch, Associated Press and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
How advertising, which funds just about everything online, is also the villain driving terrible stuff on the Internet, and fixes so far are just piecemeal

Discussion: Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Variety:
YouTube TV buys rights to games for Los Angeles Football Club, a new MLS team, with about 18 games to be exclusive on a channel for LA-based subscribers only

Discussion: Engadget and @reshmanuel

James Warren / Poynter:
Memo: Jeffrey Good, an executive editor at New England-based Pioneer Valley Newspaper group, said he was fired for advocating equal pay for female employees

Discussion: Jezebel, @ajfriedenberger, @drewharwell, @jackhevans, @claire_bushey, @williams_paige, @taylormtelford, @davis7d, @jessicayellin, @lisagartner, @monaeltahawy, @dabeard, @karenmcgrane, @mattwaite and @poynter

Silvia Killingsworth / The Awl:
An administrative error at Gizmodo Media Group led to newsroom staffers learning that Felix Salmon was earning $400K+ before he left Fusion

John Koblin / New York Times:
Netflix resumed production of the sixth season of House of Cards on Tuesday, after a three-month hiatus following Kevin Spacey allegations and firing from show

Discussion: /Film, Hollywood Reporter, Mashable, Washington Post, Consequence of Sound, The New York Observer, Vanity Fair, @joeconchatv, @angryblacklady, @mikiebarb and @koblin

Earlier Picks:

Henry C. Jackson / Politico:
On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton criticized the NYT over its handling of Glenn Thrush's case, while responding to a story about an aide accused of sexual misconduct

Discussion: @cgasparino

Om Malik:
Decline in ratings for the Grammy Awards, down 24% from 2017, shows how media consumption has moved away from long TV shows, especially for shows about music

Discussion: @steverubel, @marccanter4real and CNNMoney

Columbia Journalism Review:
When CJR asked readers to tell their stories of harassment in the newsroom, 300+ responded - and the magazine has published each one

Discussion: @juliaccarpenter, @hansenkarenm, @heidigroover, @c_chisholm, @sydbrownstone, @aimeelevitt, @c_chisholm, @mdlaplante, @cjr, @sesmith, @lauren_kelley, @nausjcaa, @rasmus_kleis, @jon_allsop, @alexandrianeas, @cjr, @kylepope and @jmsummers

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Q&A with Dipayan Ghosh, former Facebook adviser, on how political disinformation is succeeding because of the digital advertising market

Discussion: Recode, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Slate, Fast Company, @loullysaney and @caseynewton

Agence France-Presse:
Foreign correspondents in China are increasingly facing interference from officials, with 1 in 12 of those surveyed claiming they were manhandled or punched

Discussion: @wang_maya

Patrick Frater / Variety:
HBO will launch in Japan on Amazon Prime Video on April 1, with the first six seasons of Game of Thrones and ~50 other past and current shows available

Discussion: FierceCable

From Techmeme:

Jeff Horwitz / Wall Street Journal:
Test conversations with some Meta AI digital companions, including celebrity-voiced ones, show them engaging in sexual chats even when users identify as minors

Furquan Ameen / Rest of World:
Experts say that India is behind China in deep tech innovation due to its historical focus on services, lower R&D investment, and a brain drain of AI talent

Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog:
Watching OpenAI's o3 guess a photo's location, a process that included running Python code to examine license plates, is surreal, dystopian, and entertaining

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