Mediagazer: Snapchat says it generated $100M in revenue for Discover's publishing partners in 2017, up from $58M in 2016 and $10M in 2015 (Sara Fischer/Axios)

8:10 AM ET, February 8, 2018

Top News:

Claire Atkinson / NBC News:

Newsweek Media Group's head of sales resigns, and a source says the company has lost “hundreds of thousands” in ad commitments since reports it bought traffic — The Newsweek Media Group is reeling. — Ed Hannigan, the company's head of sales, resigned on Tuesday.

Discussion: @jaysunsilver, Mic, @rachelcbrody, @melinadelkic, @journo_christal, @linleyann, @jasonabbruzzese, @sulliview and @claireatki

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

Analysis of LA Times deal: factors that led to sale now, speculation on Soon-Shiong 's future strategy, a look at price, and a theory on a future Gannett role — Tronc is getting a big premium for its flagship asset, and the Times is getting a return to private, local ownership.

Discussion: TechCrunch, GlobeNewswire News Room, The New York Observer, BloombergQuint, GlobeNewswire News Room, Bloomberg, NPR, @sduncovered, @jayrosen_nyu, @laobserved, @scribeguy, @latlands, @markjacob16, @mattdpearce, LA Observed and The Wrap

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Tronc forms new company, Tribune Interactive, with Ross Levinsohn as its CEO and ex-LA Times EIC Lewis D'Vorkin as its chief content officer — Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Times from its parent company Tronc, restoring local ownership …

Supantha Mukherjee / Reuters:
Tronc has confirmed it is selling the Los Angeles Times and a number of other newspapers to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong for $500M in cash

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, Washington Post, CNBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, @gerryfsmith, New York Times, Business Insider and Deadline

Selina Wang / Bloomberg:

Twitter posts a profit for the first time of $91.1M and a surprise gain in revenue of $731.6M, up 2% YoY for Q4 2017, but user growth stagnates; stock up 20% — Revenue rises to $732 million, topping analysts' estimates — Efforts to fight spam, bots limited gains in user numbers

Discussion: TechCrunch, Forbes, Recode, Reuters, @twitterir and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Executives at The Newseum plan to meet with a real estate firm Thursday to explore options including selling its building in Washington, DC, or moving locations — Two months shy of its 10th anniversary in a glass-and-steel showpiece on Washington's most prestigious thoroughfare …

Reuters:

Viacom quarterly revenue drops 7.6% YoY to $3.07B due to a drop in cable TV fees, though net profit increased from $386M to $535M, or $1.33 per share — (Reuters) - Viacom Inc (VIAB.O), the owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, reported a 7.6 percent fall in quarterly revenue on Thursday …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Local News Lab:

Democracy Fund announces two new funds in NJ and NC totaling $2M to support local news ecosystems and seek long-term solutions for public-interest news — Democracy Fund establishes two new local funds — Local news is critical to a healthy democracy, and we believe that the future of local news is local.

Discussion: @democracyfund, @melaniesill, @jcstearns and @jcstearns

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Snapchat says it generated $100M in revenue for Discover's publishing partners in 2017, up from $58M in 2016 and $10M in 2015 — Snapchat says it generated $100 million in revenue for content partners on Discover in 2017, up from $58 million in 2016 and $10 million in 2015.

Discussion: Recode, Wall Street Journal and @matildegiglio

Wall Street Journal:
Snapchat is launching to tool to let TV networks pipe snippets of live broadcasts directly into the app, starting this Saturday with NBC's Olympics coverage

Discussion: Digiday, Ad Age, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, Recode, The Keyword, Crain's New York Business, Variety, ZDNet, Business Insider, The Next Web, Bloomberg, @ctrlzee, @mathewi, @georgia_wells, AppAdvice.com and @kerrymflynn

Hollywood Reporter:

Disney is developing a number of Star Wars series for its streaming service, CEO Bob Iger said during an earnings call on Tuesday — Disney CEO Bob Iger tells investors that the company is close to revealing at least one of the producing teams behind one of the projects.

Discussion: Slate, The Playlist, Tubefilter, StarWars.com, Vanity Fair, @americanstnick, Recode, CNBC, Variety, /Film, Deadline, Fast Company, TechCrunch and Press Association

Max Willens / Digiday:

Condé Nast to begin experimenting with Amazon Echo Look to provide content and recommendations from Vogue and GQ on Look's mobile app starting February 19 — Condé Nast glossies Vogue and GQ are focusing more on content recommendations that lead to e-commerce, and they've found another place to syndicate them.

Discussion: TechCrunch and Engadget

Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with Trevor Kaufman, CEO of paywall tech firm Piano, on the rise of paywalls and subscription models, lack of longform strategy, and social distribution — “The promise of Facebook growth is that, if get your strategy just right, you can get big scale and make money off …

Wall Street Journal:

Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian steps down from daily duties at the company to focus on early stage VC firm he cofounded and personal life, will remain on board — Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian announced on Wednesday he will step down from daily duties at the internet company and focus …

more at Techmeme »

Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed:

A look at 29 Facebook pages and sites of fake news publishers, which are using Instant Articles to help completely false stories load faster and earn revenue — While some mainstream publishers are abandoning Facebook's Instant Articles, fake news sites based overseas are taking advantage of the format …

Discussion: @profcarroll, @firstdraftnews, @janelytv, @niemanlab, @craigsilverman and @craigsilverman

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 8:10 AM ET, February 8, 2018.

View the current page or another snapshot:

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

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Associated Press:
Four prominent Venezuelan journalists leave country after being sued over an article alleging irregularities in food sales to President Maduro's administration

Christine Wang / CNBC:
21st Century Fox beats Q2 targets with $8B in revenue, up 5% YoY, as higher affiliate, syndication, and ad revenue boost cable revenue, up 11% YoY

Discussion: Variety, Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable, @edmundlee, /Film, Hollywood Reporter and 21st Century Fox

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Reddit bans r/deepfakes, which was devoted to making AI-powered porn using celebrities' faces, and updates site-wide rules regarding “involuntary pornography”

Discussion: The Next Web, CNNMoney, TechCrunch, Daily Mail, Vox, Mashable, New York Magazine, Engadget, Motherboard, reddit, Engadget and Motherboard, more at Techmeme »

Jack Nicas / Wall Street Journal:
YouTube's recommendations engine, which drives 70%+ of viewing time, often suggests divisive, misleading, or false content, even to users who don't seek it out

Discussion: New York Magazine, @tripgabriel, @jacknicas, @trevornoren, @max_read and @bradnews, more at Techmeme »

Anna Washenko / RAIN News:
RadioPublic launches Paid Listens, guarantees participating podcasters $20 CPM for every listen via its iOS and Android apps

Discussion: @evoterra, RadioPublic, @mattervc and Fast Company

Earlier Picks:

Kelly Virella / New York Times:
Q&A with NYT's Monica Drake, the first African-American woman appointed to the print masthead, on her 20 years at the Times, breaking barriers, and new projects

Discussion: @hannaingber, @ashleynmcb, @kvirella, @readercenter and @readercenter

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Viacom confirms it has acquired online video conference VidCon and will run it as a standalone subsidiary

Discussion: Forbes, Tubefilter, TechCrunch and @hankgreen

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
The Information's Jessica Lessin and Stratechery's Ben Thompson argue differentiated content and online subscriptions form a viable model for local news outlets

Discussion: @brizzyc, @fmanjoo, @rbilton, @noahchestnut, @jbenton, @detour_detroit, @jessicalessin, @jarroddicker and @mathewi

Alexandria Neason / Columbia Journalism Review:
Profile of Tom Tryniski, who has scanned ~50M newspaper pages dating back to the 1800s from US and Canadian pubs, into his online repository Fultonhistory.com

Discussion: @michaelsocolow, @alanamhmd, @usprojectcjr, @4manreports, @megansmolenyak, @bypetevernon, @alexandrianeas, @mathewi, Blaine T. Bettinger, @c_chisholm and @jaanpill

Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
Russian trolls posed as black activists on Tumblr and generated hundreds of thousands of interactions with anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-Bernie Sanders content

Discussion: The Hill, @donie, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Stranger …, @craigsilverman and @securedemocracy

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

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

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

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page