Mediagazer: Q&A with Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel about the rise and fall of about.com and its transformation into a modern network of sites answering people's questions (Recode)

6:30 AM ET, January 7, 2019

Top News:

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

Longtime producer Susan Zirinsky is replacing CBS News president David Rhodes in March; Rhodes will oversee Zirinsky's transition and later have advisory role — Longtime producer Susan Zirinsky is replacing CBS News President David Rhodes in March, becoming the first woman to lead the storied division in the network's history.

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Samsung's 2018 and 2019 TV models will be able to access iTunes content directly via a dedicated app and support Apple's AirPlay 2 wireless streaming standard — Coming to all 2018 and 2019 TVs along with AirPlay 2 — Samsung's 2018 and 2019 range of televisions will be able to access …

Discussion: Samsung US Newsroom, Variety, TechCrunch, The Week, @backlon, @laurengoode, @geoffreyfowler, @jonfortt, @briantong, @geoffreyfowler, @jank0 and @reckless, more at Techmeme »

The Authors Guild:

Survey of 5,067 US-based published book authors finds median author income in 2017 was $6,080, down 42% from 2009; median pay for full-time authors was $20,300 — The Authors Guild's 2018 Author Income Survey, the largest survey of writing-related earnings by American authors ever conducted …

Discussion: New York Times, @raju, @mathewi, @rungomez, @guygavrielkay, @tjmcbridenba, @pamelapaulnyt, @bug_gwen, @kayaoakes, @joshundasanders, The Authors Guild and The Authors Guild

Max Willens / Digiday:

With new ownership, Fortune seeks to diversify revenue by moving into new markets in Asia, introducing a paywall, and adding new events in 2019 — In 2019, as Fortune looks to diversify its revenue, it will cast its lines for many different kinds of fish. — Armed with new funds promised …

InsideClimate News:

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards a $1M grant to InsideClimate News and $1M to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — The grant provides ICN critical support for its investigative journalism, national reporting network and student journalism program.

Discussion: @rcfp, @jackcushmanjr, @janemayernyer, @earthjustice, @juliemmoos, @djlavoie, @insideclimate, @blkahn and @insideclimate

Ashley Rodriguez / Quartz:

Netflix has released about 345 original series, movies, and other productions in 2018, which comes to an estimated 90K minutes or 1,500 hours of content — Netflix released a ridiculous amount of original programming in 2018. How ridiculous? By Quartz's measure, the streaming-video giant put …

Discussion: @davechensky

Ayurella Horn-Muller / Forbes:

Profile of Morning Brew, a daily email newsletter for business news started by two students, which grew to 800,000 subscribers in two years — Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. — “> In an era of evolving news production, everything from tone to delivery is in a constant state of influx.

Discussion: @ayurellahm, @fitztepper and @rafat

Lavanya Ramanathan / Washington Post:

What may be lost as women's magazines kill print editions: fact checkers, iconic editors, and outlets for some of the best female journalists — In late November, Glamour came to the same conclusion reached by so many other women's magazines these days: After 80 years in mailboxes …

Discussion: @siobhannyc, @editorialiste, @emgollie, @nataliedaher7, @toreyvanoot and @kimberlyburnspr

Alyssa Bereznak / The Ringer:

How Bird Box's success was driven by online memes, which Netflix viewers seemed more attached to than the movie itself — Before the Sandra Bullock movie was a “hit,” it was a joke (or a bot-related conspiracy theory) on your Twitter feed. Here's how ‘Bird Box’ became so popular—and why it might be the future of movie marketing.

Discussion: The Guardian, @patrickklepek, @g_price, @taylorlorenz, WIRED UK and @alyssabereznak

Recode:

Q&A with Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel about the rise and fall of about.com and its transformation into a modern network of sites answering people's questions — Vogel explains how he turned the '90s internet juggernaut About.com into a modern web publisher. — On the latest episode …

more at Techmeme »

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

YouTubers popular with kids are promoting a shady gambling site selling “mystery boxes” filled with supposed prizes — Paul and Bryan “Ricegum” Le are among the popular children's entertainers promoting “mystery boxes” filled with supposed prizes the site says underage users are ineligible to win.

Discussion: BBC, @honorthecall, The Verge, Telegraph and Vox

Cristi Hegranes / Nieman Lab:

Global Press CEO: news outlets need to provide better physical, emotional, digital, and legal security for local journalists who live in communities they cover — In 2019, news outlets will invest in journalist security in new and powerful ways. Readers will be at the forefront …

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Bill Kristol and Charlie Sykes are beefing up The Bulwark, a nonprofit conservative political site, with several former Weekly Standard writers — New York (CNN)A handful of writers and editors who worked at The Weekly Standard, the now-defunct conservative magazine that was deeply critical …

Discussion: @elongreen and @oliverdarcy