Top News:
BuzzFeed News Staff Council:
In a letter to BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti and others, the BuzzFeed News Staff Council demands that BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to laid-off employees — To Jonah Peretti, Lenke Taylor, and Ben Smith: — We are the BuzzFeed News Staff Council, a group of employees appointed to open …
Discussion:
@jeremymbarr, TechCrunch, @mollyhc, @janelytv, @rosadona, @mat, @dceiver, @kateaurthur, @annehelen, @edzitron, @cwarzel, @annehelen, @cwarzel, @cwarzel, @katienotopoulos, @kateaurthur, @jane__bradley, @juliareinstein, @lindseyadler, @chrisgeidner, @ellievhall, @rachel, @buriedbybooks, @theferocity, @rachelysanders, @dominicholden, @hshaban, @katenocera, @mbvd, @weeddude, @laura_nelson, @nick_parco and @meganpaolone
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Hamza Shaban / @hshaban:
BuzzFeed says it's “open to re-evaluating” decision to not pay out earned paid time off to laid-off staff, is setting up a Monday meeting with CEO and employees — - BuzzFeed's head of HR Lenke Taylor responds to employee demands that the company pay laid-off staff their earned vacation days & comp days for working weekends/breaking news/disasters - Says: “We are open to re-evaluating this decision...” - Monday will set up talks with CEO pic.twitter.com/BcEhIeuPIC
Discussion:
@hshaban, @mjs_dc and @bigmeaninternet
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
BuzzFeed News laid off 43 on Friday, closing its Spain bureau, eliminating the national desk and national security desk, and slashing the health and LGBT desks
BuzzFeed News laid off 43 on Friday, closing its Spain bureau, eliminating the national desk and national security desk, and slashing the health and LGBT desks
Discussion:
The Cut, @csmcdaniel, HuffPost, @tomgara, @oliverdarcy, @arianelange, @catesish, @lisatozzi, @blakersdozen, @mike_giglio, NPR, Newser, @jeremymbarr, @sbstryker, @kenbensinger, @hshaban, @madeleine_rae, @lin_manuel, @andrewmartonik, @whatthebit, @arielle07, @davidmackau, @willoremus, @theferocity, @chrisgeidner, @mmasnick, @buzzfeedben, @kimzetter, @verambergen, @wexler, @talalnansari, @joshsternberg, @passantino, @elamin88, @annabroges, @oliverdarcy, @rositaboland, @natemcdermott, @kfile, @sarahjeong, @cairaconner, @emmacarew, @davechensky, @jgownder, @jameshercher, @fordm, @oliverdarcy, New York Times and Business Insider
Jim Morrill / Nieman Reports:
As some criticize horse-race political coverage, a look back at The Charlotte Observer's election work using a “citizens agenda”, from a reporter who was there — In 1992, the Charlotte Observer pioneered “public journalism” in its election coverage. Is that what voters need in 2020?
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, @lauraelizdavis, @sallykohn, @richbtig, @underoak, @niemanfdn, @jayrosen_nyu, @niemanlab, @jonfavs, @peterhamby and @niemanreports
Scott Shane / New York Times:
Distributed Denial of Secrets, a WikiLeaks-like online repository launched last month by transparency advocates, publishes 175 GB of leaked Russian documents — A group of transparency advocates on Friday posted a mammoth collection of hacked and leaked documents from inside Russia …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @nytimesworld, @kpoulsen, @malwarejake, @nytimes, @justinhendrix, @ridt and @drdenagrayson, more at Techmeme »
Los Angeles Times:
Netflix shares few figures with studios, a negotiation tactic for licensed content, but does divulge them to its stars, who get bonuses for successful shows — When it comes to ratings, Netflix treats the public and many of its business partners like the characters in “Bird Box” …
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Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
How the success of Netflix's Bird Box film, which was watched by 58% of its user base in its first month, drives Netflix's virtuous cycle as an aggregator — Bird Box, the Netflix original film, started streaming on December 21 while I was on vacation.1 That perhaps explains why the majority …
Discussion:
@latimes and @juliaturner
Lizzy Raben / The Idea:
Q&A with Sam Felix, Director of Audience + Platforms at NYT, about her role at the paper, how NYT uses different platforms to promote its content, and more — This week, The Idea caught up with Sam Felix to discuss how The Times thinks about reaching new audiences …
Discussion:
@ideanewsletter and @adriana_lacy, Thanks:@steverubel
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Major TV networks like NBC and Viacom embrace addressable TV ads, which allow advertisers to create targeted ads by demographic based on viewer data — The hottest new trend in TV tech is “addressable” ads, or TV ads that can be targeted to specific households via user data.
Discussion:
@pomeranian99
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Analytics company Parse.ly's new feature “demand sorting” identifies most in-demand topics for readers, allowing journalists to discover underreported subjects — Okay, I'll admit it: Sometimes, I write stories because I think they're going to be popular. And sometimes, those stories fall flat anyway.
Discussion:
@johnmlevitt, @arhine and MediaPost
Kate Bennett / CNN:
The Telegraph apologizes to Melania Trump for false statements in “The Mystery of Melania”, an article published last week, agrees to pay “substantial damages” — (CNN)A British magazine has issued an apology to first lady Melania Trump for an article it published …
Discussion:
Telegraph, @donmoyn, Slate, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, The Wrap and The Gateway Pundit
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Research at the University of Texas finds that when more than 75% of comments on news sites are uncivil, it negatively affects readers' perceptions of the site — You never get a second chance to make a first impression. — Grandma adage aside, the comments matter, folks.
Discussion:
@niemanreports
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
After appealing for paid subscriptions via a printed letter and social media, Arkansas Life magazine survives by gaining 1K subscribers, reducing print issues — How many fans does it take to keep a regional print magazine afloat? — In December, subscribers to Arkansas Life received a printed letter along with their January issue.