Top News:
Madison Malone Kircher / New York Magazine:
Q&A with a Michigan college student who has made 692 quizzes for BuzzFeed as a hobby, becoming the 2nd-highest traffic driver for the site's quizzes worldwide — Rachel McMahon is a teen from Michigan you almost certainly haven't heard of before this week.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, @choire, @willoremus, @reckless, @mattdpearce, @mathewi, @auntbeckyrose, @laurawags, @sarahlkaufman, @nymag, @4evrmalone, @austin_walker, @jakeswearingen, @lrhogan, @4evrmalone and CNN
RELATED:
Will Oremus / Slate:
The global layoffs at BuzzFeed, once a successful beacon in a shrinking industry, mark an end of innocence for the outlet and for staffers with big social reach — BuzzFeed's layoffs were painful for its staffers—and fatal to its self-mythology. — There's a phenomenon familiar …
James Walker / Press Gazette:
BuzzFeed proposes cutting 17 of BuzzFeed UK's 37 editorial staff, with most losses to the Buzz section covering pop culture
BuzzFeed proposes cutting 17 of BuzzFeed UK's 37 editorial staff, with most losses to the Buzz section covering pop culture
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, @markdistef, @mattdpearce, @dylanmatt, @rachelysanders, @maggyvaneijk, @kimberleydadds, @mjs_dc, @patblanchfield, @sunapology, @jane__bradley, @charles_kinbote, @williamsjon, @tolly_t, @maggyvaneijk, @rossalynwarren, @jamesrbuk, @maxseddon, @danieldrepper, @simonchilds13 and Variety
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
BuzzFeed laid off its Director of Quizzes because lots of people are willing to make quizzes for free
BuzzFeed laid off its Director of Quizzes because lots of people are willing to make quizzes for free
Discussion:
Fluxblog, @eleanorbate, @jeff__benjamin, @karaschlegl, @niemanlab, @conroyforreal, @robferdman, @kwameopam, @johnastoehr and @kateotherkate
John McDuling / Sydney Morning Herald:
BuzzFeed Australia, which employs ~40 people, says 11 staff positions are facing redundancy; reporter says entire news team has received a consultation letter
BuzzFeed Australia, which employs ~40 people, says 11 staff positions are facing redundancy; reporter says entire news team has received a consultation letter
Discussion:
New York Magazine, @smh, PerthNow, Australian Financial Review, NEWS.com.au, The Guardian and Mumbrella
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
As Disney completes merger with Fox and prepares for Disney+, uncertainty remains about integration, programming, and the executives who will lead the shift — Bob Iger has repeatedly called it the “highest priority” of the Walt Disney Co. — The launch of Disney Plus has become the talk …
Discussion:
The Information, Business Insider, The A.V. Club and The Playlist
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Report: Apple told studios and networks to be ready for a launch of Apple's streaming service by mid-April, the same month investors see a Disney+ preview — Studios were reportedly told to be ready by mid-April — Little is known about Apple's standalone streaming service, aside from the mountain of original content that's coming.
Discussion:
The Information, The Wrap, Multichannel News, @mcwm, @shiraovide, @shiraovide, @jtoonkel, BGR and /Film, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Study finds major US newspapers hiked home delivery prices more than 2x between 2008 and 2016, but about two-thirds of print readers remained loyal — Once print advertising collapsed, newspapers hiked prices to get more money from readers. If they hadn't, they'd employ even fewer journalists and be in even worse shape today.
Discussion:
@emilybell, @gerryfsmith, @irischyi, @irischyi, @irischyi, Journalism Studies and Editor & Publisher
Jennifer Creery / Hong Kong Free Press HKFP:
FCCC report on press freedom in China: 55% believe government interference has risen, with notable crackdowns in Xinjiang and visa denials for negative coverage — Over half of foreign correspondents say reporting conditions in China deteriorated last year, according to the Foreign Correspondents' Club …
Discussion:
Reuters and @nvanderklippe
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
Apple says Apple News has 85M monthly active users and Apple Music has 50M paid subscribers, a growth of around 10M for Music since April 2018 — During Apple's Q1 2019 earnings call today, Tim Cook shared an update on how some of the company's Services have been growing including details on Apple News …
Discussion:
One Man & His Blog
Adam Becker / Undark:
Inference, a “quarterly review of science” started in 2014 and funded entirely by Peter Thiel, publishes scientific articles alongside junk science — The newish ‘quarterly review of science’ sometimes muddies the waters between science and political ideology. It is funded by Peter Thiel.
Discussion:
@cshperspectives, @bobbierman and Boing Boing
Christoph Droesser / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at Germany's BPK, a media institution that hosts government press briefings three times a week, where journalists are not at the whim of politicians — It's a familiar scene: roughly a hundred journalists cram into the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House …
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
Sarah Sanders held her first press briefing in 41 days on Monday, which CNN and MSNBC did not carry live, but Fox did — “Shampoo the carpets, take the sheets off the chandeliers!” Those words, emailed around by a pool reporter and shared on Twitter by the BBC's Jon Sopel …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Reporters Without Borders, The Hill, Blog Network and Observer
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Sudan's security services arrest at least six journalists covering protests and have stopped the distribution of a newspaper seven times since December — Washington, D.C., January 28, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Sudanese authorities to release at least six journalists …
Discussion:
France 24
James Walker / Press Gazette:
University of Kent academics stand by their study, financed by News UK and disputed by BBC Radio 5, that found that the station didn't meet Ofcom standards — Journalism academics have defended research claiming BBC Radio 5 Live did not meet Ofcom targets for news and current affairs output …
Discussion:
The Times & The Sunday Times
Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
Internal docs and sources describe how Facebook educates moderators about political issues and potential “PR fires” that are particular to different elections — Internal Facebook documents obtained by Motherboard show specific steps and strategies taken by the company …
Discussion:
Facebook, @tonyajoriley, The Hill and Fortune
RELATED:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook shares draft proposal describing how its new content review board could work, suggesting it have 40 diverse members, none of whom are Facebook staff
Facebook shares draft proposal describing how its new content review board could work, suggesting it have 40 diverse members, none of whom are Facebook staff
Discussion:
Facebook, The Verge, @imillhiser, @zittrain, @davidakaye, @jjmacnab, Adweek, Gizmodo, Fortune, MediaPost, Engadget and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »