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, @mattdpearce, @mathewi, @auntbeckyrose, @laurawags, @sarahlkaufman, @nymag, @4evrmalone, @austin_walker, @jakeswearingen, @lrhogan, @reckless, @4evrmalone and CNN
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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
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
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
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:
/Film, 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 »
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
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
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
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
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 …
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
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
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
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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
Discussion:
Facebook, The Verge, @imillhiser, @zittrain, @davidakaye, @jjmacnab, Adweek, Gizmodo, Fortune, MediaPost, Engadget and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
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