Top News:
Rafi Schwartz / Splinter:
Leaked audio from a BuzzFeed all-hands staff meeting indicates CEO Jonah Peretti acknowledged the layoff process was “terrible” and criticizes company leaks — With BuzzFeed's latest round of mass layoffs over, CEO Jonah Peretti hosted an all-hands meeting on Wednesday …
Discussion:
@mlcalderone, @skiscontent, @libbycwatson, @jasonshevrin and New York Magazine
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Max Willens / Digiday:
How BuzzFeed is reorganizing and charting a path to a sustainable business, according to sources and a memo CEO Jonah Peretti sent to employees Tuesday night — The next version of BuzzFeed is being whittled into focus. — Over the past week, the venture-backed publisher has been gripped by a very public multi-day round of layoffs.
Discussion:
@freeblackgirl, @mathewi, @parkermolloy, @bgrueskin, @jackmirkinson, @dansinker, @leighgiangreco, @caulfieldcm and @digiday
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
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
Discussion:
New York Times, @siddhmi, Slate, @jrosenbaum, @fmanjoo, @bgrueskin, @ennisnyt, @bgrueskin, @chinampa, Politico, @aaschapiro, @senzaflash, @moneyries, @evanselinger, @jblumgart, @clarajeffery, @willoremus, @willoremus, @willoremus, @chrisgeidner, @monicaamarelo, @julianakataoka and @mattdpearce
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
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
Discussion:
@raewitte, Observer, Gizmodo, @choire, @willoremus, @reckless, @laurawags, @lrhogan, @mathewi, @4evrmalone, @4evrmalone, @mattdpearce, @auntbeckyrose, @sarahlkaufman, @nymag, @jakeswearingen, New York Magazine, @austin_walker, @eleanorbate, @jeff__benjamin, @karaschlegl, @niemanlab, @conroyforreal, @robferdman and @kwameopam
David Bauder / Associated Press:
Reporters at Insider were told to take a break from tweeting and reading TweetDeck for a week; other journalists have panned and defended the value of Twitter — NEW YORK (AP) — If Twitter is the town square for journalists, some are ready to step away. — That's happening this week …
Discussion:
New York Times, @paulapoindexter, @megkinnardap, @aallan, @politicohen_, @daphnehk, @adam_myrick, @jeffjarvis, @mathewi, Fox News and The Daily Caller
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The media's both-sides, middle-lane approach to politics isn't good for the public, but it's great for politicians and pundits who bill themselves as centrists — One of supposed golden rules of journalism goes like this: “If everybody's mad at your coverage, you must be doing a good job.”
Discussion:
@nberlat, @patbagley, @brianstelter, @ejdionne, @theplumlinegs, @mlcalderone, @sulliview, @dagensnyhetermj, @jayrosen_nyu, @nberlat and @jayrosen_nyu
David Cohen / Adweek:
Reddit launches cost-per-click ads following a months-long beta with 50+ advertisers, saying it's Reddit's first foray into performance-driven ad bidding — They announced their new initiative on Wednesday — Reddit is making what it calls its first foray into performance-driven ad bidding …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Marketing Land, Ad Age, The Drum and AdExchanger
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
Publishers are finding meaningful revenue from podcast advertising, a model that some publications, including The Economist, find more viable than video ads — Publishers are finding meaningful revenue from podcasts, a format that, in some cases, offers a more viable ad model than video.
Discussion:
@xenocryptsite
Athena Jones / CNN:
New York AG finds selling fake followers and likes or using stolen IDs on social media is illegal in case against Devumi, which served actors, musicians, others — New York (CNN Business)A company that brought in millions of dollars in revenue by creating fake social media posts and comments …
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Ultraviolet, the cloud movie locker that launched in 2011 with support from major Hollywood studios, is shutting down on July 31 — Ultraviolet, a cloud movie locker once hailed as Hollywood's best bet to get consumers hooked on digital movies, is shuttering.
Camille Fassett / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Trump's government shutdown ground transparency to a halt by slowing or stopping the processing of FOIA requests at federal agencies — During President Trump's shutdown of parts of the federal government over a border wall, transparency was declared a nonessential part of the government's operations …
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
New York Media recognizes the New York Magazine Union, with about 180 full-time and part-time staff across Vulture, Intelligencer, the Cut, and more — New York magazine's editorial employees have unionized amid stalled talks to sell the iconic title and its popular web sites.
Discussion:
@nymagunion and @nyguild
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q4: WarnerMedia revenue was up 5.9% YoY to $9.2B, but Entertainment Group revenue was down 4.8% YoY to $12B amid subscriber losses for DirecTV, DirecTV Now — AT&T posted healthy growth in wireless and WarnerMedia segments for the fourth quarter of 2018, but missed top-line revenue targets …
Andrew McCormick / Columbia Journalism Review:
How local media in the extremely Catholic greater Cincinnati area covered the viral Covington Catholic story, and are now dealing with accusations of bias — The greater Cincinnati area, which encompasses parts of Northern Kentucky, including Covington, is reliably Republican and deeply Catholic.