Mediagazer: In Q4 2018, BBC Radio 4 had 10.5M listeners, down 750K listeners YoY, BBC 5 Live's audience fell 10% YoY; the BBC's total radio listening share fell to 50.9% (Jim Waterson/The Guardian)

3:55 PM ET, February 7, 2019

Top News:

Tamar Auber / Mediaite:

Vice News correspondent says former NYT executive editor Jill Abramson included plagiarized passages in chapters about Vice in her book, Merchants of Truth — Vice News Tonight correspondent Michael Moynihan is calling out former executive editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson out for what he says are …

Discussion: @ianfrisch, @mcmoynihan, Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter, On my Om, @jillabramson, @ajwimsatt, CNN, @jillabramson, @mcmoynihan, CNN, Vox, @normative, @brendannyhan, @annehelen, TVNewser, Associated Press, @surooshalvi, @hshaban, @cjsprigman, @bcmerchant, @bruce_arthur, @benmullin, @jrubinblogger, @bobruggiero2, @jakemalooley, @bcmerchant, @brianstelter, @cjsprigman, @marissarmoss, @originalspin, @adrs, @davidfolkenflik, @sgtjanedoe, @radleybalko, Newser, @tressiemcphd, @samthielman, @kennethn, @ianfrisch, @ianfrisch, The Wrap, @citizenmurphy, @amylittlefield, @pareene, @pareene, @mmasnick, @onekade, @coreyrobin, @mlcalderone, @nycsouthpaw, @sir__ian, @robertwrighter, @passantino, @brianstelter, @jodyavirgan, @ftrain, @paperhaus, @dangillmor, @brianstelter, Wall Street Journal, Contemptor, Variety, The Daily Caller and New York Post

Washington Post:

Jill Abramson responds to plagiarism allegations, says some citations don't match with the right pages and some language is too close to sources, promises fixes — Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson responded Thursday to allegations that she plagiarized portions of her new book …

Discussion: @genepark, Poynter, @rafat, @johnmcquaid, @sulliview, @ianfrisch, Fast Company, @cmclymer, Washington Examiner, The Wrap and Mediaite

Manish Singh / VentureBeat:

News aggregator Nuzzel sold to Scroll, which is building a news subscription service; Nuzzel founder Jonathan Abrams and COO Kent Lindstrom to leave the company — News aggregator Nuzzel has found a new home and leadership and is undergoing some product changes.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @arctictony, Scroll Blog, TechCrunch, @mattmcgee and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

For Spotify to succeed as a podcast app, it needs to clearly separate podcasts from music, help users discover podcasts better, and allow creators to monetize — Some suggestions for improvement — Spotify announced today that the company plans to spend up to $500 million on podcast-related acquisitions.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @awrd, Talking Biz News, Business Wire, Fortune, Engadget, RAIN News and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

Peter Kafka / Recode:
Spotify buys podcast producer Gimlet Media, sources say for ~$230M, and Anchor, a startup which makes it easier for users to record and distribute podcasts

Discussion: Poynter, Wall Street Journal, Nieman Lab, Forbes, CNBC, Spotify, MediaPost, @anchor, @mayafish, @mignano, Fast Company, Spotify, Music Industry Blog, Anchor, hypebot, Digital TV Europe, Fortune, The Week, Variety, Slate, CNN, @cfishman, @dcseifert, @stalman, @caseynewton, @juiceboxca, @kfcbarstool, @arlanwashere, @mikerugnetta, @jonfortt, New York Times, @tomgara, @markcwebster, @schmooey, @satyap, @caseyneistat, @borthwick, @tetisheri, @martinsfp, @jennyrwall, @austindarbo, @msquinn, @markdistef, @c_crampton, @sarafischer, @cheriehu42, @renayrich, @thestalwart, @somospostpc, @indianidle, Mobile Marketer, @lucas_shaw, @eldsjal, @niemanlab, The Verge, Music Business Worldwide, The Verge, Mashable, RAIN News, Marketing Land, Adweek, Android Police, Ad Age, Forbes, CNBC, VentureBeat, Music Week and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Insider Inc says it achieved profitability in 2018 with revenue up 20% YoY and exceeded $100M in revenue for the first time — Times may be tough in digital publishing right now, but Business Insider parent company Insider Inc. says it just had its best revenue year ever.

Discussion: @seangriffey, @bmorrissey, @gaberivera and @rafat

Kent Walker / The Keyword:

Google experiment finds 45% traffic decline to news sites with search results without snippets, in a moderate version of what is proposed in EU's Article 11 — In the next few days, European legislators meet to decide on a final text of the European Copyright Directive.

Discussion: Julia Reda, The Next Web, ZDNet, Search Engine Land and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

New York Times Company:

In Q4, The New York Times added 265K digital subscriptions, bringing total number of digital subs to 3.4M but profit decreased to $74.7M from $90.5M a year ago — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth-quarter 2018 diluted earnings per share …

David Cohen / Adweek:
MediaRadar estimates 1,400+ companies ran Snapchat ads in 2018, way below other social platforms; source says estimate is too low given formats like AR lenses

Discussion: MediaPost, Mobile Marketer and MediaPost

Biz / Variety:

Woody Allen sues Amazon for $68M, claiming Amazon breached a four-picture deal and refused to release A Rainy Day in New York — Woody Allen filed a $68 million suit against Amazon Studios Thursday, alleging that the streamer has backed out of a multi-picture film deal due to “a 25-year old, baseless allegation.”

Discussion: Observer, Deadline, TechCrunch, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, TMZ.com, The A.V. Club, New York Daily News, The Week and CNBC

The Wrap:

Netflix finalizes a deal to acquire rights to Knock Down the House, a documentary about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three other women who ran for office — Netflix announced on Thursday that it has finalized a deal to acquire worldwide distribution rights to the award-winning documentary …

Discussion: Mediaite

Angela Moon / Reuters:

Twitter reports Q4 revenue of $909M, up 24% YoY, ad revenue of $791M, up 23% YoY, net income of $244M, and MAUs of 321M, down by 9M YoY; stock is down 9%+ — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twitter Inc forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates and reported a drop in users …

Discussion: Recode, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Fortune, CNBC, Ad Age, Variety, @reutersbiz and @twitterir, more at Techmeme »

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

In Q4 2018, BBC Radio 4 had 10.5M listeners, down 750K listeners YoY, BBC 5 Live's audience fell 10% YoY; the BBC's total radio listening share fell to 50.9% — Flagship news and current affairs station's Rajar figures hit hard by commercial rivals — BBC Radio 4 has lost three-quarters …

Foreign Policy:

Former Fox News reporter and US Navy veteran Lea Gabrielle is named to lead the State Department agency that counters foreign propaganda and disinformation — Former Fox News correspondent and Navy veteran Lea Gabrielle to head long-troubled Global Engagement Center.

Discussion: @dancohen3000, CNN and @statedept

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Bill Owens is named executive producer of 60 Minutes, replacing Jeff Fager, who was ousted in September after sending a threatening text to a CBS correspondent — Owens becomes only the third person to lead the 51-year-old broadcast. — Bill Owens has been tapped to replace Jeff Fager as the executive producer of 60 Minutes.

Discussion: Amnesty International USA, Variety, Variety, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable

Leonie Kijewski / The Guardian:

Philippines DOJ indicts Rappler, Maria Ressa, and an ex-Rappler journalist for cyber libel over a 2012 story published months before the law was passed — Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders condemn prosecution of news website, editor Maria Ressa and staff

Discussion: RAPPLER and Reporters Without Borders

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:55 PM ET, February 7, 2019.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Tim Hornyak / Nieman Lab:
Tokyo-based Nordot, a content-sharing platform that connects producers and distributors, has launched an English language version of its site

Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
State of the Union ratings: 46.8M viewers watched Trump's address, up about 3% over 2018; Fox News led with 11.1M viewers, down slightly from 11.5M last year

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, @shanegoldmacher, @jdawsey1, @brianstelter, The Wrap, Observer, The Wrap, CNN, Deadline and Variety

Patrick Howell O'Neill / Gizmodo:
If Reddit lands a $150M Tencent investment, they'd make strange bedfellows: Tencent helps build the Great Firewall; Reddit's product, banned in China, is speech

Discussion: @benwolfson10, @joshconstine, @wharkavy, @howelloneill, @emilybell, @carnage4life and @badlogicgames

Joe Concha / The Hill:
Benny Johnson, who has worked at IJR, National Review, and BuzzFeed, is leaving the Daily Caller to join Turning Point USA as chief content officer

Discussion: @amber_athey, @tomkludt, @mattbinder, @rjcc, @dustingiebel, @kevinmkruse, @ashleyfeinberg, @bennyjohnson, Business Insider, Mediaite and The Daily Beast

Earlier Picks:

Melissa Locker / Fast Company:
Vox Media's General Manager Andrew Golis is leaving the company to join New York-based radio station WNYC as chief content officer

Discussion: www.wnyc.org, @zkahn, @moorehn, @joshtpm and @blirwin

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
21st Century Fox reported strong overall Q2 earnings, but its Television unit had a $22M loss, yet had 19% growth in ad, affiliate, and content sales

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable

Kyle Pope / Columbia Journalism Review:
Craig Newmark donates $10M to Columbia Journalism School to launch new ethics center and $5M to Poynter to create separate ethics and leadership center

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystem activities

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page