Mediagazer: Senator Chuck Schumer, troubled by Alden Capital's history, writes a letter to its president demanding it explain its plans for Gannett if a deal goes through (Jonathan O'Connell/Washington Post)

11:40 AM ET, February 22, 2019

Top News:

Jonathan O'Connell / Washington Post:

Senator Chuck Schumer, troubled by Alden Capital's history, writes a letter to its president demanding it explain its plans for Gannett if a deal goes through — A firm backed by Alden Global Capital, known for sharp newsroom cuts, would acquire more than 100 daily newspapers in the deal.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and @news_guild

Maylan Studart / TheStreet:
Gannett missed Q4 earnings with revenue of $751M and a net loss of $14.2M, down from $13.6M in 2017; digital advertising represented 48% of total ad revenue

Discussion: USA Today, Forbes, Business Wire and Gannett Investor Relations

Shareen Pathak / Digiday:

Digiday Research survey of 100 ad buyers: 14% don't expect the YouTube crisis to have an impact on long-term spending; ~33% said cutbacks would be temporary — As a number of major brands, including Disney, Nestle, McDonald's, AT&T and Epic Games, are pulling their ads from YouTube due …

Discussion: AdExchanger and @jackneff

CNBC:
AT&T says it is pulling all advertising from YouTube after reports of pedophiles openly using the platform; Nestle and Epic Games have also pulled ads

Discussion: The Wrap, Ad Age, CNBC, NPR, MediaPost, Reuters, Adweek, Gizmodo, WIRED UK, Beyond Search, @cnbc, @winnersusedrugs, Tubefilter, @danielmadison78, @mattbinder, @bmorrissey, The Wrap, Engadget, Boing Boing, The Verge, The Verge, The Verge, Gizmodo, 9to5Google, Fortune, Tubefilter, TechCrunch, Engadget, Variety and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Report details how Tribune Publishing, The Guardian, and Slate got their most engaged readers to contribute by focusing on quality content, podcasts, and more — Reader revenue, reader revenue, reader revenue. It's much easier said than done, but these two case studies from Tribune Publishing …

Discussion: Washington Post

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Roku reports Q4 revenue of $275.7M, up 46% YoY and vs. $262.11M est., says it has 27.1M active accounts, up 40% YoY; revenue for 2018 grew 45% to $742.5M — Roku wants to become a billion-dollar company in 2019. The streaming device maker told investors Thursday that it projects …

Discussion: Digiday, MediaPost, Roku Investor Relations, @digiday, @jank0, @jank0 and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »

Chuck Strouse / Miami New Times:

McClatchy CEO says ~225 employees have accepted buyout offers across the country with sources saying the Miami Herald is losing at least 10 employees — McClatchy Co. CEO Craig Forman announced Wednesday that “a bit fewer” than 225 employees had accepted buyout offers and would be leaving newspapers across the country.

Maureen Farrell / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Pinterest has confidentially filed for an IPO, seeking a valuation of at least $12B — Online-image search company is expected to seek a valuation of at least $12 billion — Pinterest Inc. has confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission …

Discussion: Fortune, CNBC, New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Fortune, Fast Company, Business Insider, TechCrunch and AOL, more at Techmeme »

Ira Boudway / Bloomberg:

Chernin Group's Action Network, a sports betting media startup, raises $17.5M Series B led by Fertitta Capital — - Peter Chernin's Action Network closed $17.5 million funding — Investors include owners from MLB, NBA, NHL, Ultimate Fighting — Action Network Inc. …

Discussion: Action Network and Reuters

Casey Newton / The Interface:

Pinterest has stopped returning results for searches on vaccinations, differentiating between freedom of speech and freedom of reach — Programming note: The Interface will be off Thursday as I finish up a project that I will share with you next week. — Since the reckoning …

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

How New York-area cable news station News 12 is working with ProPublica's Documenting Hate database to track local hate crimes — “Getting things on air will reach the audience you're looking to reach. Getting things online is important so people can find the work later."

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Michael Jackson's estate sues HBO for violating a 1992 non-disparagement clause by agreeing to air “Leaving Neverland”, which accuses Jackson of sexual abuse — The estate of Michael Jackson sued HBO on Thursday, accusing the cable channel of violating a non-disparagement clause …

Discussion: /Film, Billboard, Daily Mail, ScreenRant, Metro.co.uk, Esquire, CNBC, CNN, Vanity Fair, The A.V. Club, Fortune, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Deadline, USA Today, The Daily Caller and Just Jared

Peter Kuras / Columbia Journalism Review:

After exposing an alleged multi-billion tax fraud scheme in Europe, a journalist is under investigation for instigating whistleblowers to betray trade secrets — When I met Oliver Schröm at the Berlin offices of Correctiv.org, the investigative journalism non-profit he co-founded in 2014, I was his third interview of the day.

Tim Peterson / Digiday:

Winter Podcast Upfronts show that ad buyers are struggling to identify podcasts to advertise against, podcast episodes have a long lifespan, and more — Seven media companies, including ESPN and iHeartMedia, took turns on Feb. 20 pitching their podcasts to a screening room of advertisers and agency execs.

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Q&A with Nikole Hannah-Jones, a NYT Magazine investigative reporter who covers racial injustice and segregation on diversifying newsrooms and reporting on race

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Sam Dean / Los Angeles Times:
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Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
CNN hiring Sarah Isgur is puzzling given her reported loyalty pledge to Trump's anti-press agenda and numerous critical tweets of CNN, reporters, and Democrats

Official Google India Blog:
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Discussion: Poynter, @googleindia and MediaNama

Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Overtime, a two-year-old sports video publisher, raised $23M Series B last week from investors including Spark Capital, MSG Networks and a couple of NBA players

Discussion: @strictlyvc and @digiday

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Women's Media Center report: female representation in newsrooms and bylines continues to disappoint; ~69% of AP and Reuters bylines go to men

Discussion: American Press Institute, @laurahazardowen, @eramshaw, Women's Media Center, @emilyrauhala, @nprinskeep, @juliaioffe, International Journalism … and @andreagonram

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Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
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