Top News:
Irin Carmon / New York Magazine:
Months before The New Yorker published allegations of sexual harassment against CBS News' Jeff Fager, the Washington Post had the story but didn't publish it — The afternoon of March 7, 2018, was go time, or so we believed. Inside a glass huddle room at the Washington Post …
Peter Kafka / Recode:
A year after his announcement that Facebook would feature less news, Zuckerberg says he wants to create a tab to surface quality news, could pay publishers — The Facebook CEO floated a “news tab to surface more high-quality news,” and said he's willing to write checks to support it.
Discussion:
Mark Zuckerberg, CNBC, The Guardian, Variety, @donie, @mathewi, Politico, Techdirt, @corinne_podger, Business Insider, @marietjeschaake, Mashable, @pkafka, @redsteeze, @saroff_nyc, @mathewi, @mathver, @mathewi, @mattzeitlin, @jny, @pkafka, @seanblanda, @matthewstoller, @mikeisaac, Engadget, @owillis, @markscott82, @simonvandorpe and @alexeheath, more at Techmeme »
Nick Statt / The Verge:
One week with Apple News+: it is great value for those who enjoy reading magazines but its design and news delivery mechanisms are messy and inconsistent — There's a lot to evaluate about Apple's new News Plus subscription service, including if it's a good deal for the media business …
Discussion:
@davechensky and @dcseifert
RELATED:
Frederic Filloux / Monday Note:
By joining Apple News+, the US magazine industry could lose 50% of its revenue per reader, with ARPU dropping from $120 per year per reader to $59 — Apple digital kiosk is a terrible deal for the news industry. No wonder most newspaper publishers won't join. 1 . The math, from the industry perspective
Discussion:
Media Nation, @jackshafer, @benmullin, @hbsmktg, @raju and @sarahmarshall
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Sources: Apple tried hard to sign up The New York Times and WaPo to Apple News+, was flexible on some terms but wanted the papers' entire content offerings — The Times and Post resisted Eddy Cue's hard sell ("We'll make you the most-read newspaper in the world.")
Discussion:
@waywardwinifred, @pkafka, 9to5Mac, @joepompeo, @vanityfair and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
The Financial Times says it has reached 1M paying readers, with digital subscriptions accounting for 75%+ of its circulation — The Financial Times has reached a paying readership of 1m in a new record for the newsbrand that it says has come a year ahead of schedule and on the back of a “strong business performance”.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @mattbrittin, @emilybell, @ferdigiugliano and @chloencornish
Tom Jones / Poynter:
Q&A with Poynter president Neil Brown on coverage of the Mueller report and triteness of the idea that the report should prompt a reckoning in the media — The Russian investigation is over. Robert Mueller's report has been turned in. And now we begin another investigation: How did the media do in covering this story?
Discussion:
New Yorker, @williams_paige, @michaelluo, @adamplayford and @poynter
Reuters:
Sources: as part of UAE's Project Raven, 9+ ex-NSA staffers helped hack phones of Al Jazeera's Chairman, a BBC Arabic host, and other journalists — A group of American hackers who once worked for U.S. intelligence agencies helped the United Arab Emirates spy on a BBC host …
Discussion:
@wesclarkjr, @reuters, @selectedwisdom, @khanfarw, @specialreports, @selectedwisdom, @bing_chris, @bing_chris, @w7voa, @tomgara and Law & Crime, more at Techmeme »
Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Critics comparing Mueller coverage to that of the Iraq war have based their argument on cherry-picked examples and a false assumption about the Steele dossier — Barr gave Trump and media critics a fresh rallying cry. And the Steele dossier is back in vogue. Does anybody really know what's going on here?
Discussion:
Nieman Reports, @timobrien, @timobrien, @timobrien, @sulliview, @grahamdavida, @timobrien and NBC News
Michael Moritz / Financial Times:
Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's national newspaper which once struggled to make money, went from 2K digital subscriptions in 2015 to 160K in 2019 and is now profitable — Apple recently grabbed attention with the launch of its revamped news and information service, but the real story about the resurgence …
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Four years after the “Blurred Lines” case, IP lawyers and music execs say there has been a rise in copyright claims, creating a chilling effect on songwriters — It's not easy to be a songwriter in the pop world these days. Listeners rarely see your name.
Discussion:
@columbiajla, @ericgoldman, @mikehamad and @sisario
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
The BBC is taking over broadcaster UKTV in a ~£200M deal and licensing its natural history and wildlife shows to Discovery for its new global streaming service — Corporation will also license natural history shows such as Blue Planet to US pay-TV giant
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Adweek, Broadcasting & Cable, @samuelbailey and @jimwaterson