Top News:
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
G/O Media's Splinter is shutting down due to insufficient traffic; G/O editorial director says staff will be reallocated but some tweet they've been laid off — The website's parent company praised the outlet but said it failed to bring in sufficient traffic. — Splinter is shutting down.
Discussion:
@aleksnotalex, @nkulw, Digiday, VICE, @hamiltonnolan, @jscros, New York Times, @samjgrasso, Adweek, Washington Post, The Wrap, @kath_krueger, @charlespulliam, @dataeditor, @annamerlan, @richardkimnyc, @annebranigin, @natalieweiner, @flyingwithsara, @annamerlan, @dylanmatt, @briebriejoy, @stevenblum, @sophcw, @blumnessmonster, @tomgara, @albertburneko, @mattbuchanan, @freedomofpress, @freedomofpress, @jackmirkinson, @jscros, @kathbarbadoro, @andrewperezdc, @adriana_lacy, @murielvega, @mckinneykelsey, @jscros, @jscros, @emmaroller, @pkafka, @barry, @david_j_roth, @laurawags, @andrewkirell, @freedaaron, @kath_krueger, @dansolomon, @nberlat, @morrisonicpod, @scott_tobias, @libbycwatson, @ashleyfeinberg, Mother Jones, Variety, Common Dreams, CNN, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Mediaite, Business Insider, Axios, The Hill and New York Post
RELATED:
Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
In email, G/O's editorial director tells staff he sees no reason for them to cover Splinter's shutdown and that any post about it will need his approval — The editorial director of G/O Media told top editors not to publish anything about the news and opinion site being shut down.
Discussion:
@jamieson and @martinsfp
Financial Times:
Sources: James Murdoch's holding company Lupa Systems is buying a minority stake in Vice Media Group, valuing the group that now includes Refinery29 at ~$4B — James Murdoch's new holding company has agreed to buy a minority stake in Vice Media Group, according to people briefed on the deal …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Poynter, @mattgarrahan, @bertiebrandes, CityAM, @jaredbkeller, @sarahksilverman, @lpolgreen, New York Times, Variety, The Wrap and Business Insider
New York Times:
AG William Barr met privately on Wednesday with Rupert Murdoch, whose media holdings include Fox News, which recently has been more critical of Trump — William P. Barr, the attorney general, met privately Wednesday evening with one of President Trump's frequent confidants, Rupert Murdoch …
Discussion:
@atrupar, Mediaite, @renato_mariotti, Breitbart, @lisatozzi, @mrbromwich, @mattklewis, @karlbode, @freedlander, @jdawsey1, @juddlegum, @vickypjward, CNN, @mollyjongfast, @chrislu44, @chrisgeidner, @pauldutton1968, The Hill and The Week
Wall Street Journal:
Source: NBCUniversal won't air a Trump re-election campaign ad targeting Joe Biden on its cable networks unless changes are made to the spot — Commercial, rejected by CNN last week, alleges Democratic candidate promised Ukraine $1 billion to fire prosecutor
Discussion:
MSNBC, @jeffjarvis, @msnbc, @anikageisel, @ceciliakang, @andrewbatesnc, @ceciliakang and The Hill
Mandy Jenkins / The Keyword:
Mahoning Matters, the first Compass Experiment site supported by a Google News Initiative-McClatchy partnership, launches with staff from the Vindicator — Today marks the launch of Mahoning Matters, The Compass Experiment's first digital-only news outlet, which will serve readers in Youngstown …
Discussion:
LION Publishers, MediaPost, @mjenkins, @ckrewson and Poynter
Dave McMenamin / ESPN:
NBA enacts temporary policy barring media sessions during its games in China; China mandated that NBA commissioner cancel his pregame news conference Thursday — SHENZHEN, China — Saturday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets is still scheduled to be played to conclude the 2019 China Games.
Discussion:
@yair_rosenberg, Reuters, CNN, The Daily Caller and TVNewser
Sara Fischer / Axios:
NYT hires Alex Hardiman as head of product, reporting to the COO; Hardiman has been chief product officer at The Atlantic and head of news product at Facebook — The New York Times has hired former Times product veteran Alex Hardiman as the company's head of product, reporting to chief operating officer Meredith Kopit Levien.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @thebryandavis, @alex_hardiman, @samsifton and @sarafischer
PA Mediapoint / Press Gazette:
Extinction Rebellion activists blockade BBC's London headquarters, accusing the network of being silent on climate change — Extinction Rebellion activists have blockaded the BBC's central London headquarters, where the main BBC News studio is based, accusing the corporation of being silent about climate change.
Discussion:
Sky News and The Guardian
Frank Pallotta / CNN:
Nielsen data shows NFL TV viewership is up around 5% compared to this time last year, attracting an average of about 16M viewers — New York (CNN Business)The NFL has so far kept up with a ratings boost that started a season ago. — One month into its 2019 season, the league's viewership …
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
As power goes off for 800,000 to 2M in California, local newspapers have taken down paywalls, but we still need to talk more about paywalls and info amid crises — In what would be the world's fifth-largest economy by itself, at least 800,000 but as many as 2 million residents have already lost power …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, @newsbyschmidt, Los Angeles Times, The Weather Channel, Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle
Max Willens / Digiday:
To shift from advertising to subscriber revenue, NYT, WaPo, and Hearst added CMOs in 2018; Kantar: WaPo more than doubled its media spend YoY to $14M in H1 2019 — Publishers pivoted to subscriptions, in part, to reduce their reliance on a business dominated by Facebook and Google.
Discussion:
@lenfestinst