Top News:
The Guardian:
Hungary passes a draconian coronavirus law that allows PM Orbán to rule by decree and includes jail terms of up to five years for spreading “misinformation” — Fears over coronavirus legislation that gives no time limit for state of emergency
Discussion:
@balazscseko, New Statesman, Washington Post, @michaeldweiss, @melissajpeltier, @shaunwalker7, @davidfrum, Yahoo News and The Week
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Gannett CEO announces furloughs and pay cuts across the company, says other execs will take a 25% pay cut and he won't take a salary until the cuts are reversed — The mass-media company, which owns many large newspapers including USA Today, announced Monday that the coronavirus downturn has forced the company to make deep cuts.
Discussion:
@gregholmannl, Poynter, @thesarahkelly, @rachelwalexande, @markferenchik, @brianduggan, @rachelacrosby, @aprilehrlich, @ryanchittum, @jemelehill, @gerryconway, @pkafka, @emdrums, @reporterdavidj, @dicktofel, @thrasherxy, @reporteramber, @lpolgreen, @brynstole, @craftypanda, @rickedmonds, @maxwelltani, @tednesi, @maxwelltani, Awful Announcing, The Hill, The Wrap, New Jersey Globe and Florida Politics
Variety:
Memo: iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman waives salary, other execs take pay cuts, as an unknown number of staff receive 90-day furloughs without pay due to pandemic — iHeartMedia has joined the growing list of companies implementing sizable pay cuts for senior executives amid the upheaval caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Discussion:
RAMP
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Vice will no longer match 401k contributions, freezes promotions through July, cuts salaries for top staff including the CEO, and will furlough some top execs — STAY AFLOAT — Vice Media will cut salaries for top staff and halt retirement benefit-matching following the economic downturn spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.
Discussion:
Digiday and @maxwelltani
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify for Kids launches in the US, Canada, and France on the $14.99/month Spotify Premium Family tier with 8,000 songs, of which 50% is localized — Spotify is giving more housebound parents — and their cooped-up kids — a new tool to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Spotify and The Verge
TheStreet:
Maven anticipates revenue to drop by $30M in 2020 and will lay off some staff, with Sports Illustrated journalists representing 6% of the overall cost reduction — Maven Media Brands (MVEN) said Monday it will be laying off employees and senior management will see a 30% reduction …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @baileycarlin, @kerrymflynn, @jaseidler, @pkafka, @kevinmdraper, @mavencoalition, @readdanwrite and @benjstrauss
James Poniewozik / New York Times:
Trump has turned his coronavirus briefings into create-your-own-reality TV with the structure, intrigue, drama, rhythm, and characters of a weekly reality show — The coronavirus briefings have given Donald Trump a regularly scheduled reality show again — or, rather, a create-your-own-reality show.
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, @jayrosen_nyu, @poniewozik, @froomkin, @klr_editor, @ericschultz, @kimmasters, @brianstelter, @oliverdarcy, @maggienyt, @pkafka, Press Watch, @jaketapper, Vanity Fair, Reason, New York Times, Slate, Fox News, Politico and Vox
RELATED:
Tampa Bay Times:
The Tampa Bay Times to temporarily cut print editions to Sunday and Wednesday, says digital subscription gains are not enough to make up for advertising losses — Chairman and CEO Paul Tash says “extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.” — The Tampa Bay Times …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Poynter, Poynter, Vanity Fair, Tampa Bay Times, @gabriellecalise, @ashleycdye, @marbinmiller, @langstonitaylor, @newsbysmiley, @markkatches, @sammy_roth, @scontorno, @jbenton, @jbenton, @kathrynvarn, @stevebousquet, @rickedmonds, @clairemcneill, @dohamadani, @langstonitaylor, @rontimes, @craigtimes, @mcastimovies, Florida Politics, Poynter and @wpjenna
Daniel Bernhard / Toronto Star:
Canadian media, starved of ad revenues for years, is on the brink of mass extinction due to the pandemic; CBC cancelled all local TV news broadcasts last week — By some industry estimates, many of our major media outlets will fail within weeks. Starved of advertising revenues for years …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @robshaw_vansun, @akurjata, @sulemaan and @rosajsaba
Michael Luo / New Yorker:
An in-depth look at the macroeconomic picture for US newsrooms since 2008: fights over paywalls, non-profit startups, the death of local news, and now COVID-19 — Can a fragile media ecosystem survive the pandemic? — In 2009, as the economy struggled to rebound from the Great Recession …
Discussion:
Streets of Your Town, @newspapernovel, @reporterdriver, @newyorker, @michaelluo and @arusbridger
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
How entertainment and lifestyle publishers like Bustle, BuzzFeed, and People are adapting to coronavirus disrupting events and upending planned content — As coronavirus continues to interrupt events and dominate the news cycle, entertainment and lifestyle publishers are seeing their planned content get upended.
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Free alt-weekly Chicago Reader lost 90% of its ad revenue and is turning to ideas like a fundraising colouring book and a souvenir issue to fill the funding gap — Considering the regimentation of pre-digital publishing — repeating the same workflows day after day, week after week — journalists are very adaptable animals.
Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:
Baseball site FanGraphs laid off 20+ freelancers last week, foreshadowing how the next few months could be a disastrous period for freelance sportswriters — Why the next few months are going to be a disastrous professional period for sportswriters — Last week, the baseball site FanGraphs …
Discussion:
@clevezirm, @bryancurtis, @jon_greenberg and @rpjward
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