Top News:
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
COVID-19 has gravely accelerated the need for newsrooms to confront issues like need for talent, appropriate staff size, and cutting print days, among others — As local newspapers' businesses hit the skids, they're finding themselves careening right now into a future they'd thought was still several years away.
Discussion:
@laobserved, @jbenton, @brynstole, @sarahspain, @kerrymflynn, @maxwelltani, @ninaberries, @joegoldman, @dannysullivan, @ckrewson, @brettdl, @jadande, @conor64, @jbenton, @kateaurthur and @sulliview
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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
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
Discussion:
@gregholmannl, @jbenton, @newsguild, @jbenton, @aaron_leib, @thesarahkelly, @slooterman, @davidgilbertccm, @sstirling, @rachelwalexande, @rachelacrosby, @aprilehrlich, @ryanchittum, @markferenchik, @brianduggan, @jemelehill, @gerryconway, @pkafka, @emdrums, @reporterdavidj, @dicktofel, @thrasherxy, @reporteramber, @lpolgreen, @brynstole, @craftypanda, @rickedmonds, @maxwelltani, @tednesi, @maxwelltani, Poynter, The Hill, Awful Announcing and The Wrap
Brian Stelter / CNN:
CNN's Chris Cuomo has been diagnosed with COVID-19, but he says he is feeling well and will continue anchoring his show from his home — New York (CNN Business)CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has been diagnosed with Covid-19, the network said in a memo to employees on Tuesday.
Discussion:
@chriscuomo, @nygovcuomo, Associated Press, @andrewyang, @davidshepardson, @vanlathan, abc7NY, @bykellycohen, @marygeorgant, NPR, Fox News and The Wrap
Jessica Toonkel / The Information:
Sources: Amazon, Walmart suspend commerce marketing deals with digital media such as BuzzFeed and Vox Media; ~20% of BuzzFeed 2019 revenue came from such deals — Publishers are bracing for a pullback in advertising amid the Covid-19 pandemic. And one big shoe has already dropped …
Discussion:
@ericmanlunas, @jessicalessin, @jtoonkel and @film_girl, more at Techmeme »
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
The BBC warns that decriminalizing nonpayment of the TV license fee would cost the service more than £1B over 5 years and require significant programming cuts — The BBC has warned that decriminalising non-payment of the TV licence fee would cost it more than £1bn over five years and …
Discussion:
@arusbridger, @dvatw, @toooldforit, @adambanksdotcom and @ta_mills
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Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
BBC says the license fee could eventually be replaced by a monthly tax on broadband connections in response to proposals to decriminalize nonpayment of the fee — Corporation responds to government plan to decriminalise non-payment of licence fee — The BBC has said the television licence fee …
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
News Corp says it will suspend printing 60 community newspapers across Australia starting next week due to ad revenue declines amid the coronavirus pandemic — Manly Daily, Wentworth Courier, Brisbane News and Mornington Peninsula Leader among titles to move online amid coronavirus fallout
Discussion:
ABC
Kara Swisher / New York Times:
How Kara Swisher's mom, a Fox News fan, believed the network's misinformation about COVID-19, and how she eventually listened to others as the pandemic worsened — The network spent too long spraying its viewers with false information about the coronavirus pandemic.
Discussion:
@hilaryr, @karaswisher, @perrettreport, @ginaspadafori and New York Post
Samantha Conti / WWD:
Conde Nast Britain to offer free digital access to May issues of its magazines; Conde Nast Italy offering free access to its magazines for the next three months — Rihanna, wearing a durag designed by Stephen Jones Millinery, fronts the May edition of British Vogue.
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Rebutting Ben Smith's idea of abandoning local papers in favor of all-digital newsrooms, mostly nonprofit: supporting local journalism needs multiple tactics — I get that your new job for The New York Times is to offer provocative takes on the media. Seven columns in, you are doing just fine with that.
Discussion:
@brettdl, @benmullin, @carareports, @benyt, @benyt, The Rural Blog, @klr_editor and @sammy_roth
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Profile of STAT, a science and medical news site that was early to cover COVID-19 and has attracted ~30M unique visitors this year, 4x to 5x its usual traffic — Stat, started in 2015 by the Red Sox owner John Henry, is drawing four to five times its normal audience. “We were built for this,” one of its editors said.
John Ourand / Sports Business Daily:
Sources: DAZN is telling sports leagues it won't pay rights fees for any suspended games, will defer payments for future seasons; some staff to be furloughed — DAZN has started telling sports leagues that it will not pay rights fees for any games that have been suspended or content …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing and The Streamable
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Press Association furloughs 44 sports and racing journalists, using the UK government retention plan covering 80% of salaries; senior execs are taking 30% cuts — PA has confirmed 44 of its journalists covering sport and racing will be furloughed in action to “mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19”.
Discussion:
@markdistef and @pwaldieglobe
Chris Best / Substack Blog:
Substack donates $100K in grants to writers struggling due to pandemic, drops its cut of subscription revenue for pubs donating earnings to COVID-19 causes — We started Substack because we believe that what you read matters and good writing is valuable. We believe that writers, bloggers …
Discussion:
@jeffjarvis, @michellemanafy, @readdanwrite, @substackinc, @delia_cai and TechCrunch