Top News:
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, @pkafka, @lpolgreen, @thrasherxy, @brynstole, @jemelehill, @gerryconway, @thesarahkelly, @maxwelltani, @emdrums, @craftypanda, @rachelwalexande, @markferenchik, @brianduggan, @rachelacrosby, @aprilehrlich, @tednesi, @ryanchittum, @reporterdavidj, @dicktofel, @reporteramber, @rickedmonds, @maxwelltani, Awful Announcing, The Hill, The Wrap, New Jersey Globe and Florida Politics
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, @michaeldweiss, @melissajpeltier, @shaunwalker7, @davidfrum, Yahoo News and The Week
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, Press Watch, @brianstelter, @ericschultz, @froomkin, @kimmasters, @oliverdarcy, @klr_editor, Vanity Fair, @jaketapper, @maggienyt, @pkafka, Reason, Slate, Fox News, Politico, Vox, Yahoo News, The Wrap, Rolling Stone and New York Times
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:
Poynter, Vanity Fair, Tampa Bay Times, @markkatches, @langstonitaylor, @clairemcneill, @jbenton, @stevebousquet, @ashleycdye, @sammy_roth, @kathrynvarn, @dohamadani, @langstonitaylor, @rontimes, @scontorno, @newsbysmiley, @marbinmiller, @craigtimes, @mcastimovies, @gabriellecalise, @jbenton, @rickedmonds, Florida Politics, Poynter and @wpjenna
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
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Facebook says it will invest $100M to support the news industry during COVID-19: $25M in emergency funding for local news and $75M in additional marketing spend — With grants and marketing spending, the social media giant hopes to support outlets doing essential local reporting but struggling with a drop in advertising.
Discussion:
Facebook, USA Today, Mark Zuckerberg, Slate, The Verge, @mikeisaac, Wired, @seldo, @edmundlee, @mosseri, @marcatracy, @jbenton, @alexhern, @juddlegum, @peretti, @campbell_brown, @gavmorris, @raju, @mohamedomar, @sofus_d, @brianstelter, Breitbart, Adweek, CNN, Reuters, The Wrap, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Engadget, Reuters, BuzzFeed News, Variety, Axios and Axios, more at Techmeme »
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:
@baileycarlin, @kerrymflynn, @jaseidler, @pkafka, @kevinmdraper, @mavencoalition, @readdanwrite and @benjstrauss
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 …
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.
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Fox News, which “parted ways” with Trish Regan, should now let go of Sean Hannity who spouted the same harmful nonsense as Regan but to a much bigger audience — Recent personnel actions at Fox just happen to have fallen when people turn away from their phones and laptops.
Discussion:
@jeremymbarr, The Daily Beast, @rabbirami, @jeremymbarr, @michellemanafy and @mattgertz
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:
@newspapernovel, @reporterdriver, @newyorker, @michaelluo and @arusbridger