Mediagazer: With its print edition on hold, Stylist has launched an app with paywalled content, a £22 annual subscription, and 10K downloads over the last two weeks (Lucinda Southern/Digiday)

6:00 AM ET, April 29, 2020

Top News:

Jim VandeHei / Axios:

Axios, which had qualified for a $4.8M PPP loan, will return the money after nearing a deal for other capital and after the program prompted divisive debate — Axios, which qualified for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan to avoid layoffs, will return the money, after nearing a deal for an alternative source of capital.

Kathryn Hopkins / WWD:

Bustle Digital Group confirms it was OK'd for a $7.5M PPP loan, 2 weeks after it closed The Outline and laid off 24, and says the loan will help undo pay cuts — The publisher of Bustle, Nylon and Mic was approved for a $7.5 million Paycheck Protection Program loan earlier this month.

Discussion: @whatthebit, @saschasegan and @andreagonram

Joe Concha / The Hill:
Report: more than four out of five newspapers in the US did not qualify for Paycheck Protection Program loans because of how their companies are structured

Discussion: Nieman Lab, American Press Institute, @robcurley, @spj_tweets, @davidjoachim, @roncharles, @nbj914, @dullesdistrict, @michikokakutani, @wsj, @oliverdarcy, @nikkiusher, @darrenfishell, @joshjame, @mattdpearce, @asharma, Wall Street Journal and @keachhagey

Scott Feinberg / Hollywood Reporter:

Motion picture academy eases qualifications for 2021 Oscars; eligible films won't have to screen for at least a week in a Los Angeles-area theater — The Academy's board of governors convened via a secure Zoom session on Tuesday morning. — The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony is still slated …

Discussion: Variety, Oscars.org, @theacademy, @nicsperling, The Week, @enricomagrelli, @variety, @thatrebecca, Rolling Stone, @iwriteallday_, @gracerandolph, Gizmodo, @billkuchman, @heatherfink, @benfritz, @kylebuchanan, /Film, Mashable, The Verge and The Wrap

Thom Geier / The Wrap:

Universal says Trolls World Tour on-demand release has netted ~5M downloads; source: it's made $77M in revenue from the 80% it retains from digital rental fees — Universal's gamble to bypass a theatrical release for “Trolls World Tour” and release it on demand instead appears to have paid off — big time.

Josh Kosman / New York Post:

Sources: Dish is pushing for refunds from Disney, invoking force majeure, due to the lack of live sports on ESPN, but Disney has rebuffed the request so far — Charlie Ergen's satellite TV company is calling foul on Disney for making it pay for ESPN at a time when there is no live sports programming, The Post has learned.

Discussion: @richlightshed, @richlightshed, @jonesonthenba, @richlightshed, @richlightshed, Awful Announcing, @ischafer, @richlightshed, @richlightshed, @richlightshed and LightShed Partners

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify-owned Anchor introduces a feature that will allow creators to turn their video chats and virtual hangouts into podcast-ready audio — Spotify is tapping into the increased usage of video conferencing during the coronavirus quarantine to grow its own podcast business.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Anchor, Engadget, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, Marketing Land and Hot Pod News, more at Techmeme »

The New York Times Company:

Kara Swisher is leaving her Recode Decode podcast on July 1 to produce a new twice-weekly podcast for NYT's Opinion section — Kara, who became a Times contributor in 2018, will start producing a twice-weekly show that will make its debut in the fall. Read more in this note from James Bennet …

Discussion: @nytimespr, @waltmossberg, @peterlattman, @parkerortolani, @mikiebarb, @arainert, @mikiebarb, @simonowens, @hilaryr, @sbg1, @chrismessina, @carlospache_co, @rafiazakaria, @emilybell, @jeffreyswisher, @phoebelett and @amonck

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Facebook plans to add the ability for Pages to charge for access to livestreamed events, but details like a cut percentage and the launch date are lacking — Facebook plans to allow users to charge for livestreams, which will provide a way for musicians and other creators to monetize …

Discussion: About Facebook, The Verge, @marcsettle, Forbes, Gizmodo and NME

Casey Newton / The Verge:

YouTube adds fact-check info boxes to some searches, above the search results, in the US, after launching in Brazil and India last year — The program launched in Brazil and India last year — YouTube will begin adding informational panels containing information from its network …

Discussion: YouTube Blog, CNN, @billadairduke, @youtubeinsider, @alxthomp, @factcheckdotorg, @mccanner, Engadget, Variety, Adweek, TechCrunch and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

With its print edition on hold, Stylist has launched an app with paywalled content, a £22 annual subscription, and 10K downloads over the last two weeks — Stylist launched a free-to-download app two weeks ago offering a digital version of the weekly print magazine (print distribution is currently on hiatus).

Lisa Napoli / Vanity Fair:

An excerpt from Lisa Napoli's new book “Up All Night” on how the 24-hour news cycle was ushered in by CNN's coverage of Reagan's assassination attempt in 1981 — Ted Turner's upstart cable network beat the Big Three in reporting on the 1981 assassination attempt, though it …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Apple updates the News category in Podcasts for the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, with recommended shows including info about COVID-19 and the US election — Apple Podcasts has launched an updated News category in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia, a spokesperson tells Axios.

Discussion: @kerrymflynn, iMore and Vox

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:

Reuters Institute launches the Trust in News Project, which will research questions of trust in digital media over three years with $4M in funding from Facebook — A new £3.3m ($4m) grant will fund a three-year project to look at trust in news and identify actionable, evidence-based recommendations

Discussion: @trf and @uniofoxford

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:00 AM ET, April 29, 2020.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

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More News:

Aleksandra Sagan / Toronto Star:
In a staff memo, Canada's Postmedia Network says it will lay off about 80 employees, permanently close 15 community publications, and impose tiered pay cuts

Discussion: @benjwaldman, @canadaland, @edthesock, @journalist_guy, @conniethiessen, @corywalpole, @benjwaldman, @goldsbie, @journalist_guy, @maudebarlow, @heyjturner, @timquerengesser and @kevin_engstrom

Christine Schmidt / Local News Lab:
How local news ecosystems in New Mexico, New Jersey, Colorado, North Carolina, and Chicago are responding to the COVID-19 crisis

Discussion: @ashleyalvarado, @gteresa, @jcstearns, @melaniesill, @newsbyschmidt and @newsbyschmidt

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Q&A with Skift co-founders Rafat Ali and Jason Clampet on running a travel site during a pandemic, asking readers for contributions, and more

Discussion: @cforman, @jryedinak and @rafat

Melynda Fuller / MediaPost:
Trusted Media Brands, parent company to Reader's Digest, Family Handyman, and others, names Beth Tomkiw as its first chief content officer

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
London Evening Standard CEO Mike Soutar to step down after six months in the role; the paper, which printed 800K copies pre-crisis, is now down to 500K

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Virtual concerts firm Wave announces a concert series starting April 30, to be streamed on all major platforms, and partnerships with Warner Music, Roc Nation

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Variety and CNET

Washington Post:
Stanford Internet Observatory researchers say Facebook and YouTube should not allow political ads from state-controlled media outlets

Discussion: @alexstamos, @korischake, @felixkartte, @benthompson, @postopinions, @jsrailton and @fsistanford

Earlier Picks:

The Fourth Revolution:
Electric vehicle maker BYD files a defamation suit against Vice for an April article claiming BYD used forced labor and was “blacklisted” from federal contracts

Discussion: Law & Crime, @kenbensinger and @kenbensinger

Washington Post:
WaPo partners with the Yale School of Public Health to form the Covid Counting Consortium to research and report on public health data and the virus' impact

Discussion: @jeremybowers, @abtran and Fox News

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Chinese streaming site Bilibili is serving state propaganda alongside anime clips aimed at Gen Z, with China's Communist Youth League among its top creators

Discussion: @pingroma, @pingroma, @colum_m and @lucas_shaw

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Federal judge dismisses most of WGA's claims in its lawsuit against major talent agencies, including the claim that packaging fees amount to illegal kickbacks

Discussion: @thr, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and The Wrap

Jacob Knutson / Axios:
White House reverses course after initially canceling today's coronavirus press briefing; WH did not hold a briefing over the weekend

Discussion: @presssec, The Week, @katebennett_dc, Politico, @k8brannen, @seaneldridge, @joshtpm, @weijia, @quinncy, @jessehawken, @yamiche, @benjaminjs, @karentravers, @nycsouthpaw, @ddale8, Vox, Morning Consult, New York Post and Mediaite

The Independent:
FT reporter Mark Di Stefano accessed confidential Zoom calls at The Independent and Evening Standard where staff were informed of pay cuts and furloughs

From Techmeme:

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The US Senate reauthorizes FISA's Section 702; some communication service providers had threatened to stop cooperating with the US government in case of a lapse

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:
Google scraps a 2019 policy requiring US suppliers and staffing firms to pay their employees $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits

Isabelle Bousquette / Wall Street Journal:
PCs that can run large AI models may drive an enterprise PC replacement cycle, but some CIOs say they'll wait for the category to mature and prices to come down

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