Mediagazer: Scener now supports HBO Now and HBO Go, allowing up to 20 viewers to watch together via a Chrome browser extension; the startup already supports Netflix (Todd Spangler/Variety)

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Quartz CEO says even with 17K paid subscribers, the company is laying off 80 staff, closing physical offices in four locations as it seeks profitability by 2022 — Quartz CEO Zach Seward's remarks to staff re today's layoffs: “This is no doubt the greatest challenge we have faced as a company.. I have made the very difficult decision to eliminate about 80 roles at Quartz and make other changes in order to improve the health of our business” https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: New York Times, @kerrymflynn, Talking Biz News, Adweek, @jenniavins, @timfernholz, @ashkan, @mitrakalita, @sarahfkessler, @marcatracy, @johnxenak, @lattif, @davidmackau, @samthielman, @davegershgorn and @sona_here

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

By using phrases like “raises new questions”, media is repeating mistakes of 2016, giving unearned credibility to political attacks in the guise of objectivity — The latest developments in the Michael Flynn case should prompt us to revisit one of the most glaring failures …

Discussion: Slate, @theplumlinegs, New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, @jamisonfoser, @sbagen, @theplumlinegs, @jeffjarvis, The Week, @theplumlinegs, @elongreen, The Intercept, @a_m_dolan, Letters from an American and The Daily Beast

David Cohen / Adweek:

LinkedIn Editorial is rebranding to LinkedIn News; the team now has 76 editors across 15 countries and the Daily Rundown is received by 46M users — Rebranding aims to drive editorial recognition and build user trust — LinkedIn is rebranding its editorial team from LinkedIn Editorial …

Discussion: @kerrymflynn and @markscott82

Variety:

Inside AT&T's $4B bet to stand out in the streaming wars through HBO Max, which is to launch on May 27 despite 30 projects shuttering due to the pandemic — A starry group came together for a meeting at Courteney Cox's Malibu beach house on Oct. 5, 2019. Had the paparazzi gotten wind, pandemonium would have surely ensued.

Discussion: @ser_jon_arryn, @xpangler, @shitfund, CortaCable, MediaPost, The Streamable, Variety, Always Be Watching, /Film and Observer

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Scener now supports HBO Now and HBO Go, allowing up to 20 viewers to watch together via a Chrome browser extension; the startup already supports Netflix — Katy Perry, John Legend Join Houseparty's Celeb-Studded Livestreaming Event This Weekend (EXCLUSIVE)

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Streamable and @xpangler

Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:

Forbes restructures its pay scale for contributors, ending the $500 guarantee for writers with seven monthly posts and reducing the repeat-reader bonus 80% — Forbes quietly restructured its pay scale for contributors amid the coronavirus pandemic, ending the $500 guarantee for any writer …

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

From August, Chrome will start blocking ads that consume 4MB of network data, 15 seconds of CPU usage in any 30 second period, or 60 seconds of total CPU usage — Google today announced that Chrome will start blocking resource-heavy ads. The company ads that mine cryptocurrency …

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Matt McKinney / Star Tribune:

Media analyst Owen Van Essen, president of a newspaper industry M&A firm, predicts 200 to 300 small weekly newspapers will not be around by the end of the year — Solid local reporting, regular coverage of business openings and ribbon cuttings, a trusted presence for decades in Washington County …

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @nattyrose007, The Media Nut, @nick_mathews, @ashkan and @kellystrib

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: it isn't unusual for 50% of seats at US cinemas to be empty on weekends without hurting business, so a box office hit can happen with checkered seating — Before COVID-19, it wasn't unusual for 50 percent of seats at U.S. theaters to remain empty on the weekends without dampening business overall.

Mark J. Rochester / Poynter:

Investigative journalism, long criticized for lacking diversity, has recently made progress, as journalists of color lead news operations and win awards — Journalists of color have taken the helm of investigative news operations and claimed some of the most prestigious investigative journalism awards

Discussion: @mjrochester, @mukhtaryare, @nhannahjones, @ibwellssociety, @dicktofel and @fvaraorta

Kali Hays / WWD:

Lawsuit against New York mag and Joe Hagan filed by former CBS correspondent Lara Logan alleging career damage was dismissed Wednesday by a Texas federal judge — The now Fox News contributor had sought $25 million in retribution over a 2014 story on her retracted Benghazi report for CBS.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

IAB's streaming-only NewFronts will take place June 22-26 and will include Facebook, Snap, and TikTok for the first time; Twitter, NYT, Amazon won't participate — Katy Perry, John Legend Join Houseparty's Celeb-Studded Livestreaming Event This Weekend (EXCLUSIVE)

Discussion: Ad Age, Adweek, Deadline, PR Newswire, MediaPost and Tubefilter

Rachel Uranga / dot.LA:

According to state filings, studios, theaters, production companies, and entertainment venues have laid off or furloughed 14K+ workers in LA County since April — Hollywood, an economic engine that has powered Los Angeles since the dawn of television screens and movie cameras, has been devastated by stay-at-home orders.

Discussion: Breitbart, @ashkan and Hollywood Reporter