Top News:
@kerrymflynn:
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, @emilywithrow, Adweek, @kerrymflynn, @domdifurio, @newspaperwallah, @moorehn, @jeffjarvis, @nicholasadeleon, @annalecta, @ashkan, @jason, @jenniavins, @elanazak, @timfernholz, @sarahfkessler, @marcatracy, @eacrunden, @elanazak, @johnxenak, @jeffjarvis, @jbenton, @lattif, @brizzyc, @glichfield, @oliviamesser, @mims, @mitrakalita, @martyswant, @davidmackau, @samthielman, @davegershgorn, @shortformernie, @sona_here, @aldenwicker and @emilybell
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, New York Times, @theplumlinegs, The Hill, @mlcalderone, @ejdionne, @theplumlinegs, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis, @theplumlinegs, @jamisonfoser, @umanoid, @theplumlinegs, @normornstein, @elongreen, The Intercept, @sbagen, @a_m_dolan, The Week, 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
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:
Chromium Blog, @glenngabe, @daniel_bilar, @epro and 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
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, The Streamable, Variety, MediaPost, 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, @xpangler and @xpangler
Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:
Forbes changes its contributor pay scale, ending the $500 guarantee for writers with 7 monthly posts and reducing the repeat-reader bonus from 5 cents to 1 cent — Forbes quietly restructured its pay scale for contributors amid the coronavirus pandemic, ending the $500 guarantee for any writer …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Reporters in the US and abroad face altercations with anti-lockdown protestors, an extension of the general antagonistic feeling toward journalists — Journalists covering the pandemic have faced the wrath of people who are against social-distancing restrictions.
Discussion:
@annaliznichols, @ac_woods, @uspresstracker, @brieannafrank, @wvuflu, @annaliznichols, @jeremyjojola, @michaelkruse, @marcatracy, @davidgilbertccm and @projomike
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.
Discussion:
@pameladaym, @davezatz and @theromit
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Forcing Facebook and Google to pay for news could lead to uncritical reporting on tech; better approaches would tackle roots of media woes, including ad markets — Exponent — as promised! — will be back tomorrow, talking about podcasting, Spotify, and working from home. — On to the update:
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:
@cristymsilva, @mjrochester, @mukhtaryare, @nhannahjones, @ibwellssociety, @dicktofel and @fvaraorta