Top News:
Clare Malone / New York Magazine:
Profile of Ben Smith, NYT's Media Equation columnist, who is deeply devoted to scoops, intrigued by raw power, and is unafraid of making people uncomfortable — Puckish chaos agent" is how Charlie Warzel describes his former BuzzFeed News boss and current New York Times colleague Ben Smith. "
Discussion:
@mikiebarb, @elanazak, @claremalone, @ryangrim, @jmartnyt, @s_m_i, @katienotopoulos, @micahcohen, @jesshopp, @sopandeb, @mattyglesias, @noah__goldberg, @dominicholden, @meslackman, @annehelen, @bernstein, @dylanmatt, @scottmstedman, @byjasonfoster, @jessicahuseman, @b_resnick, @sammy_roth, @amandakhurley, @adriana_lacy, @gabydvj, @danieldrepper, @blakehounshell, @tanvim, @rachelysanders, @kannoyoungs, @delia_cai, @matthewkassel, @papscun, @lissandravilla, @mj_coren, @shareenpathak, @matthewkassel, @dylanmatt, @jayshams, @yashar, @wexler, @maxwelltani, @jeremymbarr, @tnwhiskeywoman, @hshaban, @katie_rayford, @anandwrites and @taylorlorenz
Maria Bustillos / The Nation:
How book publishers are trying to turn the age-old library system into a “reading as a service” operation through their lawsuit against the Internet Archive — In a lawsuit against the Internet Archive, the largest corporations in publishing want to change what it means to own a book.
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Warner Bros. is not sharing daily box office grosses for Tenet due to worries they can be misinterpreted, breaking industry precedent and angering rival studios — People who closely follow box office earnings have noticed a surprising lack of transparency surrounding ticket sales for …
Discussion:
Deadline, @mjarbo, @adityasood, The Playlist, Vanity Fair and The Week
Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:
Interview with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, on reforming Section 230 and whether the process around Trump's social media EO has become corrupt — Jessica Rosenworcel won't talk about what everyone really wants her to talk about. She can't. But what she says about everything else speaks volumes …
Discussion:
@issielapowsky, @protocol, @mcwm, @birnbaum_e, @cendemtech and Radio & Television …
David Robb / Deadline:
Study: in 2019-2020, 42% of streaming shows had a female protagonist vs. 27% on cable; 32% of streaming shows had female directors, up from 15% the year before — Shows made for streaming services are much more likely to employ women in front of and behind the cameras than programs …
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
How work on an indie film set has changed after new COVID-19 protocols, including talent isolation, single-serve craft services, and a COVID compliance officer — As Hollywood crawls toward some version of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic, we at Variety have been curious …
Discussion:
@mattdonnelly, @variety, @ileosheng, @adambvary, @erinrnapier, @ashcart and @variety
David Bauder / Associated Press:
Rachel Maddow's show, which had its two biggest audiences ever with Mary Trump and Michael Cohen, offers authors a concentrated audience of book buyers — NEW YORK (AP) — It's high season for books that pick apart Donald Trump's presidency, and Rachel Maddow is a big beneficiary.
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu, @charlesadler and @dbauder
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Congressional report finds USA Today's Susan Page, who is to moderate a VP debate, hosted an event at her home honoring Medicare boss Seema Verma in Nov. 2018 — An online backlash following reports of Verma's PR spending. But it didn't underwrite Page's party, which USA today says was …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, @hiltzikm, @crampell, @tinaissa, @awmccall, @dangillmor, @murshedz, New York Magazine, @mattyglesias and New York Times
Sarah Manavis / New Statesman:
Goodreads has held on to its dominant spot online despite being nearly unusable, but its reign is now being challenged by competitors, including The StoryGraph — On a typical day, a long-time user of Goodreads, the world's largest community for reviewing and recommending books, will feel like they're losing their mind.
Discussion:
@sachinrekhi, @aardrian, @martinsfp, @sarahmanavis, Matt's Newsletter, Boing Boing and Bookninja
Joe Otterson / Variety:
The NFL season kickoff game Thursday averaged 19.3M viewers, about a 13% drop from 2019's kickoff — The NFL season kicked off on Thursday night, dominating the television ratings for the evening while still seeing a decline from the opening game in 2019. — Defending Super Bowl champions …
Discussion:
NBC Sports Pressbox, Ad Age, @nbcsportspr, @zigmanfreud, @statsonfire, @_dustincox, @damonbruce, @nickcradio, @sonnybunch, @sedano, CNBC, New York Post and Awful Announcing
Max Willens / Digiday:
How TechCrunch moved Disrupt online, expanding to five days and cutting ticket prices while increasing sponsorship revenue via more expensive sponsor packages — Help us make your experience with Digiday even better by taking a quick survey. Respondents will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card.
Discussion:
@anthonyha, @travisbernard and @mikebutcher
Columbia Journalism Review:
Reporters around the world discuss the repression they have faced, like obfuscation, detention, and threats, as they cover the COVID-19 pandemic — The coronavirus pandemic touches every corner of the earth. In two hundred thirteen countries, more than eight hundred thousand people have died …