Mediagazer: Subscription podcast company Quake launches today for $4.99/month, with $2.5M in seed funding and shows hosted by Laura Ingraham, Soledad O'Brien, and others (Sara Fischer/Axios)

1:25 PM ET, October 20, 2020

Top News:

Alana Wise / NPR:

Debate commission announces new rule where only the candidate with the floor will have an open mic during new two minute sessions of uninterrupted speaking time — The Commission on Presidential Debates announced changes to the debate rules ahead of Thursday's final presidential debate.

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite, The Wrap, @nbcnews, Vanity Fair, New York Times, @nprpolitics, @asteadwesley, Fortune, CNN, Fox News, Forbes and The Guardian

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Trump campaign wants Thursday's debate to focus on foreign policy, protests possible rule changes like muting candidate's mics by an “unnamed person” — Donald Trump and Joe Biden are scheduled to meet again on Thursday for the second and presumably last debate …

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The news media is biased in Trump's favor because the only way to cover his lies and misconduct is to create a different, lower standard than other presidents — Going into his NBC town hall, President Trump decided, for some reason, that his thematic message would be his unfair treatment …

Discussion: Washington Post, @jonathanchait, @bernybelvedere, @jayrosen_nyu, @nprinskeep, @jessewegman, The Guardian, Mediaite, TVLine, New York Post, Reuters, WAVY-TV, Fox News and @mehdirhasan

Mike Madarasz / Digiday:

Jim Cooper named editor-in-chief of Digiday, which he joined in June as managing editor — Quality over quantity is a core value at Digiday Media. We're relentlessly focused on making sure that comes through in everything that we do and oftentimes, that starts with our editorial coverage and design.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @joshsternberg, @nickfriese, @jcoopernyc and @jasonlynch

Todd Spangler / Variety:

ViacomCBS promotes Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan to president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming, overseeing the future Paramount+ and Pluto TV — ViacomCBS has restructured its streaming operations with a global lens: Tom Ryan, currently CEO of Pluto TV, will assume the role of president and CEO …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, MediaPost, Deadline, The Streamable, Light Reading, MarketWatch, The Desk, WORLD SCREEN, Business Wire and Cord Cutters News

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Survey: Republicans who most trust Fox News as a TV news source are far more likely to approve of Trump compared to those who don't — From the outset of his presidency — or, really, his 2016 campaign — President Trump's approach to politics has been to get those who agree with him to agree with him more and more and more.

Discussion: @pbump, @radiofreetom, @flossobama, @jeffjarvis, @getwired, @jeffjarvis and @octonion

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Pandora has completed its acquisition of Stitcher and has now launched Stitcher's podcasts across all tiers of its service — SiriusXM today completed its previously announced $325 million acquisition of podcast platform Stitcher from E.W. Scripps, and has now launched Stitcher's podcasts …

Discussion: The Desk, RAIN News and Hollywood Reporter

David Plotz:

Ex-Atlas Obscura CEO David Plotz is launching City Cast, a national network of daily local podcasts, this winter; Graham Holdings owns the for-profit outlet — Our worlds have shrunk in the pandemic. I used to spend hours every week Amtraking up and down the East Coast.

Discussion: Hot Pod News, @davidplotz, @dankois, @harrysiegel, @davidplotz and @npraudie

Todd Spangler / Variety:

WarnerMedia debuts WarnerMedia Ride, a free video service for smartphones and tablets connected to in-car WiFi via AT&T's unlimited data connected-car plans — Are we there yet? — WarnerMedia is bringing its premium video programming to bored kids and other road-weary passengers …

Discussion: The Streamable, Light Reading, CNET and Cord Cutters News

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Subscription podcast company Quake launches today for $4.99/month, with $2.5M in seed funding and shows hosted by Laura Ingraham, Soledad O'Brien, and others — Quake, a subscription podcast company founded by media veterans, launched on Tuesday with $2.5 million in seed funding, executives tell Axios.

Discussion: @sarthakgh

Laura Wagner / VICE:

The New Yorker suspends reporter Jeffrey Toobin, sources say after he masturbated during a Zoom call; Toobin says he did not realize his video was on — The call was an election simulation featuring New Yorker all-stars. Toobin apologized for the “embarrassingly stupid mistake.” — Laura Wagner

Discussion: @jason_koebler, Mediaite, Fast Company, @karaswisher, The Wrap, @jason_koebler, Washington Post, Fox News, Newser, Best Evidence, New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, @ashleyfeinberg, The A.V. Club, Deez Links, CNN, @sykescharlie, The Desk, @mollyemccluskey, @s_m_i, @nehashastry, Washingtonian, Poynter, @poniewozik, Ad Age, @espiers, @jackmirkinson, @grace_panetta, @fmanjoo, @gmpaiella, @caseyjohnston, @msteib, @pinboard, @pinboard, @barry, @motherboard, @karenhunter, @drewmagary, @motherboard, @weareyourfek, @jonostrower, @markharrisnyc, @mathewi, @thestalwart, @fmanjoo, @hshaban, @gaberivera, @davidlarter, @gregpinelo, @jackmirkinson, @leshorn, @liz_franczak, @ashleyfeinberg, @josephfcox, @ashleyfeinberg, The Guardian, New York Post, Rolling Stone, The Cut, Gizmodo, PAPER, Variety, New York Times, TVLine, Los Angeles Times, TVNewser, HuffPost, The Hill, Deadline, TMZ.com, The Week and Hollywood Reporter

Steven Perlberg / Digiday:

The Atlantic has new NY offices and had record subscriptions but is stuck in a long CEO selection process and has been posting losses since its staff expansion — During a rambling press conference last month, U.S. president Donald Trump blasted the Atlantic as “a second-rate magazine,” …

Discussion: @perlberg and @scottnover

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 1:25 PM ET, October 20, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram adds a new way for creators to make money by rolling out premium badges for fans on Instagram Live

Discussion: Adweek and Engadget

Sara Fischer / Axios:
VENN, the free TV network focusing on video games and esports, raises $26M Series A and partners with investor Nexstar to distribute its content on linear TV

Discussion: The Wrap, TechCrunch, Variety and Sportico.com

Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Moonbug, which has 235M subs for its YouTube channels for kids, says Cocomelon became one of Netflix's three most-watched shows in the US after its June debut

Discussion: @loudmouthjulia and @richlightshed

Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Twitter blocking NY Post's story, driven by unfair blaming of tech for the media's 2016 mistakes, undermined its role as a facilitator of information sharing

Discussion: @leonidobusch and @carnage4life

Patrick Brzeski / Hollywood Reporter:
China overtakes North America as biggest Box Office globally in 2020, reaching $1.988B on Sunday, surpassing North America's total of $1.937B

Discussion: Variety, Forbes, The Wrap, Business Insider and TechCrunch

Earlier Picks:

Kerry Flynn / CNN:
About 205 staffers at pubs owned by Bustle Digital Group, which includes Bustle, Romper, and Mic, announce plans to form a union with WGAE

Discussion: @kerrymflynn, @pkafka, @bdgunion, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn and @kerrymflynn

@sacbeeguild:
In a letter, Sacramento Bee News Guild asks McClatchy's new CEO to reconsider a proposal to tie journalists' annual performance reviews and raises to page views

Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
Channing Dungey, most recently VP of original series at Netflix, will succeed Peter Roth as chairperson of Warner Bros. Television Group

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, @lucas_shaw, @snoodit, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Adweek, C21Media, Bloomberg, Deadline, Variety and WORLD SCREEN

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Sources: NY Post's article about Hunter Biden was written mostly by Bruce Golding, who did not allow his byline to be used amid doubts in the tabloid's newsroom

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Washington Post, The Wrap, Redneck, Tangle, Mediaite, @politifact, @yashar, bookforum.com, Columbia Journalism Review, Seriously Risky Business, Political Currents, The Daily Beast, @thekjohnston, @benyt, Media Matters for America, Slate, @ilvestoomas, @clairecmc, @kylegriffin1, @jonfavs, @mattgertz, @amy_siskind, @colbyhall, @oliverdarcy, @harrysiegel, @kyledcheney, @nprinskeep, @alexmleo, @brhodes, @jonfavs, Vanity Fair, Newser, @frankrichny, @bgrueskin, @petersterne, @bgrueskin, @petersterne, @nycsouthpaw, @juliancastro, @oneunderscore__, @steveschmidtses, @peterwsinger, @yashar, @timobrien, @petersterne, @caseynewton, @donmoyn, @eshap, @fordm, Reason, @greenfield64, @kylegriffin1, @fawfulfan, @hemantmehta, @timodc, @samesmail, @dnvolz, @glennkesslerwp, @stephgracela, @ericpaine, @maxboot, @katie_robertson, @cmclymer, @benyt, Boing Boing, The Jackal, New York Magazine, Poynter, The Week, Four Freedoms, Mediaite and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
A look at a pay-for-play network of ~1,300 sites and some papers that fills a local news void in the US with propaganda ordered by GOP and corporate PR groups

Discussion: @daveyalba, @seanilling, RTDNA Recent Articles, @jacknicas, @jacknicas, @thisiscamaron, @thisiscamaron, @thisiscamaron, @thisiscamaron, @thisiscamaron, @thisiscamaron, @thisiscamaron, MediaPost, @vivian, Wall Street Journal, @nickconfessore, @rottenindenmark, @louisathelast, @nandoodles, @mathewi, @janetadamy, @daveyalba, @annehelen, Axios, Poynter, Table For One, The Rural Blog, @jason_kint, @ddale8, Scene and Heard, @johnbattelle, @markmaxwelltv, @damemagazine, @jonathanalter, @bypatrickgeorge, @jjohnsonlaw, Media Nation, @nils_gilman, @arjunbasu, @sandofsky, @mollyjongfast, @banikarim, @davidsirota, @dcherring, @eotaxprof, @alison__berg, @ehernandez, @mckaycoppins, @fawfulfan, @mattyglesias, @bryanboy, @slpng_giants, @nickconfessore, @glenbmulcahy, @nicoleperlroth, @photospice, @terryteachout1, @aaronworthing, @vindugoel, @raju, @therobwalton, @kemc, @tvietor08, @menakadoshi, @maxkennerly, @ericboehlert and @daveyalba

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised an additional $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary cloud partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered developing a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational Siri version, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it as early as spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page