Mediagazer: Q&A with The Atlantic's Ed Yong on the emotional difficulty of covering the pandemic, the challenge of reader fatigue, the responsibility of his rising profile (Delia Cai/Deez Links)

6:00 PM ET, November 23, 2020

Top News:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Snap announces Spotlight, a vertically scrollable TikTok-like feed inside Snapchat, and will pay $1M every day to users who create the top Snaps through 2020 — After taking on TikTok with music-powered features last month, Snapchat this morning is officially launching a dedicated place within …

Laura Forman / Wall Street Journal:

Analysis: Facebook and Instagram ads appear to be reaching a saturation point after the number of ads served rose by a quarterly average of ~30% YoY since Q3'15 — Spending big money to make big money in the ad business may no longer be on the table inside Facebook's network

Discussion: @eliotwb, @wsj, @marklittlenews and @hoofnagle, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / New York Times:

A look at Biden's relationship with the news media and writer Jon Meacham, as his presidency promises to do for newspaper columns what Trump did for cable — The next president promises to do for old-line newspaper columnists what Donald Trump did for cable. What a time to be George Will!

Discussion: The Daily Beast, @jon_allsop, Politico, @catherine_lucey, @azi, @davidclinchnews, Revolving Door Project, @cliffordlevy, @raju, @dicktofel, @dhume, @debrajsaunders, @miriamelder, @benyt, @ckrewson, @edokeefe and @ewong

Hunter Walk / Medium:

Paid newsletters won't bring in enough money on their own for most writers, but creators can have multiple SKUs like podcasts, speaking gigs, and book deals — A number of reporters and columnists these days are “going indie,” detaching from their previous employer and signing up with a site like Substack …

Discussion: @caseynewton, contextisking.com, @sachinrekhi, @davezatz, @blakeir, @alex, @carnage4life, @edbott, @hunterwalk, @ericnewcomer, @ljin18, @taylorlorenz and @jaycodon

Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:

Nonprofit ad group Ad Council is planning a $50M campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccines to skeptical Americans, after a similar polio campaign in the 1950s — The nonprofit marketing group led a polio vaccine campaign in the 1950s. Now it is working on a $50 million ad blitz to counter concerns about coming treatments.

Discussion: MediaPost, Ad Age, AgencySpy, @john_bailey, @tiffkhsu and @billburton

Renée DiResta / The Atlantic:

Trump's clear election loss has widened the split in the right-wing online information ecosystem between those that choose reality and those that choose Trump — When Fox News called Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden shortly after the polls closed there on Election Night, right-wing social media erupted in fury.

Discussion: Washington Post, @noupside, The Hill, @jeffreygoldberg, @ma_franks, CNET, Business Insider and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Drew Armstrong / Bloomberg:

A look at Covid Tracking Project, started by three journalists, with The Atlantic providing legal, comms, and tech support, to track the US spread of COVID-19 — At the start of 2020, Amanda French was in between academic jobs. Her mother had died about a year earlier, and she'd taken time off to help settle her affairs.

Discussion: @armstrongdrew, @alexismadrigal, @maxcroser, @adriennelaf and @edyong209

New York Times:

Profile of Newsmax, which has become an unusual tribune for Trump's baseless accusations of voter fraud and whose owner is a longtime friend of the president — A once-niche conservative cable network, owned by a longtime friend of the president, lures audiences by refusing to declare an electoral winner.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Mediaite, MSNBC, The Week, @benyt, @mark_histed, @nytimes, Poynter, @jayrosen_nyu and @oliverdarcy

Elaine Low / Variety:

Netflix says it will expand its footprint in New Mexico's ABQ Studios and pledges to spend an additional $1B on production there — Netflix is expanding its footprint in New Mexico, announcing Monday that it is expanding ABQ Studios and pledging an additional $1 billion in production spending there.

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Apple now allows up to 10 different active offers per in-app subscription, allowing publishers to offer targeted discounts through their iPhone and iPad apps — Want to offer a special introductory rate for students and educators? Superfans of your local football team?

Discussion: MediaPost

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

UK's DMGT reports full-year results: revenue down 10% YoY to £1.2B, pre-tax profits dropped 36% YoY to £72M, and ad revenue fell 9% YoY to £231M — Mail Online grew revenues by 3% in the year to September despite Covid-19 hammering other parts of the business.

Discussion: Financial Times, Reuters, Financial Times and Exhibition World

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

Fox News Media will debut is first original Christmas movie this year on Fox Nation, with cameos from Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt — Fox Nation will debut an original movie, ‘Christmas in the Rockies,’ as it expands its original entertainment programming slate …

Discussion: The Wrap, nexttv.com, Mediaite, @jbflint, @gregghoush, @alexweprin and @scottnover

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More News:

Nikki Sun / Nikkei Asia:
China orders that streamers and gift givers on livestreaming services must use real names, and the services must limit amount of tips and ban teens from tipping

Peter White / Deadline:
Walt Disney Television CFO and president of business operations Ravi Ahuja is stepping down

Discussion: Variety and Hollywood Reporter

Warner Music Inc.:
Warner Music reports FY 2020 revenue of $4.46B, down 0.3% YoY, including digital revenue of $2.9B, up 11% YoY, and net loss of $470M vs. profit of $258M in 2019

Discussion: Variety

Delia Cai / Deez Links:
Q&A with The Atlantic's Ed Yong on the emotional difficulty of covering the pandemic, the challenge of reader fatigue, the responsibility of his rising profile

Discussion: @delia_cai, @khayhoe, @edyong209, @dseetharaman, @nicolelzhu, @s_m_i, @s_m_i and @edyong209

David Pierce / Protocol:
Inside YouTube Music's plans to compete with Spotify and others by putting the entire music business, including livestreams and tickets, onto a single platform

Discussion: @martinsfp, @ashkan, contextisking.com, @protocol, @protocol, @sarthakgh, @pierce, @nealmohan and @protocol

Earlier Picks:

Alex Paterson / Media Matters for America:
Analysis: 109 US news outlets deadnamed or misgendered nearly two-thirds of victims of anti-trans violence in 2020, often due to media parroting police reports

Discussion: @matthewkeyslive, @spj_tweets and @ashleyalvarado

David Folkenflik / NPR:
US judge orders Michael Pack to stop interfering in VOA's news coverage and personnel matters, and rules he acted unconstitutionally in pursuing bias claims

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik, @amymackinnon, @reaproy, @egavactip, @russ_burgos, @dandrezner, @adamparkhomenko, @digiphile, @bankrlawimp, @cassvinograd, @tomforemancnn, @petersagal, Associated Press, The Hill and Washington Post

Peter Kafka / Vox:
BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti argues The NYT can't be called “the paper of record” because its subscription model cuts it off from a broader, more diverse readership

Discussion: @jny, @pkafka, The Wrap, @sadandyellow, What's New in Publishing, @periodistas21, @zacmoffatt, @baekdal, @nickconfessore, @ggreenwald, @voxdotcom, @benyt, Columbia Journalism Review, Adweek and @emilybell

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Survey of post samples from 173 adult US Facebook users' feeds during October 2020 found that 54% of users saw no news within the first 10 posts of their feeds

Discussion: American Press Institute, Media Nation, @cfwells, @froomkin, @drewtewksbury, @pennyriordan1, @phmai, @marklittlenews, @niemanlab, @bostonabrams, @laurahazardowen and @niemanlab

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Ezra Klein, co-founder and editor-at-large of Vox.com, and Lauren Williams, editor-in-chief and senior vice president, are leaving the company

Discussion: @tomhbunting, @laurenwilliams, @ezraklein, Adweek, @hshaban, @anildash, The Daily Beast, @alxthomp, @matthewt_ny, @titonka, @hondanhon, @andrewfeinberg, @lukeoneil47, @harronwawker, @thrasherxy, @gartenberg, @interfluidity, @jaycodon, @zacmoffatt, @rmnth, @doctoryasmin, @elliottzaagman, @sub8u, @ewolffmann, @deve_dy, @jamestatehill, @ellliotttb, @maxfoleykeene, @bernybelvedere, @rafat, @bmorrissey, Exchange the Experience, @aryehcw, @sarafischer, @kantrowitz, @antoniogm, @cillizzacnn, @ezraklein, @karaswisher, @sarafischer, @laurenwilliams, @makosloff, @rasmussen_poll, @karlbode, @karlbode, @karlbode, @karlbode, @jessicalessin, @nickkristof, @germanrlopez, @teddyschleifer, @pwthornton, @jessicalessin, @jessicalessin, @arctictony, @laurenwilliams, @davidsirota, @katedailey, @kurtschlichter, @davecoion, @rachelbitecofer, @sharpesam, @tressiemcphd, @econliberties, @genepark, @anthony, @ryrivard, @geedee215, @hayskali, @heerjeet, @byjoelanderson, @laurenwilliams, @laurenwilliams, @laurenwilliams, @mattgarrahan, @binarybits, @cleoabram, @brokeymcpoverty, @clarajeffery, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @ezraklein, @marisakabas, @hctrudo, @bernybelvedere, @conorsen, @jgrantaddison, @hamandcheese, @jakedavewebster, @parkermolloy, @owillis, @nytimespr, @dylanmatt, @notnathan, @donmoyn, @juliareinstein, @sanasaeed, @jonathanchait, @alexsalvinews, @chaykak, @imnotowned, @stevekrak, @zachheltzel, @natemcdermott, @ivanthek, @emarvelous, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, New York Times, Washington Post, The New York Times Company, The Hill, The Media Nut, Variety and The Wrap

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

Financial Times:
Sources: Palantir and Anduril are in talks with OpenAI, SpaceX, and more to form a consortium to bid for US defense contracts and plan to announce it in January

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