Mediagazer: Substack now has over 250,000 paid subscribers and its top 10 publishers collectively earn more than $10M per year (Sara Fischer/Axios)

10:45 AM ET, December 21, 2020

Top News:

Stephanie Clifford / Elle:

Profile of ex-Bloomberg reporter Christie Smythe, who quit her job and divorced her husband after she fell in love with the man she was covering, Martin Shkreli — Why did Christie Smythe upend her life and stability for Martin Shkreli, one of the least-liked men in the world?

Discussion: @ellemagazine, The Guardian, The Wrap, Business Insider, @manymanywords, @stephcliff, Mediaite, @mattzeitlin, @thedailybeast, @skenigsberg, @kira_lerner, @katierosman, UPROXX, @shwinyo, @christiesmythe, @moorehn, @jillfilipovic, @zunguzungu, @roywoodjr, @carigervin, @elaheizadi, @bendreyfuss, @tylerdinucci, @zeddary, @liamstack, @soledadobrien, @jourdynberry, @meandmydogtoo, @taylorlorenz, @ec_schneider, @sawyerhackett, @mattikovler, @kellykeegs, @bendreyfuss, @brianstelter, New York Post, @moorehn, @jbillinson, @dlippman, @zeitchikwapo, @alishagrauso, @bendreyfuss, @angryblacklady, @jenashleywright, @christiesmythe, @offbeatorbit, @drea_carmen, @jessicahuseman, @dave_schilling, @joeperticone, @beijingpalmer, @otraletra, @amber_athey, @notcapnamerica, @christiesmythe, @ashleyfeinberg, @taylorlorenz, @maxwelltani, @oneunderscore__, @annamerlan, @dansolomon, @phil_lewis_, @tomgara, @megan, @lindseyadler, @alexheard, @annamerlan, @arreglalo, @daisandconfused, @caseyjohnston, @taylorlorenz, Law & Crime, @asteadwesley, @jasonpinter, @jillfilipovic, @robbiese7en, @bgrueskin, @asteadwesley, @galaxiecarol, @socialistdogmom, @bigmeaninternet, @bykatesmith, @hels, @taylorlorenz, @mrsfridaynext, @nolamama69, @benyt, Jezebel, @modernistwitch, @elaheizadi, @christiesmythe, @jordanuhl, @christiesmythe, @majorphilebrity, @dierobinsondie, @bgrueskin, @ftrain, @hummusandpizza, @austen, @rebeccadobrien, @jessicakroy, @chrissyfarr, @harrysiegel, @carigervin, @karnythia, @christiesmythe, @jerrydunleavy, @maxwelltani, @asteadwesley, @kaylawebley, @sgurman, @theferocity, @ashleyrparker, @drrramina, @eekshecried, @lalasoo, @bendreyfuss, @fuggirls, @walterolson, @felixsalmon and Talking Biz News

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Voting machine companies including Smartmatic have hired high-powered libel lawyers and, legal experts say, have strong cases if they sue Fox, Newsmax, and OAN — Voting machine companies threaten “highly dangerous” cases against Fox, Newsmax and OAN, says Floyd Abrams.

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Fox News hosts Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro, and Maria Bartiromo aired a fact-check of their own election conspiracies, after Smartmatic threatened legal action — Fox Business host Lou Dobbs has recently taken to raising questions about voting machine companies, which have been cast as complicit …

Mike Fannin / The Kansas City Star:

Kansas City Star publishes a review of its 140-year history, finding coverage “disenfranchised, ignored, and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians” — Today we are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong. For 140 years, it has been one of the …

Discussion: New York Times, @kcstar, @mcclatchy, @stengel, @donnabrazile, Washington Post, @richarddeitsch, @kcnewsfan, @connieschultz, @kcstar, @joycewhitevance, @mcclatchy, The Hill, @angeljennings, @ian__cummings, @wesleylowery and @kat__stafford

The Guardian:

Citizen Lab: iPhones of dozens of Al Jazeera journalists were hacked using software from NSO Group in an attack likely ordered by Saudi Arabia and UAE — Citizen Lab researchers say cyber-attack using NSO Group software likely ordered by Saudia Arabia and UAE

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Wired:

Cyberpunk 2077's developer hamstrung reviewers by forcing NDAs and sending copies just days before launch to prevent players from seeing the buggy mess — Video game companies are increasingly putting restrictions on what reviewers can show, widening the gap between expectations and reality.

Charles Kaiser / The Guardian:

Interview with Arthur Sulzberger Jr, who retires as NYT chairman this month, and AG Sulzberger about turning around the paper, keeping it in the family, more — Against the odds, a unique American institution has thrived. Its chairman is retiring but the paper will stay in the family

Discussion: @vivian, Context is King, @jeffjarvis, @jswatz, @michaelluo, @andrewlavallee, @jayrosen_nyu, @jswatz, @ckummer, @meslackman, @eckholm and @raju

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Substack now has over 250,000 paid subscribers and its top 10 publishers collectively earn more than $10M per year — Nearly every major app geared towards content creators has seen significant percentage increases in downloads this year, according to data from Apptopia.

Pranay Prabhat / NYT Open:

A look at the NYT's first-party data program for its direct-sold ads; NYT says ad campaigns that used it performed as well as those using third-party data — The New York Times launched an advertising data program for our direct-sold ads business that uses our own data and data science techniques.

Discussion: @nytopen

ProPublica:

Leaked docs show how China stage-managed what appeared on its domestic internet to make coronavirus look less severe in the early days of the outbreak — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.

BRANDED:

Adalytics: brand safety technology from companies like Grapeshot and Moat marked 30.3% of NYT, 21.4% of The Economist, and 51.7% of Vice articles as “unsafe” — Welcome back to BRANDED, the newsletter exploring how marketers broke society (and how we can fix it).

Discussion: @swodinsky, @chrysopoetics, @ilhanniaz, @brooklynmarie, @masonpelt, @nandoodles, @cwarzel, @media_evan, @brooklynmarie and adalytics.io

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Despite a few bright spots in local journalism like Charlotte Agenda, bought by Axios, and Daily Memphian, 55 news outlets have closed amid the pandemic — You would think that Adam Ganucheau would be feeling upbeat about the state of local journalism. — After all, Mississippi Today …

Discussion: @j_hancock, @fitzprov, @tnlookout, @acnatta, @djtweets, @tylrfishr, @sarabethberman, @amzam, @fheinderyckx, @pilhofer, @ganucheauadam, @taraemcg, @sdnewswatch, @sulliview and The Flack on Stack

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This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 10:45 AM ET, December 21, 2020.

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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

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More News:

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix and Legendary Pictures settle Enola Holmes lawsuit with Conan Doyle Estate, which alleged that the movie infringed upon Sherlock Holmes

Kristen Chick / Columbia Journalism Review:
Eleven women describe inappropriate behavior from photographer David Alan Harvey over 13 years and say Magnum Photos knew as early as 2009

Discussion: @cjr and @cjr

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Sources: NYT reporters criticized editors over handling of Callimachi's “Caliphate” in a meeting, arguing warning signs had been clear for years with no action

Discussion: Fox News, @lailalalami, @lizsly, @ggreenwald, BBC, @erikwemple, @omar_quraishi, @patrickosgood and Jezebel

Pranshu Verma / New York Times:
Documents: Michael Pack, CEO of USAGM, is seeking to cut funding for its nonprofit Open Technology Fund, limiting internet access in tightly controlled places

Discussion: @zacharykeck, more at Techmeme »

Linda Solomon Wood / Nieman Lab:
National Observer EIC predicts Canada's philanthropic sector will lean in further to fund journalism in 2021, and new companies will continue to launch and grow

Discussion: @fateemasayani, @natobserver, @niemanlab and @linda_solomon

Mark Jacob / Local News Initiative:
An analysis puts the overall increase in digital circulation for news outlets in 138 markets at 51.2%, from Nov. 2019 to Nov. 2020; print circulation fell 12.9%

Discussion: @tomrosenstiel, @timafranklin and @ctguild

Earlier Picks:

Gabby Deutch / NewsGuard:
NewsGuard names news sites with most online engagement in 2020: NBC News, NYT top among trustworthy sites; Breitbart, TheBlaze for COVID-19 and election misinfo

Discussion: @anirbanroy, @rsm, @retractionwatch, @daveyalba, @theinclinepgh, @retractionwatch, @larrypotash and @gsdeutch

Andrew Liptak / Polygon:
Several writers of movie tie-in novels say they haven't been paid royalties for their work since Disney acquired Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox

Discussion: Vox, Context is King, @malindalo, @dogpatchpress, @polygon, @andrewliptak, @chuckwendig and Formerly Dangerous

Ben Taub / New Yorker:
A look back at Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder in Malta, and how her sons used her unfinished work to crack the murder case, bringing down Malta's government

Discussion: @brianboyer, @andrewgiambrone, @jane_gerster, @pcaruanagalizia, @robertjdenault, @davidakaye, @rebecca_vincent, @bentaub91, @opensociety, @gaiasquarci, @bentaub91, @pcaruanagalizia and @bentaub91

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
Spiegel & Grau, the literary imprint shut down by Penguin Random House last year, returns as an indie publishing house with plans for podcasts, audiobooks, more

Discussion: @xanalter, @neilhimself, @hofrench, @sarahw, @xtebordo, @spiegelandgrau, @brendacopeland, @ronhogan, @glecharles, @paulgrondahl and @booksijustread

Will Page / Billboard:
Music streaming may have plateaued with an average of 17.5B streams a week for the past four months, while consumption of games, TikTok, and podcasts increase

Discussion: @artjonak, @ashkan, @gavinsbaker and Context is King

Juwan J. Holmes / The Objective:
How several Black people and people of color spoke up about racism in media last summer, sometimes losing their jobs, and how a true reckoning hasn't arrived

Discussion: @wongalum, @gabemschneider and @moorehn

From Techmeme:

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

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft releases the first beta preview of its Recall AI feature for Copilot Plus PCs, including Click to Do, a feature similar to Google's Circle to Search

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

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