Mediagazer: Laura Poitras says she was fired from First Look Media in November 2020 after speaking to the press about The Intercept's failure to protect Reality Winner (Laura Poitras/Praxis Films)

10:05 PM ET, January 14, 2021

Top News:

Some Politico staffers raised concerns internally about the decision to allow Ben Shapiro to guest-write Playbook; editor Matt Kaminski defended the move — Several staffers expressed dismay over handing the keys to the outlet's influential newsletter product to a pundit with a “long history of bigoted and incendiary commentary.”

Discussion: @erikwemple, Washington Post, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, @benyt, New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, HuffPost, @maxwelltani, Mediaite, @marlownyc, The Hill, @erikwemple, @samthielman, @arifleischer, @maxkennerly, @wexler, @nycweboy, @tonydleonardi, @andizeisler, @elienyc, @wajahatali, @grace_segers, @maxwelltani, @onlxn, @megynkelly, @russcanread, @jamisonfoser, @bernybelvedere, @gina_goldberg, @karlitaliliana, @zac_petkanas, @sethfriederman, @soledadobrien, @maxwelltani, @gabby_hoffman, @jeremypgordon, @espiers, @sarahw, @willmcavoyacn, @libbycwatson, @erikwemple, @nberlat, @corb_the_lesser, @adotsad, @davidsirota, The Federalist, @futterish, @danpfeiffer, @eugene_scott, @jon_allsop, @blackamazon, @katiehill4ca, The Right Scoop, @alqabadai, @justin_higgins2, @imleor, @emorwee, @sorayamcdonald, @tpcarney, @clarajeffery, @senhorraposa, @wagatwe, @holmesjosh, @casmudde, @kimcrayton1, @elienyc, @susanbordson and Daily Truth Report

Leia Idliby / Mediaite:

Politico draws criticism for having Ben Shapiro serve as a guest writer of Playbook; he wrote about “the real reasons” most Republicans opposed impeachment — Politico has drawn heat for handing over the most recent edition of their Playbook newsletter to conservative radio host Ben Shapiro.

Discussion: @olivianuzzi, @maxwelltani, Politico, @mattnegrin, Media Matters for America, @lpdonovan, @juddlegum, @benshapiro, @sabrinasiddiqui, New York Magazine, @mattnegrin, @mehdirhasan, @juddlegum, @barry, @lollardfish, @jonathanchait, @danahoule, @brianbeutler, @jbarro, @theplumlinegs, @jbouie, @mattzeitlin, @froomkin, @mattnegrin, @jeffsharlet, @ryanlcooper, @froomkin, @jbouie, @sabrinasiddiqui, @jbouie, @zackbeauchamp, @ravmabay, @abrowngaywrites, @zachwritesstuff, @pwthornton, @zackbeauchamp, @jeffhauser, @jbouie, @bridgeinit, @green_footballs, @lollardfish, @stevedeaceshow, @tomscocca, @charlesppierce, @zackbeauchamp, @meredithshiner, @joshsternberg, @slpng_giants, @breenewsome, @green_footballs, @mattzeitlin, @justkelly_ok, @lollardfish, @jbouie, @juddlegum, @mattnegrin, @chrisgeidner, @katearonoff, @jonfavs, @taradublinrocks, @shotpooter, @gothamgirlblue, @soledadobrien, @marcformarc, @scottnover, @timodc and The Wrap

Laura Poitras / Praxis Films:

Laura Poitras says she was fired from First Look Media in November 2020 after speaking to the press about The Intercept's failure to protect Reality Winner — I was fired from First Look Media, an organization I co-founded. My termination came two months after I spoke to the press …

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

VOA staffers circulate a petition seeking resignations of execs Robert Reilly and Elizabeth Robbins, saying they failed to be independent of political influence — Simmering tensions between journalists and managers at Voice of America grew into open rebellion Thursday …

Discussion: Voice of America, @w7voa, The Hill, Government Accountability …, @w7voa, @brianstelter, @reinlwapo, @egkaur and @farhip

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:

Axios will launch AxiosHQ, its internal company communications service, starting at $10K a year with $1M already booked and Delta and AT&T among its clients — AxiosHQ communications platform to launch with Delta Air Lines and AT&T among early customers

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

A look at Judd Legum's Popular Information newsletter, which helped push companies to suspend donations to politicians who objected to election results — - Companies stop contributions after Popular Information article — Judd Legum's newsletter has amassed 138,000 subscribers

Discussion: @juddlegum, @benyt, @lucas_shaw, @gerryfsmith, @newsynick, @simonowens, @brianmrosenthal, @soledadobrien, @emrosenberg, @jesselehrich, @slpng_giants, The Media Nut, @dictionarycom, @shitthepupsays and @rezaaslan

Kerry Flynn / CNN:

Medium is acquiring Glose, a digital platform for buying, reading, and discussing books; Glose's 20 employees, most of whom are based in Paris, will join Medium — New York (CNN Business)Substack has become synonymous with writers looking to go independent.

Discussion: TechCrunch, 3 min read, @thebolditalic, @sandeeroston, @calexity, @mason, @caseynewton, @yambhands, @alex, @jadagomez, @keccers, @martinsfp, @henrikberggren, @alexislloyd and @whatthebit, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Group Nine, owner of Thrillist, NowThis, the Dodo and more, goes public via a SPAC to raise $200M to fund acquisitions — The special purpose acquisition company set up by Group Nine Media announced that it priced its initial public offering of 20 million shares at $10 per unit, for total gross proceeds of $200 million.

Discussion: Axios

David Cohen / Adweek:

TikTok debuts TikTok for Black Creatives, a three-month incubator program for investing in and supporting 100 Black creators and musical artists — The video creation platform teamed up with multiplatform media company Macro

Discussion: The Wrap and @yungefe4k

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

App Annie: app usage in the US surpassed time spent watching live TV in 2020 and consumers spent 40% more hours YoY streaming on mobile devices — Mobile adoption continued to grow in 2020, in part due to the market forces of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to App Annie's annual …

Discussion: @stathis65, @appannie and 9to5Mac

Bloomberg:

Netflix diversity report: women make up 47.1% of its global workforce; 8% of US staff are Black, more than 2x the share in 2017; 8.1% of employees are Hispanic — Netflix Inc. has made gains in adding women and minorities to its workforce over the past three years, vaulting it past Silicon Valley peers …

Discussion: @emilychangtv, @business and @lucas_shaw, more at Techmeme »

Paul J. Boyle / News Media Alliance:

News Media Alliance and National Newspaper Association join a legal challenge to an order that would eliminate the cap on postal rate increases for periodicals — Postal Regulatory Commission Order Could Lead to Postage Increases of 45 Percent Over Five Years, Representing Existential Threat to Newspapers

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Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting Cable:
DoubleVerify says it has received Media Rating Council accreditation for its ad impression measurement and ad fraud detection for CTVs

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Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Ampere: Netflix is Europe's second largest TV group with 6.1% market share by revenue, second only to Comcast, which owns Sky, and has 12% market share

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Calum Marsh / New York Times:
Profile of New Zealand-based Letterboxd, a social network for reviewing movies, which has grown to 3M member accounts during the pandemic

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Ray Sanchez / CNN:
Bryan Monroe, a journalism professor, former president of NABJ, and a former editor at Knight Ridder and CNNPolitics.com, has died of a heart attack at 55

Discussion: NABJ, @niacnn, @dorothy4nabj, @iamsophianelson, @karvisjones, @spj_tweets, @whca, @nabj, @yamiche, @aaja, @merica, TheGrio, @marlenatv, @watchamandatv, @driscollamy, @meridak and Mercury News

Earlier Picks:

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Sources: NY Post editors tell staff not to use reporting from CNN, MSNBC, NYT, and WaPo as the sole basis for any Post article without independent confirmation

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
While media fell dismayingly short in myriad ways in the last four years, it has managed to do its job despite Trump's branding it as “the enemy of the people”

David Folkenflik / NPR:
One week later, Fox News is yet to acknowledge how the incendiary rhetoric from its shows and stars may have helped inspire the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol

Politico:
Biden team is planning a 90-minute celebrity TV special for inauguration night, to be broadcast on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC but not Fox

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google says it wouldn't force its device makers, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to US users for three years, in a proposed remedy

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

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