Mediagazer: VOA staffers circulate a petition seeking resignations of execs Robert Reilly and Elizabeth Robbins, saying they failed to be independent of political influence (Paul Farhi/Washington Post)

10:05 AM ET, January 15, 2021

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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, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, Washington Post, @benyt, PRESS RUN, @maxwelltani, HuffPost, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, @jayrosen_nyu, The Federalist, @elienyc, @grace_segers, @maxwelltani, @onlxn, @megynkelly, @russcanread, @tonydleonardi, @jamisonfoser, @bernybelvedere, @gina_goldberg, @karlitaliliana, @zac_petkanas, @sethfriederman, @soledadobrien, @maxwelltani, @gabby_hoffman, @jrubinblogger, @jeremypgordon, @espiers, @sarahw, @abdallah_fayyad, @wexler, @willmcavoyacn, @libbycwatson, @erikwemple, @nberlat, @corb_the_lesser, @adotsad, @davidsirota, @erikwemple, @futterish, @danpfeiffer, @eugene_scott, @jon_allsop, @wajahatali, @nycweboy, @blackamazon, @elaheizadi, @katiehill4ca, @glcarlstrom, @piersmorgan, @andizeisler, @alqabadai, @justin_higgins2, @jayrosen_nyu, @imleor, @emorwee, @sorayamcdonald, @tpcarney, @marlownyc, @samthielman, @clarajeffery, @senhorraposa, @wagatwe, @holmesjosh, @casmudde, @kimcrayton1, @elienyc, @maxkennerly, @caitleg, @benyt, @susanbordson, @arifleischer, Mediaite, The Hill, The Right Scoop, The Wrap 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, @mattnegrin, Politico, @lpdonovan, @juddlegum, @sabrinasiddiqui, @benshapiro, Media Matters for America, Poynter, @mehdirhasan, @juddlegum, @lollardfish, @danahoule, @wajahatali, @sabrinasiddiqui, @jbouie, @dfriedman33, @pwthornton, @green_footballs, @lollardfish, @stevedeaceshow, @charlesppierce, @alexkotch, @meredithshiner, @joshsternberg, @slpng_giants, @lollardfish, @juddlegum, @taradublinrocks, @gothamgirlblue, @johniadarola, @froomkin, @jeffsharlet, @green_footballs, @justkelly_ok, @jonfavs, @mattnegrin, @jbouie, @katearonoff, @barry, @zachwritesstuff, @marcformarc, @theplumlinegs, @breenewsome, @soledadobrien, @mattzeitlin, @jeffhauser, @timodc, @jbarro, @mattzeitlin, @abrowngaywrites, @mattnegrin, @mattnegrin, @jonathanchait, @bridgeinit, @jbouie, @zackbeauchamp, @chrisgeidner, @shotpooter, @ryanlcooper, @zackbeauchamp, @jbouie, @tomscocca, @zackbeauchamp, The Federalist, New York Magazine, @brianbeutler, @jbouie, @ravmabay, @scottnover and @froomkin

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

Jim VandeHei / Axios:

Axios publishes a new Bill of Rights: no opinion section ever, most content free for all people, staff pledge to not take public political positions, more — Axios is expanding into local news this month, and broadening our mission to help restore trust in fact-based news with an audience Bill of Rights.

Discussion: @jimvandehei, @matt_pressman, @juliewestfall, @heidilegg and @mikeallen

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 …

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: Adweek, Axios and @kerrymflynn

Alex Kantrowitz / OneZero:

Smaller services like Substack, Spotify, and Clubhouse are coming under scrutiny now that the big platforms have warmed to aggressive moderation — Smaller services are coming under scrutiny now that the big platforms have warmed to aggressive moderation — Glenn Greenwald was pissed.

Discussion: @kantrowitz, @kantrowitz, @abbyatwork, @dlberes, @smorgasboredom, @markstenberg3 and Big Technology

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

Paul Bennun / KCRW:

California public radio station KCRW drops The Daily, over concerns about NYT's handling of issues surrounding Caliphate — We have concerns about how the Times has handled the aftermath of the erroneous reporting in its audio series Caliphate, which was featured on The Daily …

Discussion: @kcrw, KUT Radio …, @sorayanelson, @akmcglinchy, @thebenbergman, @nwquah, @reblavoie and Business Insider

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, @anildash, @mason, @caseynewton, @alex, @jadagomez, @chronotope, @baekdal, @keccers, @martinsfp, @henrikberggren, @whatthebit, @thebolditalic, @sandeeroston, @calexity, @yambhands, @alexislloyd and 3 min read, more at Techmeme »

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, Columbia Journalism Review, @benyt, @newsynick, @brianmrosenthal, @soledadobrien, @emrosenberg, @jesselehrich, @slpng_giants, @dictionarycom, @shitthepupsays, @rezaaslan, @simonowens, @lucas_shaw, @gerryfsmith and The Media Nut

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:

NBCUniversal launches NBCU Academy, a journalism training program that's set to partner with 17 academic institutions across the US with $6.5M in funding — - Comcast's NBCUniversal News Group on Thursday announced NBCU Academy, a journalism training and development program that's set …

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