Mediagazer: Politico draws criticism for having Ben Shapiro serve as a guest writer of Playbook; he wrote about “the real reasons” most Republicans opposed impeachment (Leia Idliby/Mediaite)

10:41 PM ET, January 14, 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: Washington Post, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, @benyt, HuffPost, New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, @maxwelltani, Mediaite, @caitleg, @jrubinblogger, @elaheizadi, @marlownyc, @erikwemple, @samthielman, The Hill, @arifleischer, @maxkennerly, @wexler, @elienyc, @grace_segers, @maxwelltani, @onlxn, @megynkelly, @russcanread, @tonydleonardi, @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, @wajahatali, @nycweboy, @blackamazon, @katiehill4ca, The Right Scoop, @andizeisler, @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, @alexkotch, @wajahatali, 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, @johniadarola 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, Government Accountability …, @w7voa, @brianstelter, @reinlwapo, @egkaur, @farhip and The Hill

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

Rebecca Klar / The Hill:

Hagens Berman files suit against Amazon alleging it colluded with five big publishers to fix eBook prices; Hagens Berman previously sued Apple for the same — Amazon is accused of fixing the price of e-books sold on the e-commerce site through anticompetitive agreements …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, hbsslaw.com, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK and Publishers Lunch, more at Techmeme »

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 »

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