Mediagazer: 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 (Jessica Bursztynsky/CNBC)

7:25 AM ET, January 15, 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, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, Washington Post, @benyt, @maxwelltani, HuffPost, New York Times, PRESS RUN, @jayrosen_nyu, @elienyc, @grace_segers, @maxwelltani, @onlxn, @megynkelly, @russcanread, @tonydleonardi, @jamisonfoser, Mediaite, @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, The Federalist, The Hill, The Right Scoop 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, @benshapiro, @sabrinasiddiqui, Media Matters for America, @mattnegrin, @mehdirhasan, @juddlegum, @barry, @lollardfish, @jonathanchait, @danahoule, @jbarro, @theplumlinegs, @mattzeitlin, @froomkin, @mattnegrin, @jeffsharlet, @ryanlcooper, @jbouie, @wajahatali, @sabrinasiddiqui, @jbouie, @zackbeauchamp, @dfriedman33, @abrowngaywrites, @zachwritesstuff, @pwthornton, @zackbeauchamp, @jeffhauser, @jbouie, @bridgeinit, @green_footballs, @lollardfish, @stevedeaceshow, @tomscocca, @charlesppierce, @alexkotch, @meredithshiner, @joshsternberg, @slpng_giants, @breenewsome, @green_footballs, @mattzeitlin, @justkelly_ok, @lollardfish, @jbouie, @juddlegum, @mattnegrin, @chrisgeidner, @katearonoff, @jonfavs, @taradublinrocks, @shotpooter, @gothamgirlblue, @soledadobrien, @marcformarc, @timodc, @johniadarola, @zackbeauchamp, New York Magazine, @brianbeutler, @jbouie, @ravmabay, @scottnover, @froomkin and The Wrap

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, @w7voa, @brianstelter, @reinlwapo, @egkaur, @farhip, The Hill and Government Accountability …

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 …

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

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 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, Big Technology, @smorgasboredom and @markstenberg3

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

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 »

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 …

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

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: @appannie and @stathis65

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More News:

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

Discussion: MediaPost, Radio & Television …, GlobeNewswire and FierceVideo

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

Discussion: @yungefe4k and The Wrap

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

Discussion: @business, @emilychangtv 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

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: TVEUROPE, Digital TV Europe, Broadband TV News, Media Play News and Advanced Television

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

Discussion: @zenpeacekeeper, @elliotjaystocks, @nytimesarts, Context is King and @mrb

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

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

From Techmeme:

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

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

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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