Mediagazer: 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 (Jim VandeHei/Axios)

2:35 PM 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, PRESS RUN, New York Times, @maxwelltani, The Media Nut, @paulkrugman, @jeff_jacoby, @jayrosen_nyu, HuffPost, @jrubinblogger, @abdallah_fayyad, @erikwemple, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, @elaheizadi, The Federalist, @glcarlstrom, @piersmorgan, @jayrosen_nyu, @marlownyc, @samthielman, @caitleg, @benyt, @arifleischer, @maxkennerly, @wexler, @nycweboy, @tonydleonardi, @andizeisler, @wajahatali, @davidsirota, @sorayamcdonald, @elienyc, @futterish, @corb_the_lesser, @jeremypgordon, @megynkelly, @soledadobrien, @holmesjosh, @willmcavoyacn, @danpfeiffer, @eugene_scott, @katiehill4ca, @imleor, @clarajeffery, @maxwelltani, @bernybelvedere, @gina_goldberg, @adotsad, @justin_higgins2, @zac_petkanas, @senhorraposa, @jamisonfoser, @karlitaliliana, @gabby_hoffman, @sarahw, @nberlat, @jon_allsop, @emorwee, @tpcarney, @casmudde, @maxwelltani, @grace_segers, @susanbordson, @onlxn, @russcanread, @alqabadai, @blackamazon, @wagatwe, @kimcrayton1, @elienyc, @sethfriederman, @espiers, @libbycwatson, @erikwemple, Mediaite, The Hill, The Right Scoop and Daily Truth Report

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

Politico announces new members of its Playbook team, expanding from two writers to four: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, and Tara Palmeri — Facing stiffer competition, a new crew of writers—Ben Shapiro not included—is promising more scoops and scene as the O.G. political tip sheet reboots …

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, Washingtonian, @justinbaragona, @froomkin, @tarapalmeri, @rachaelmbade, @politicopress and The Federalist

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, @lpdonovan, @juddlegum, @sabrinasiddiqui, @benshapiro, Politico, @seungminkim, @jakesherman, @tarapalmeri, Media Matters for America, @wajahatali, Poynter, @dfriedman33, @alexkotch, @charlesppierce, @taradublinrocks, @johniadarola, @jbouie, @pwthornton, @lollardfish, @lollardfish, @gothamgirlblue, @stevedeaceshow, @mehdirhasan, @joshsternberg, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @danahoule, @sabrinasiddiqui, @green_footballs, @lollardfish, @meredithshiner, @slpng_giants, @froomkin, @jeffsharlet, @green_footballs, @justkelly_ok, @jonfavs, @jbouie, @katearonoff, @barry, @zachwritesstuff, @marcformarc, @theplumlinegs, @breenewsome, @soledadobrien, @mattnegrin, @mattzeitlin, @jeffhauser, @timodc, @jbarro, @mattzeitlin, @abrowngaywrites, @mattnegrin, @mattnegrin, @jonathanchait, @bridgeinit, @jbouie, @zackbeauchamp, @chrisgeidner, @shotpooter, @ryanlcooper, @zackbeauchamp, @jbouie, @tomscocca, @zackbeauchamp, @brianbeutler, @jbouie, @ravmabay, @scottnover, @froomkin, New York Magazine and The Wrap

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

As Snapchat starts competing with TikTok via its Spotlight program, some creators begin earning small fortunes and look for ways to expand — Top performers are raking in cash, as the company seeks to compete against TikTok and similar platforms. — In late November, Cam Casey …

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, Nieman Lab, @jayrosen_nyu, @juliewestfall, @mikeallen, @matt_pressman, @heidilegg, @mlcalderone, @charlesforelle and @bensherwood

The Information:

Sources: Apple is discussing launching a new subscription service that would charge people to listen to podcasts — Apple—long considered the sleeping giant in the podcast space—is waking up. The company, which runs the most widely used podcasting app in the industry …

Discussion: Reuters, XDA Developers, Bloomberg, AppleInsider, Engadget, MacRumors, @mgsiegler, @kantrowitz, @chrispirillo, @theinformation, 9to5Mac, @richlightshed, @nwquah, @jessicalessin, @niubi and @jbenton, more at Techmeme »

Nathan Bomey / USA Today:

Gannett CEO says the company, which passed 1M paid digital subscriptions in Q3 2020, is aiming for 10M subscribers within five years — Gannett, the owner of USA TODAY and more than 260 other daily publications, is aiming for 10 million paid digital subscriptions within five years, CEO Mike Reed said Thursday.

Discussion: @niemanlab

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, Boing Boing, @kantrowitz, @abbyatwork, @dlberes, @smorgasboredom, @markstenberg3 and Big Technology, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

BBC's next chairman Richard Sharp says he is not in favor of decriminalization of UK's license fee, describing it as the “least worst” option to fund the BBC — The BBC's next chairman, ex-banker Richard Sharp, has said its coverage of Brexit was “incredibly balanced” …

Discussion: @nogoodgods and @pressgazette

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 …, @awalkerinla, @sorayanelson, @kausmickey, @thebenbergman, @nwquah, @mollydacious, @akmcglinchy and @reblavoie

The Daily Beast:

Sources: Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are “disenchanted” with Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace; total viewership is down 15% YoY since Dec. 28 — OUTFOXED — Amid sagging ratings, Rupert Murdoch has taken a more hands-on role at Fox, perhaps portending the end …

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: MediaPost, Adweek, @kerrymflynn and Axios

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 2:35 PM ET, January 15, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: @appannie and @stathis65

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: @juddlegum, The World's Best Newsletter, @benyt, Columbia Journalism Review, @soledadobrien, @emrosenberg, @newsynick, @brianmrosenthal, @jesselehrich, @slpng_giants, @dictionarycom, @shitthepupsays, @rezaaslan, @simonowens, @lucas_shaw, @gerryfsmith and The Media Nut

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

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

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

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page