Top News:
The Daily Beast:
In 2019, participants on a NYT trip with reporter Donald McNeil Jr. complained he used racist and sexist language; a probe was conducted and he was reprimanded — The paper's top COVID reporter joined a group of students on a trip to Peru in 2019. Participants alleged he repeatedly made racist comments.
Discussion:
New York Times, @elaheizadi, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Wrap, New York Post, @webster, @jljacobson, @erikwemple, @laikaspacedog, @kendrawrites, @lisang, @imillhiser, @blackamazon, @rgay, @feliciasonmez and @jakebackpack
Wall Street Journal:
NYT promotes Cliff Levy to deputy managing editor, where he will develop procedures to vet stories from the audio unit, following the Caliphate controversy — Cliff Levy is promoted to deputy managing editor, will develop procedures for vetting audio content in interim role
Discussion:
@erikwemple, @cliffordlevy, New York Times, MediaPost, @niemanlab, @jaketapper, @cliffordlevy, @marclacey, @nyttypos, Poynter and bookforum.com
Sarah Ellison / Washington Post:
WaPo, LAT, Reuters, Wired, Vox, and HuffPost are seeking new leadership as the pipeline from regional papers has slowed and promising stars have left the field — When Martin Baron announced his upcoming retirement from The Washington Post on Tuesday, it made clear what is either a crisis …
Discussion:
New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, Vanity Fair, The Interpreter, @nikkiusher, Washingtonian, @rasmus_kleis, @tball, @sarahkaplan48, @jaredbkeller, @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @sarahellison, @hankstuever, @sulliview, @mlcalderone, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis, @rosental, @ckristofic, @enrique_acevedo, @alexanderrusso and Axios
WRCB-TV:
A TV news crew was ejected from a town hall meeting with new US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Dalton, GA, and threatened with arrest after asking a question — A Channel 3 reporter and photojournalist were threatened with arrest after asking U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene a question during a town hall meeting in Dalton.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @calliestarnes, SPJ News, U.S. Representative …, @kylegriffin1, New York Magazine, @meredithawrcb, Between Rock and a Hard Place, @marybschneider, @evan_greer, @feliciasonmez, @digiphile, @washtimes, @rickfolbaum, @politicalinsidr, @briantylercohen, @bencjacobs, @johnmone, @mkraju, @jonssonville, @malbertnews, @bluestein, Politico, Mediaite, @calliestarnes, @murrownyc, Business Insider and Axios
Kathy Gannon / Associated Press:
Pakistan's Supreme Court orders release of the man convicted in the beheading of Daniel Pearl and dismisses the appeal of his acquittal — ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the release Thursday of a Pakistani-British man convicted and later acquitted in the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
Gene Park / Washington Post:
When journalists parachute in to report on an unfamiliar topic like video games, stereotypes and broad generalizations often obscure important issues — Reporters need to understand what video games are before they write stories about video games. That's because video games are more than just a medium.
Discussion:
@genepark, @whatthebit, @magmalemur, @dickymclaughlin, @jvenook, @genepark and @genepark
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Comcast Q4: Peacock has 33M sign-ups; cable revenue up 6.3% YoY to $15.B; NBCU revenue hit $7.5B, down from $9.15B a year ago, Sky revenue up 3.3% YoY to $5.2B — Comcast said fourth-quarter profit increased thanks to customer interest in broadband and wireless services …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, The Streamable, The Streamable, Deadline, The Wrap and The Wrap
Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:
ABC News President James Goldston is stepping down on March 31 after 17 years with the network — ABC News president James Goldston is stepping down after 17 years with the network. Of those 17 years, he spent seven as president. — In a memo to staff sent Thursday, he said his last day with the company will be March 31.
Bloomberg:
UK court rules that News UK can't claim back VAT paid on digital news services through 2016; digital news services have been exempt from VAT since May — A News Corp. unit won't be able to claw back six years of taxes on its digital news operations, a London court ruled on Thursday.
Caroline Davies / The Guardian:
The UK phone-hacking scandal, which resulted in the closure of the News of the World tabloid, will be turned into a TV drama titled Thank You & Goodbye — Series titled Thank You & Goodbye will detail fall of Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World — The News International phone-hacking scandal …
Discussion:
@mediaguy19 and The Wrap
Mariam Cheik-Hussein / AdNews:
Google added a pop-up to Search in Australia, pushing against the proposed news media bargaining code, which would make Google pay news publishers for links — Google is showing Search users in Australia a new pop-up to warn them about the implications of the news media bargaining code …
Discussion:
@nathanbazley, Angela Kehagiadis, EFTM and The Guardian
Jenny Singer / Glamour:
A look at the female Wikipedia editors working to make the site more equitable in terms of gender as ~90% of editors are men and ~20% of bios are about women — About 90% of the people who write Wikipedia are men. A brilliant team of women is making sure that we have a place in greatest collection of knowledge in human history.
Discussion:
@glamourmag, @timesupnow, @justnanaama and @wikimedia
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it expects to face “more significant advertising headwinds” in 2021, due to changes in iOS 14 and “the evolving regulatory landscape” — While Facebook's fourth quarter earnings report included solid user and revenue numbers, the company sounded a note of caution for 2021.
Discussion:
New York Times, CNBC, Facebook, @benedictevans, Fast Company, The Verge and Engadget
RELATED:
Elena Schneider / Politico:
US political campaigns say that bans by Facebook and Google on political ads have hamstrung them during a crucial fundraising window ahead of the 2022 midterms
US political campaigns say that bans by Facebook and Google on political ads have hamstrung them during a crucial fundraising window ahead of the 2022 midterms
Discussion:
Variety, @shiakapos, @kegan_r, @anotheracronym, @cbudoffbrown, @ec_schneider, @opensecretsdc, @k8thegr8est, @thestefansmith and @jigolden