Mediagazer: A look at Subtext, a messaging service used by BuzzFeed, NPR, and others, that helps reporters form closer bonds with readers via subscriptions to their SMS (Hanaa' Tameez/Nieman Lab)

12:00 PM ET, February 6, 2021

Top News:

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

Fox News cancels Lou Dobbs Tonight on the Fox Business network and is expected to part ways with the pro-Trump host; Dobbs is still under contract for now — Fox News has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the program hosted by television's staunchest supporter of Donald Trump and of his assertions …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, @brianstelter, Mother Jones, Media Matters for America, @brianstelter, Washington Post, National Review, Slate, The Week, @parkermolloy, @film_girl, @bgrueskin, @bernybelvedere, @sacca, The A.V. Club, @helenkennedy, The Daily Beast, @authorkimberley, @michaeldweiss, @rawstory, @kurtbardella, @georgehahn, @erikwemple, @johniadarola, @oliverdarcy, @ynb, @marcosbreton, @katiephang, @azi, @timobrien, @timobrien, @tedlieu, @sruhle, Mediaite, @eugene_scott, @jamessurowiecki, @adamgoldmannyt, @yashar, @ztpetrizzo, Newser, @johncardillo, @kitten0409, The Wrap, Friendly Atheist, @drdenagrayson, @glcarlstrom, @richmintz, Politico, @ritholtz, @toddstarnes, @senatorjen, @aaronblake, @matchity, @brownandbella, @erikwemple, @jeffjarvis, @gregpinelo, @green_footballs, @russbengtson, Associated Press, Reuters, Insider, Rolling Stone, Axios, TVNewser, Variety, The Daily Beast, TVLine, UPI, HuffPost, NPR, Boing Boing, Talking Biz News, Power Daily, Washington Post, Hollywood Reporter and Raw Story

Andy Mills:

Audio producer Andy Mills, a creator and co-star of the NYT podcast Caliphate whose behavior has come under sustained scrutiny, has resigned — Today I'm resigning from The New York Times. Those are not words I ever wanted to write. — Growing up, I never even imagined that I would get the chance …

The Daily Beast:

NYT says Donald McNeil Jr. is leaving the company, days after staffers complained to bosses about the handling of reports he used racist language on a trip — Multiple students who attended a Times-sponsored trip with Don McNeil in 2019 alleged that he used racist slurs throughout the journey.

The Daily Beast:

Sources: NYT's Rukmini Callimachi has been re-assigned to cover higher education following the Caliphate scandal — The Pulitzer finalist who came to fame via her Middle East coverage is moving to a vastly different beat following the scandal over her largely debunked podcast.

Discussion: Yahoo News, @elissanadworny, @wajahatali, @johnriordangee and @cquintanadc

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

OANN is airing a three-hour “election fraud” film by MyPillow CEO with a disclaimer that it doesn't endorse any statements made about Dominion or Smartmatic — Trump-loving One America News is airing a special the touts conspiracy theories being peddled by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell …

Discussion: New York Times, Mother Jones, @shawnlindley2, @kremlinsfiddle, @rogerswork, @eshap, @poniewozik, Law & Crime, Mediaite, @alyssam_infosec, New York Times, @davidfolkenflik, @existentialfish, @mattgertz, @mattgertz, Business Insider France, The Week and The Hill

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Democrats' Sec. 230 bill is a dumpster fire of cluelessness that effectively wipes out protections for the entire internet while pretending it's a minor change — For the past few months we've been seeing a ton of terrible/ridiculous/awful/unconstitutio nal bills coming from mostly Republicans …

Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:
Democratic senators' SAFE TECH Act will strip Section 230 immunity for any ads or posts violating civil rights, antitrust, cyberstalking, human rights laws

Discussion: @mmasnick, Gizmodo, @dellcam, @dellcam, @decunningham2, @dellcam, @mattyglesias, @dellcam, @marcorandazza, @jeffjarvis, @hodgesmr, @issielapowsky, @glassbottommeg, @dandotlewis, @issielapowsky, Techdirt and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

By turning their spotlight onto Marjorie Taylor Greene's abhorrent views, major outlets are turning the freshman lawmaker into a star and helping her fundraise — Marjorie Taylor Greene's backstory was no secret. — Before she became the congresswoman representing Georgia's 14th District …

Discussion: @gsorensen, @jayrosen_nyu, The Guardian, @jasonhirschhorn, @markberman, @eugene_scott, @_cingraham, @mehdirhasan, @david_hemond, @froomkin, @brianstelter, Slate, Reason, Off The Mall, The Hill and CNBC

Alex Kantrowitz / OneZero:

Interview with Glenn Greenwald on the benefits of Substack and content moderation, including whether Joe Rogan should have hosted Alex Jones — 'They're going to have to prepare now about how to resist the onslaught that absolutely will be coming in their direction' … In

Discussion: Big Technology, The Grid, @kantrowitz and @kantrowitz

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Journalists at the New York Daily News have formed a union under the NewsGuild of New York, asking for voluntary recognition from Tribune — The organizing effort at the century-old tabloid comes roughly 25 years after its editorial union was effectively broken.

Tim Cross / VideoWeek:

Ad tech company Magnite, formerly Rubicon Project, to acquire SpotX, a platform for connected TV and video advertising, from RTL Group for $1.17B — Supply-side platform Magnite announced this morning it has agreed a deal to acquire sell-side video platform SpotX from European media group RTL …

Discussion: @magnite, Variety, CNBC, Magnite, @mediamath, @anthonykatsur, @kghufran, Ad Age, @davemorgannyc, Beet.TV, Radio & Television …, FierceVideo, AdExchanger, LUMA Partners, Adweek and Digital TV Europe

Todd Spangler / Variety:

UMG pulled its music catalog from video-sharing app Triller, saying Triller won't negotiate a licensing deal; Triller says it “has no use for a licensing deal” — The war of words between Ryan Kavanaugh's Triller and Universal Music Group escalated Friday, after UMG pulled …

Discussion: Pitchfork, Billboard, @ogxtp, @pitchfork, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Engadget and Music Business Worldwide

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

A look at Subtext, a messaging service used by BuzzFeed, NPR, and others, that helps reporters form closer bonds with readers via subscriptions to their SMS — At the beginning of the pandemic (remember the beginning?) it seemed as if every news outlet in existence was launching …

Discussion: @markstenberg3, @sinclaircornell, @ylichterman, @rasmus_kleis, @joinsubtext and @ylichterman

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 12:00 PM ET, February 6, 2021.

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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

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More News:

Reporters Without Borders:
Twitter baselessly suspended the accounts of a South African weekly and of four journalists criticizing the decision, and attributed the error to automation

Discussion: @llopezgonzalez, @simonallison, @risj_oxford and @thecontinent_

Washington Post:
Stephen Totilo, EIC of gaming news site Kotaku, announced his departure Friday; he plans a month-long break and then a return to games journalism

Discussion: Kotaku and @genepark

Micah Singleton / Billboard:
Sources: SoundCloud is preparing to introduce a new payment system that would allow users to pay artists directly

Discussion: @micahsingleton, @martinsfp, @iamntyrell, @mrtomgray and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Biden will revive weekly “radio” address, to be posted on YouTube and other platforms, sometimes with him talking to guests in the informal style of podcasts

Discussion: @djjudd, The Guardian, @green_footballs, @kat4obama, @howardmortman, @knx1070, @stewest, @timnaftali, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, @digiphile and @froomkin

Chris Stokel-Walker / WIRED UK:
TikTok's launch on Android TVs in France, Germany, and the UK yesterday is part of its push to diversify its audience and bring its stars into the mainstream

Discussion: @stokel, @psythor, @brendangahan, @evafogdk and Android Police

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Snap says its TikTok competitor Spotlight had 100M MAUs in January, two months after its launch, and receives an average of 175K video submissions per day

Discussion: CNN, @karissabe, @glenngabe, contextisking.com, CNBC, Marketing Dive, @verge, @megancgraham, @mattrosoff, Investor's Business Daily, Ad Age, Business Wire, Engadget and CNBC

Earlier Picks:

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty names Jamie Fly as president and CEO, who will resume leadership after being dismissed by Michael Pack in June

Discussion: @jamiemfly, @yascha_mounk, @defensebaron, Overtime, @jimswiftdc, @davidfolkenflik, @john_hudson, @karenkornbluh and @christopherjm

Lucy Fisher / Telegraph:
Source: in the past year, the UK has expelled three Chinese spies posing as journalists who purported to work for three different Chinese media agencies

Discussion: @rollandnadege, @baldingsworld, @economictimes, @shashj, @los_fisher, @shashj, @niubi, @donaldcclarke, @yatescomms and Al Jazeera

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Editor & Publisher gave permission to Internet Archive to digitize its full archives, making them easily searchable, a step that other newspapers should take

Discussion: @jeremycyoung, @jbenton, @media2070 and @internetarchive

Hamish McKenzie / Substack Blog:
Substack co-founder says Facebook and Twitter getting into paid newsletters is a positive thing for writers and the media ecosystem, implores them to go all in

Discussion: @davewiner, @davewiner, @andrewchen, @joshsternberg, @quinnypig, Sub Pub, @hamishmckenzie, @firstadopter, @ericnewcomer, @substackinc, @jaycodon, @safyhallanfarah, xo Linda and @simonowens

Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
In NLRB filings, WGAE says G/O Media management broke law by telling staff it fired Gizmodo's Alex Cranz to retaliate for her discussion of working conditions

Discussion: @wgaeast, @josheidelson, @mattdpearce, @josheidelson and Talking Biz News

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

Esha Dey / Bloomberg:
Tesla's shares are up 73% since Election Day, as several analysts see the Trump administration easing rules for self-driving tech, benefiting Tesla's ambitions

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Exploring the scaling challenges of transformer-based LLMs in efficiently processing large amounts of text, as well as potential solutions, such as RAG systems

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