Mediagazer: Interview with Marty Baron on some of the controversies during his tenure at WaPo, how the paper covered Bezos, and what he wanted to achieve in Washington DC (Isaac Chotiner/New Yorker)

12:40 PM ET, February 8, 2021

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Automattic's enterprise-focused WordPress VIP says it is acquiring content analytics service Parse.ly — WordPress VIP (WPVIP), the enterprise arm of WordPress.com, is acquiring Parse.ly, a content analytics platform that's used by thousands of digital publishers.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, The Enterprise Content …, @dmitryshishkin, @joemfbrown, VentureBeat, @johnmlevitt and @sarafischer, more at Techmeme »

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Sources: Twitter is building subscription products to ease its dependence on ads, including “tipping” for exclusive content and charging for TweetDeck — - Internal groups are researching options users might pay for — Social network says ‘revenue durability’ is now top priority

Discussion: The Wrap, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, @joannastern, @kurtwagner8, The Verge, @walldo, @martinsfp, @imbeccable, @mathewi, @ryanlawler, @tonyromm, @trengriffin, 9to5Mac, @rafat, @mattnavarra and @mattnavarra, more at Techmeme »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Lawsuits from two election tech companies are now reining in right-wing media misinformation, after years of ad boycotts, public pressure campaigns, and outrage — Defamation cases have made waves across an uneasy right-wing media landscape, from Fox to Newsmax.

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

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Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

Interview with Marty Baron on some of the controversies during his tenure at WaPo, how the paper covered Bezos, and what he wanted to achieve in Washington DC — The soon-to-retire executive editor defends the idea of journalistic objectivity. “It's not neutrality, it's not both-sides-ism, it's not so-called balance,” he says.

Gordon Russell / The Advocate:

Louisiana AG Jeff Landry sues a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she filed — Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she filed …

Washington Post:

WaPo says readership of its tech coverage grew 40% in 2020 and it will add eight positions, based at its HQ and SF, growing its tech team to 27 — Added roles will be based in San Francisco and The Post's headquarters — The Washington Post today announced a significant expansion of its technology team …

Discussion: @edmundlee, @christinaasquit, @cpassariello and @kerrymflynn

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Sources: TikTok has briefed advertisers on new e-commerce tools launching in 2021, including letting popular users add links and earn commission — Viral video app set to unveil a suite of new online shopping tools — TikTok is planning an aggressive expansion into ecommerce in the US …

Discussion: Insider, @mshannahmurphy, Influencer Marketing Academy, Good TikTok Creative, @mattnavarra and Pandaily's Newsletter, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Hachette Book Group last month fired Kate Hartson, one of the few mainstream editors who published Trump die-hards like Trump Jr., Lewandowski, and Pirro — Top editors at Hachette have told employees that they've learned the lessons of the Capitol siege of Jan. 6: no hate speech, no incitement to violence, no false narratives.

Discussion: Insider, Letters from an American, @mariskreizman, @cgasparino, @benyt, Washington Post, @dankennedy_nu, @davecullen, @changinghands, @markszaidesq, @mgroppe, @benyt, @espiers and @paulwiggins

Nieman Lab:

Research: journalists who see the rise in misinfo as a threat to democracy are more likely to report using practices embracing transparency than accountability — Adapting to the misinformation era, journalists emphasize transparency in their daily practices — “Fake news” is an unfortunate phrase.

Discussion: @spj_tweets, @alexptachick and @janebsinger

Celine Castronuovo / The Hill:

Twitter permanently suspends the account of Jim Hoft, founder and EIC of far-right news website Gateway Pundit, for violations of its “civic integrity policy” — Twitter on Saturday issued a permanent suspension for the account run by Jim Hoft, founder and editor-in-chief …

Discussion: Forbes, New York Post, The Wrap, PRESS RUN, @keithbaldrey, @bostonjoan, @antisillypirate, RT, theepochtimes.com, CNN, Insider and Mediaite

Financial Times:

China charges Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked for a Chinese state TV channel, with leaking state secrets, six months after she was first detained — Cheng Lei worked for Chinese state television and had been held in secret for six months — Beijing has charged …

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, @yuanfenyang, Variety, The Indian Express, Al Jazeera, ABC, UPI and Axios

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:

Bustle Digital Group says it has 2M total email subscribers across 14 newsletters and plans to have 10M by the end of 2021 — Right now the conversations around newsletters are revolving around which journalist recently joined Substack and which hotshot business newsletter was recently acquired.

Discussion: @thekenyeung and @bradesposito

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