Mediagazer: CNN lost 45% of prime-time audience in the past 5 weeks and WaPo unique visitors fell 26% from Jan. to Feb., as outlets lose audience gained during Trump years (Paul Farhi/Washington Post)

6:15 PM ET, March 22, 2021

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Jay Rosen / PressThink:

A look at instances where journalistic practices have improved in response to the Trump years, such as providing better context in explaining officials' actions — Even after all that has happened from the escalator to the insurrection, you're worried that the American press has learned nothing from the Trump years.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @mtaibbi, @craignewmark, New Republic, @perrybaconjr, @caseynewton, @jayrosen_nyu, @nicdawes, @reemkhurshid and @mlcalderone

Ben Thompson / Stratechery:

The controversies around Substack miss the point that it is just a tool for sovereign writers, who are in control as they are paid directly by subscribers — Manage your Stratechery subscription. — There has been a bit of controversy around Substack over the last week …

Peter Kafka / Vox:
Substack is generating negative attention just when it faces competition from Facebook and Twitter to attract writers who want to make money from newsletters

Discussion: Freddie deBoer, Astral Codex Ten, Let Your Life Speak, @wajahatali, TK News, Tales from the jar side, American Press Institute, What's New in Publishing, Friendmendations, tiny driver, Two Kinds of Intelligence, We Have the Facts …, @davidsirota, The Lizzie Wade Weekly, The Starting Block, Here for It w/ R. Eric Thomas, @sianysianysiany, @alexwilliams, @pkafka, @karrieurbanist, TBQ Talks, Cover your bases, @benyt, Protocol, Memex 1.1, @micsolana, @adamdavidson, @sadydoyle, @hautepop, @davidgerard, @nishachittal, Singal-Minded, @jason, @adamweinstein, @jimmydonofrio, @dannypage, @themadstone, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @themadstone, @travelinganna, @rsingel, @petersterne, @petersterne, @ubiquity75, @travelinganna, @themadstone, @samraskinz, @manymanywords, @mathewi, @therealbradbabs, @patdennis, @stevekrak and @dannypage

John Koblin / New York Times:

Nielsen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show lost more than a million viewers, a decline of 43%, following Ellen's on-air apology in September — “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” a sturdy daytime hit, has had a steep ratings decline since the host addressed accusations by former staff members that led to firings and an internal investigation.

Discussion: Mediaite, @brooksbarnesnyt, The Week, @helaineolen, Decider, Jezebel, @thrasherxy, @kantrowitz, @jbflint, @martinemontreal, @bennettmadison, @nytstyles, @markberman, @koblin and @dylanbyers

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

CNN lost 45% of prime-time audience in the past 5 weeks and WaPo unique visitors fell 26% from Jan. to Feb., as outlets lose audience gained during Trump years — Of all Donald Trump's prophecies and predictions — that Mexico would pay for a border wall, that coronavirus would spontaneously disappear …

Discussion: Mediaite, @farhip, @muskrat_john, @tomgara, @daweiner, @benjaminramm, @jayrosen_nyu, @brannonmc, @jeffcannata, @dylanbyers, @jsaquella, @rasmussen_poll, @zaleskiluke, @hotlinejosh, @ggreenwald, @tomgara and @jtemple

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Interview with author Ibram Kendi, who is working with The Boston Globe on The Emancipator, an online publication with a seven-figure budget to cover racism — The author Ibram Kendi and The Boston Globe are teaming up to cover racism, inspired by Boston's 19th-century abolitionist newspapers.

Elizabeth Spiers / My New Band Is:

Conde used McCammond's tweets as an excuse to fire her because it can't fire Wintour, who inappropriately hired an EIC with no managerial or fashion experience — Conde Nast recently hired 27 year old political reporter Alexi McCammond to be the editor in chief of Teen Vogue and rescinded …

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

NYT had 840K games subscribers at the end of 2020, up 40% YoY, and more than 28M people had played one of its games last year, up 16% YoY — A veteran of FarmVille and Words With Friends looks to entice more subscribers with non-news diversions — The most searched-for terms …

Discussion: @fmanjoo, @xor, @carnage4life and @gerryfsmith

Julia La Roche / Yahoo Finance:

TIME Magazine to auction three covers as NFTs including one asking “Is Fiat Dead?” and plans to add a “pay by crypto” option for its subscribers within 30 days — TIME Magazine plans to lean into surging demand for digital currency and art, currently two of the hottest trends in the global economy.

Discussion: TIME, @benioff, @keithgrossman, @apompliano, @hunterw, @benioff, @ourielohayon, @patrick_oshag, @alex, Insider, The Verge, @julialaroche and Ad Age

Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:

Emotional viral TikTok videos are boosting book sales, like The Song of Achilles, which saw its sales jump about 9x after some book reading videos took off — “BookTok” videos are starting to influence publishers and best-seller lists, and the verklempt readers behind them are just as surprised as everyone else.

Discussion: @harpercollins, @mmeckel, @carlywatters, @taylorlorenz, @nytimesbooks, @jimmccarthy528, @nytimestech, @svershbow, @jakerosenfeld1, @brouillettese, @ulabeast, @nytimesbooks, Letterbox, @nytimes, @mathewi, Read With Sam Newsletter, bookforum.com and notes/NOTES/notes

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

In letter to FCC, Mozilla calls for a return to net neutrality, joined by Dropbox, Eventbrite, Reddit, Vimeo, and Wikimedia — - Firefox-maker Mozilla is leading a push for the Federal Communications Commission to swiftly reinstate net neutrality rules stripped away under the Trump administration.

Discussion: @mediaevan, @wikimedia, CNET and Engadget

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

A gender discrimination lawsuit against Disney, filed by two women in 2019, has been joined by eight other female Disney employees and adds pay secrecy claims — A claim that the company illegally prohibits employees from discussing pay has been added to a lawsuit accusing it of paying women less than men.

Discussion: @margotroosevelt, @cristina_cp24, Fast Company, Los Angeles Times and @blackamazon

Marcia Brown / American Prospect:

Activists say CNN aired a clip about a border crossing despite warnings it may have been staged, as outlets compete to frame the border situation as a “crisis” — An unusual video has been flagged by activists as deliberately manufactured to present a story of a border crisis …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Mother Jones, @ddayen, ABC News and @nycsouthpaw

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