Top News:
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
The controversies around Substack miss the point that it is just a tool for sovereign writers, who are in control as the users pay them directly — Manage your Stratechery subscription. — There has been a bit of controversy around Substack over the last week; I'm not going to get into the specifics …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @razibkhan, @caseynewton, @karlbode, @kerrymflynn, @dhh, @kantrowitz, @them_l_g, @jamessurowiecki, @alex, @notjessewalker, @mathewi, @timodc, @asymmetricinfo, @ericnewcomer, @tomgara, @mattzeitlin, @mattyglesias, @benyt, @stratechery, @mattyglesias, @adamconover, @bernybelvedere, @andreablythe, @annehelen and @annehelen
RELATED:
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
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:
@davidsirota, American Press Institute, Let Your Life Speak, tiny driver, @wajahatali, TK News, Tales from the jar side, The Lizzie Wade Weekly, @sianysianysiany, What's New in Publishing, TBQ Talks, @alexwilliams, Friendmendations, Here for It w/ R. Eric Thomas, @karrieurbanist, Two Kinds of Intelligence, @pkafka, Freddie deBoer, @davidsirota, Cover your bases, The Starting Block, @benyt, Protocol, Memex 1.1, @hautepop, @micsolana, @adamdavidson, @sadydoyle, Noahpinion, @davidgerard, @nishachittal, Singal-Minded, @jason, @adamweinstein, @jimmydonofrio, @dannypage, @themadstone, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @themadstone, @travelinganna, @rsingel, @petersterne, @petersterne, @ubiquity75, @travelinganna, @themadstone, @mattyglesias, @samraskinz, @manymanywords, @mathewi, @therealbradbabs, @patdennis, @stevekrak, @dannypage and Today in Tabs
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, @reemkhurshid, @nicdawes, @jayrosen_nyu, @craignewmark, @mtaibbi, New Republic, @perrybaconjr, @caseynewton, @jayrosen_nyu and @mlcalderone
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 …
Discussion:
The Corsair, @espiers, @maggienyt, The Guardian, @eugene_scott, @espiers, @hofrench, @sulliview, @eshalegal, @hkanji, @katherinespiers, @ryangrim, @sarthakgh, @mathewi, @espiers, @harryh, @them_l_g, @cathyreisenwitz, @stevebattaglio, @natashaldaly, @jbflint, @ldobsonhughes, @sierratishgart, @edmundlee, @nishachittal, @brosandprose, @bananapeele and @annehelen
RELATED:
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:
@wikimedia, @mediaevan, CNET, Engadget, The Verge, 9to5Mac and The Mozilla Blog
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.
Steven Perlberg / Insider:
Fortune, which has around 30,000 digital subscribers, lost ~$10M last year, due to implosion of live events business, which accounted for 30%+ of its revenue — - Fortune's owner gave it a $9.6 million lifeline during the pandemic. — The editorial union is fighting management over byline counts and diversity measures.
Discussion:
nyguild.org
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.
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
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
YouTube confirms it is testing a feature in the US that automatically detects products in videos and provides related content links — As part of one of YouTube's latest experiments, the video-sharing platform looks to expand beyond the “Products in this Video” feature that auto-detects specific items …
Discussion:
The Verge
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Budget TV maker Vizio, planning an NYSE IPO, is pitching investors on its growing ad and streaming businesses, driven by SmartCast, which has 12.2M accounts — - Vizio plans to sell shares in next week's IPO at $21 to $23 each, giving it a valuation of $4.2 billion at the top end of the range.
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
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
YouTube star David Dobrik, a co-founder of photo app Dispo, has lost several brand sponsors after claims of sexual assault by a member of Vlog Squad in 2018 — A YouTuber famous for his prank videos has lost multiple advertising sponsors, and fans, this past week.
Discussion:
@sparkcapital, The Information, Insider, TechCrunch, @sparkcapital, Variety, Mashable, The Verge, @kateclarktweets, Axios, @taylorlorenz, E! Online, @ashkan, @lynnshawprod, @taylorlorenz, @annehummert and @nytimes, more at Techmeme »