Top News:
Ev Williams / Medium:
Medium announces buyout offers to everyone in its editorial division and the departure of Siobhan O'Connor, VP of editorial, as it adjusts publication strategy — We announced a buyout and leadership change to the Medium editorial team today. Below is the email I sent to the company. — Team,
Discussion:
VICE, New York Times, Medialyte, @joshsternberg, @benyt, The Hill, @ev, @jkottke, Goodwill factories, @ryanlawler, @rmac18, @melissaryan, @benedictevans, @raju, @alexckaufman, @dansinker, @harrymccracken, @katie_robertson, @carnage4life, @sarthakgh, @constar24, @stokel, The Muffin por Mauricio …, @lmatsakis, @bigblackjacobin, @hcmarks, @peterbale, @readdanwrite, @yaelwrites, @jasonhowell, @vice, @iankar_, @mbaram, @brookeobie, @benyt, @jason_koebler, @ryanlawler, @jayrosen_nyu, @waywardwinifred, @rmac18, @alexeheath, @smashdawg, @alexeheath, @themadstone, @hshaban, @bdeskin, @thecitywanderer, @adamwren, @timmaughan, @jfagone, @helaineolen, @jathansadowski, @tamigraph, @robpegoraro, @rvoronacote, @devindra, @navalang, @parismarx, @ow, @davezatz, @stephaniemlee, @anthony, @tomkrazit, @grahamstarr, @mrmisocainea, @micahsingleton, @lukeepplin, @pierce, @kerrymflynn, @thekenyeung, @warmoth, @thekenyeung, @caseynewton, @kerrymflynn, @thekenyeung, @thekenyeung, @alex, @caseynewton, @alexeheath, @lanceulanoff, @aarieff, @mcwm, @s_m_i, @clarajeffery, Insider, The Wrap, Jezebel, The Information and Pew Research Center, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE: Medium Tells Journalists to Feel Free to Quit After Busting Union Drive
Katie Robertson / New York Times: Medium Offers Buyouts to Editorial Employees
Mark Stenberg / Medialyte: The Medium pivot is the message
Josh Sternberg / @joshsternberg: @benyt one could also say it's also why ad-supported media exists? medium never went in on ads. it looked great for readers (which i wish more outlets did) and had great journalism, but subscriptions can't support what they were trying to do.
Ben Smith / @benyt: This is the big challenge for existing publications — do you try to block it, or find ways to capitalize on it: https://twitter.com/...
Thomas Moore / The Hill: Medium offers entire editorial staff buyouts
Jason Kottke / @jkottke: https://kottke.org/ Editorial Team Update. I will continue to forgo publishing on platforms with ever-shifting strategies, morals, and agreements in favor of my patchwork “system” of publishing tools held together with chewing gum. At least it's *my* chewing gum.
Brent Jensen / Goodwill factories: Let's Talk About Medium
Ryan Lawler / @ryanlawler: Medium's decision not to go the picks and shovels route, when there was white space in the market and it was clearly the best publishing platform out there, is one of the most confounding things about it https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18: That Ev Williams statement is a performance in corporate jargon uselessness masquerading as empathy.
Melissa Ryan / @melissaryan: I hate this all so much. I've always liked Medium as a platform but this is no way to treat people. And it keeps happening. Also, union-busting is disgusting. https://www.vice.com/...
Benedict Evans / @benedictevans: It's kind of weird how Medium has been both hugely successful and a serial failure, and had both had a really clear vision of what it wanted to do and no idea at all. https://ev.medium.com/...
Raju Narisetti / @raju: The sixth pivot? @Medium is offering all editorial employees the option to “get off this crazy ride” in the form of a voluntary severance program: ‘voluntary exit’ offer comes weeks after failed union drive https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...? via @businessinsider
Alexander Kaufman / @alexckaufman: Medium publications like @ozm and @GENmag did such exceptional reporting. What a shame to see @ev pivot away from original work. I have to imagine the staff's narrow union defeat just a few weeks ago had something to do with this, which is gross. https://ev.medium.com/...
@dansinker: How many times has Medium tried and then walked back in-house publications? Is this the third? The fourth? Maybe, hear me out here, they're just really bad at it? https://ev.medium.com/...
Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken: Is this the end of OneZero? Hope not—it's a gem. https://ev.medium.com/...
Katie Robertson / @katie_robertson: Medium editorial staff were told they did not have to accept the voluntary buyouts, but their jobs were not likely to stay the same https://www.nytimes.com/...
Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life: Working in digital media is like working at a Blockbuster store in 2010, the writings on the wall. Some can go work at GameStop (NYT/WaPo) but even that just buys a few years before they're significantly disrupted as well (see Substack). https://www.nytimes.com/...
Sar Haribhakti / @sarthakgh: Medium's continuous pivot into becoming a version of Substack continues https://ev.medium.com/...
Constance Vigilance / @constar24: Wow. WOW. Medium is awful for this on so many levels. https://twitter.com/...
Chris Stokel-Walker / @stokel: Yikes. Huge sympathies to those doing amazing journalism on Medium, including many I've worked with https://www.vice.com/...
Mauricio Cabrera / The Muffin por Mauricio Cabrera: ¿Por qué Medium es un fracaso?
Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis: It's hard to overstate how much I have admired what @ozm built. An amazing team of journalists that pushed the boundaries of tech coverage, regularly published stories I was intensely jealous of, and innovated in ways other tech pubs couldn't or wouldn't
Edward Ongweso Jr / @bigblackjacobin: Ev Williams' pivot to a Substack model has NO connection to the recently busted union drive! It is NOT the latest example of a rich media owner who thinks he understands the industry better than workers inside it! https://www.vice.com/...
@peterbale: @benedictevans Very well put. As with many platforms it was never satisfied with being a platform and tried to gravitate to being a publication. In the process it lost its way and irked all those publishers who switched to it as a platform.
@yaelwrites: Medium canceling all of its great publications in what's likely a retaliatory move in response to union organizing is pretty depressing. https://ev.medium.com/... 1/6
Jason Howell / @jasonhowell: I am incredibly bummed about this news. @ozm has a lot of incredibly talented people contributing to it and as a reader and a fan, I thought it was working. This feels incredibly shortsighted. https://ev.medium.com/...
@vice: New: After what workers describe as a successful union-busting campaign, Medium's Ev Williams has announced to journalists who work for him that they should feel free to go. https://www.vice.com/...
Ian Kar / @iankar_: How many times has this happened at medium now? and how many times will they get to try, hire a bunch of writers, and fail? IMO Medium is an incredible piece of technology trying to figure out a business. Selling the CMS tech B2B would be a great one /1 https://twitter.com/...
Marcus Baram / @mbaram: @RMac18 he's such a tool how about stop being an impatient brat and let your new publications like @ozm keep pumping out great content and build an audience? sometimes that takes time it's not about instant gratification or success
Brooke Obie / @brookeobie: Please take care of yourselves because these companies will choose themselves over and over and leave you in the dust and frame it like theyre doing you a favor. https://www.vice.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: This is really about the triumph of individual stars/"talent" over publications/brands/bundles https://twitter.com/...
Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler: an all-time bad email https://www.vice.com/...
Ryan Lawler / @ryanlawler: For a short period of time, Medium allowed custom domains and I was so excited about the possibility of using it as a CMS and web host with just a small amount of customization, and for whatever reason they just... never went there.
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: I am thankful I listened to @davewiner in 2004, who taught me to always keep my independent place on the web — PressThink — at an address I owned. No matter what the enticement. https://ev.medium.com/...
Fred / @waywardwinifred: Ev should be honest and admit that he's a union buster and that he's overhauling the business model to more effectively compete with @SubstackInc. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18: Be up front with people. Are they going to lose their jobs and if so, why? And what mistakes did you make as a leader and majority shareholder?
Alex Heath / @alexeheath: During a virtual meeting with editorial staffers on Tuesday, company leaders acknowledged that the plan to offer buyouts wasn't in place before the drive to form the union, and that they wanted to give employees who weren't happy with their roles an option to leave
Jeremy Kaplan / @smashdawg: Another unfortunate chapter in the steady collapse of the online media industry https://www.vice.com/... via @vice
Alex Heath / @alexeheath: Deets on the Medium buyouts: Edit staffers were told today that the decision was the result of a failed effort by them to unionize. CEO Ev Williams said those who decide to stay could shift to support and edit individual writers on the platform. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
Maddie Stone / @themadstone: starting to feel like Silicon Valley's plan to disrupt journalism might, in fact, destroy it, and maybe that was the plan https://www.vice.com/...
Hamza Shaban / @hshaban: The inability of media bosses to communicate clearly, multiplying the cruelty... https://twitter.com/...
Blake Eskin / @bdeskin: “This is, it should be noted, the second time Williams has destroyed all of Medium's publications.” Didn't expect it would be unions, but I did expect this #foolmetwice https://www.vice.com/...
Rebecca Baird-Remba / @thecitywanderer: @bigblackjacobin I guess offering buyouts is better than just giving people the axe, at least
Adam Wren / @adamwren: “Some staff members wept on the video call, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting, who were not authorized to speak publicly.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Tim Maughan / @timmaughan: yeah I didn't want to say anything about the union busting there b/c I've only heard it from colleagues, but read this: https://twitter.com/...
Jason Fagone / @jfagone: How many times has this guy hired teams of talented journalists, and made them promises, only to get bored and fire them a short time later when he couldn't “figure out the model” or whatever? https://ev.medium.com/...
Helaine Olen / @helaineolen: At some point, the new biz will run out of people who are convinced they can make a buck on it. Then what? https://twitter.com/...
Jathan Sadowski / @jathansadowski: A lot of Silicon Valley bullshit here just to say “As owners, we fear that professionalized and unionized workers threaten our power and profits. So we're nipping it in the bud by firing them.” https://ev.medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Tamara Kneese / @tamigraph: Medium is becoming Substack to crush their union, got it https://ev.medium.com/...
Rob Pegoraro / @robpegoraro: It takes a lot to make Facebook start to look like a more reliable platform for journalism, but Medium CEO Ev Williams is well on his way to doing that with his latest pivot, that word here being corpspeak for “leaving a lot of journalists out on the street.” https://twitter.com/...
Rachel Vorona Cote / @rvoronacote: This announcement stinks of greed and caprice and union-busting. https://twitter.com/...
Devindra Hardawar / @devindra: Absolutely heartbreaking https://twitter.com/...
Navneet Alang / @navalang: This sucks. And it especially sucks to see tech ppl with money cycle through people and publications like they're apps https://twitter.com/...
Paris Marx / @parismarx: medium workers: we're gonna unionize! @ev: no you're fucking not https://twitter.com/...
@ow: Medium seems to be pivoting AGAIN to the Substack model? This is a huge bummer, they assembled a bunch of the best writers for their in house publications and seem to be just....giving up (again?) https://ev.medium.com/...
Dave Zatz / @davezatz: These guys have pivoted the same number of degrees as Tony Hawk's final Ollie 540. https://twitter.com/...
Stephanie M. Lee / @stephaniemlee: time for yet another Major Medium Pivot... the great journalists there don't deserve such a destabilizing environment https://ev.medium.com/...
Anthony DeRosa / @anthony: “the Medium subscriber base has continued to grow, while our publication's audiences haven't” - @ev https://ev.medium.com/...
Tom Krazit / @tomkrazit: There's no reason for any editorial person to ever trust this company again, especially with the rise of new options for self-publishing. How many times do you have to watch the same cycle play out? https://twitter.com/...
Graham Starr / @grahamstarr: This is the 3rd (?) time in what feels like the same number of years that Ev Williams has decided to once again hard pivot Medium and hurt hundreds of journalists, employees and stakeholders in the process. https://ev.medium.com/...
Stephen Randall / @mrmisocainea: “I think a significant factor is that the role of publications — in the world, not just on Medium — has decreased in the modern era. I don't mean the role of professional editorial, but the idea of an imprimatur that establishes credibility or trust.” https://ev.medium.com/...
Micah Singleton / @micahsingleton: This is bad and awful for all the journalists involved. This is the second time Medium has gutted its editorial team. Those journalists deserve far better than this https://ev.medium.com/...
Luke Epplin / @lukeepplin: Paragraphs like this one, from Medium's announcement that it's breaking up its publications, makes my heart hurt. https://ev.medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
David Pierce / @pierce: There are so many good journalists doing so much good work at Medium, and it really sucks to see it reduced to “not every story paid for itself so we're shutting it down” https://ev.medium.com/...
@kerrymflynn: Medium spokesperson statement that summarizes what @ev wrote today: https://ev.medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ken Yeung / @thekenyeung: This is awful. I'm sorry for Medium's editorial team. If you're looking to hire editors and writers, I'm sure there will be some folks looking soon.
Brian Warmoth / @warmoth: Editorial strategy getting re-baked at Medium https://ev.medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ken Yeung / @thekenyeung: On Medium's pubs: “we had no illusion these publications were going to pay for themselves in the short term. The bet was that we could develop these brands, and they would develop loyal audiences that would grow the overall Medium subscriber base.”
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@kerrymflynn: @ev Hi @ev, read through your post but a bit confused. Can you clarify what this actually means for the editorial jobs and the publications? For those who don't choose the voluntary buyouts, what happens?
Ken Yeung / @thekenyeung: A good point from @kerrymflynn, there's nothing in Ev's post about what happens to those that don't voluntarily part ways with Medium...will there be mass layoffs? https://twitter.com/...
Ken Yeung / @thekenyeung: “What's happened, though, is the Medium subscriber base has continued to grow, while our publication's audiences haven't. There are many potential reasons for this, which we could debate.”
@alex: I don't know what this means - are the great medium pubs I like being slimmed? Shut down? https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: It's very rare to see a Silicon Valley company managed as poorly as Medium for such a long time. I feel awful for all the great journalists who have worked there over the years, who deserve so much better than this https://ev.medium.com/...
Alex Heath / @alexeheath: Medium pivots again, this time by offering buyouts to all of the journalists it has hired over the past few years to focus on a more Substack-like model. VP of Editorial Siobhan O'Connor is leaving too. https://ev.medium.com/...
Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff: Wow, a big shift a @Medium, a platform where the majority of my new content now lives. If I'm reading this correctly, the topic pub/brands they've built are being deprecated as O/O editorial entities, but will live on with contributions from, I think, writers like myself. https://twitter.com/...
Allison Arieff / @aarieff: Isn't this the 3rd or 4th time @Medium failed to figure out how to fund journalism? (at the expense of really smart editors & writers who put their trust in it) https://twitter.com/...
Mike Murphy / @mcwm: time is a flat circle https://twitter.com/...
Stacy-Marie Ishmael / @s_m_i: has anyone done the definitive timeline of how many times Medium has changed its editorial strategy and what the messaging was each time https://ev.medium.com/...
Clara Jeffery / @clarajeffery: .@medium is pivoting, and tossing pubs in the bin, again: https://twitter.com/...
Tyler Sonnemaker / Insider: Medium offers employees ‘voluntary exit’ weeks after failed union drive as it abandons yet another business model
Ross A. Lincoln / The Wrap: Medium Pivots Again, Offers Voluntary Buyouts to Editorial Staff
Justice Namaste / Jezebel: What Even Is Medium Anyway? — On Tuesday, Medium CEO Ev Williams announced to the entire staff …
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Analysis finds 87% of COVID-19 coverage in the national US media last year was negative, compared to 51% in international media and 64% in scientific journals — The U.S. media is offering a different picture of Covid-19 from science journals or the international media, a study finds.
Discussion:
@dleonhardt, @dkthomp, @halsparks, @mpolikoff, @ericboehlert, @rogerpielkejr, @bmorrissey, @jonfavs, @elaberwarren, @neilcybart, @mallarytenore, @raju, @asymco, @dleonhardt, @kushal_mehra, @mulvihill79, @chrisvanderveen, @jayrosen_nyu, @picardonhealth, @jeromeadamsmd, @natesilver538, @sapinker, @jayrosen_nyu and @alisciaandrews
Discussion:
David Leonhardt / @dleonhardt: National U.S. publications and TV networks cover Covid news much more negatively than foreign media, scientific journals or regional media within the U.S. Why? 🧵 https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Derek Thompson / @dkthomp: The media's negativity bias deserves more attention, not because it's subtle, but because it's ubiquitous. Bad news bias is the nitrogen of the media ecosystem. You can go years without seeing or thinking about it but its implications are weird and important and worth theorizing https://twitter.com/...
Morgan Polikoff / @mpolikoff: A really interesting read (with education implications, I'd say) // Bad News Bias https://www.nytimes.com/...
Eric Boehlert / @ericboehlert: Trump's handling of Covid for all of 2020 was the most effing negligent and deadly govt action in modern American history and folks are wondering why the news coverage in US was “negative”?? https://twitter.com/...
Roger Pielke Jr / @rogerpielkejr: Bad News Bias “If we're constantly telling a negative story, we are not giving our audience the most accurate portrait of reality. We are shading it.” Now do climate @DLeonhardt https://www.nytimes.com/...
Brian Morrissey / @bmorrissey: Deaths are down 40% and likely will continue that trajectory and US is at herd before summer starts. It's ok to acknowledge, even celebrate, that brighter days are ahead. https://twitter.com/...
Jon Favreau / @jonfavs: “The most well-read U.S. media are outliers in terms of their negativity.” Our media is addicted to making us feel bad about everything. Great piece and study. https://twitter.com/...
Emily Laber-Warren / @elaberwarren: We US health journalists should do a little soul searching about this. Interesting study on the negative skew of many Covid-19 stories, even as the vaccines surprised us with their speed of development and efficacy https://www.nytimes.com/...
Neil Cybart / @neilcybart: Good thread on why COVID coverage here in the U.S. is too negative. Summary: People are drawn to bad news and too many journalists have let skepticism turn into cynicism in their search for truth. https://twitter.com/...
Mallary Tenore / @mallarytenore: The U.S. media is offering a different picture of Covid-19 from science journals or the international media, a study finds: https://messaging-custom-newsletters.ny times.com/ ...
Raju Narisetti / @raju: Bad News Bears The U.S. media is offering a very different picture of Covid-19 from that in science journals or the international media, a new study finds. https://www.nytimes.com/...? via @nytimes
Horace Dediu / @asymco: Betting against media coverage on COVID sounds super lucrative. https://twitter.com/...
David Leonhardt / @dleonhardt: ... our healthy skepticism can turn into reflexive cynicism, and we end up telling something less than the complete story because we don't weigh positive news and negative objectively. I worry that has sometimes happened with Covid. More here: https://www.nytimes.com/...
@kushal_mehra: Bad News Bias “If we're constantly telling a negative story, we are not giving our audience the most accurate portrait of reality. We are shading it.” Read this article. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Michael Mulvihill / @mulvihill79: Viewership growth during the pandemic year vs. prior 52 weeks: CNN +96% MSNBC +36% Fox News +18% https://twitter.com/...
Chris Vanderveen / @chrisvanderveen: When we, as journalists, fail to pursue context and good news as vigorously as anecdotes and bad news... ...we fail our audience and lead them to believe some things that simply aren't true. Crime, w/o context, is a perfect example. So too is COVID. https://twitter.com/...
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: COVID coverage by U.S. publications with a national audience “has been much more negative than coverage by any other source that the researchers analyzed, including scientific journals, major international publications and regional U.S. media.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Andr Picard / @picardonhealth: Bad News Bias: The U.S. media is offering a different picture of #Covid19 from science journals or the international media, a study finds, by @DLeonhardt https://www.nytimes.com/... via @nytimes #PandemicJournalism
Jerome Adams / @jeromeadamsmd: “91% of stories by U.S. media are negative in tone vs 54% for non-U.S. & 65% for science journals. The negativity of U.S. media is notable even in areas w/ positive developments eg school re-openings & vaccine trials...” Bad News Bias - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/...
Nate Silver / @natesilver538: Is it the Pfizer vaccine results that's the inflection point here—when COVID media coverage begins to become less negative—or is it the presidential election on 11/3? Hard to tell but if anything, the election would seem to line up slightly better with this data. https://twitter.com/...
Steven Pinker / @sapinker: Bad News Bias: I've argued (see linked tweet) that the media's negativity bias has poisoned people's commitment to liberal democratic institutions. I haven't pressed the point in 2020 because Covid truly was bad-but the bias is making things worse. https://www.nytimes.com/...
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Leaked memo: NYT is creating a system to approve outside work by its journalists, including newsletters, podcasts, book deals, or consulting on film projects — - A committee of Times leaders are expected to review outside work for journalists. — Both paid and unpaid newsletters may require approval from The Times.
Discussion:
@caseynewton, @kellyannepolls, @joshconstine, @lowenaffchen, @benthompson, @esportsguy, @ryanlawler, @jamesivings, @perlberg, @josephpalbanese, @nathanblawrence, @kantrowitz, @bendifrancesco, @mdekuijper, @scottbelsky, @mattyglesias, @edzitron, @mattdpearce, @yongfook, @errrica, @ranjanxroy, @jason, @whatthebit, @adamdavidson, @jacobwolf, @jarroddicker, @joshsternberg, @jamesfdennin, @wetcasements, @oliviasolon, @simonowens, @adriana_lacy, @loudmouthjulia, @baekdal, @mathewi and The Hill
Discussion:
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: Hearing that the New York Times just dropped the hammer on any new newsletters from staff, paid *or* free, unless they get prior approval from a committee. Paid I get; free I don't. Every reporter ought to have an email distribution list they can take wherever they want.
Kellyanne Conway / @kellyannepolls: What do we do about the reporters' Twitter feeds that read like newsletters? https://twitter.com/...
Josh Constine / @joshconstine: My #1 recommendation to journalists: negotiate having your own newsletter signup link in all your articles. I learned this tens of millions of page views too late. https://twitter.com/...
@lowenaffchen: the bernie campaign proved pretty conclusively that the organization suffers when a good chunk of the employees are there to harvest emails for their bullshit newsletter https://twitter.com/...
Ben Thompson / @benthompson: Welp, got this prediction out just in time 😅 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Avi Bhuiyan / @esportsguy: Legacy media corporations have strong incentives to try blocking talented individual writers from discovering their value in the market. Individual creators empowered by tech to disrupt corporations they once would have worked for is a trend that's not going away anytime soon. https://twitter.com/...
Ryan Lawler / @ryanlawler: Someone in management read the stratechery on substack I guess https://twitter.com/...
James Ivings / @jamesivings: Ugh, this is like the media equivalent of your boss telling you you're not allowed to work on your own side projects in your free time. Thanks, I hate it. https://twitter.com/...
Steven Perlberg / @perlberg: Weeks after the David Brooks mess, the New York Times is creating a new system to approve outside work, including paid and unpaid newsletters, books, podcasts, TV/film consulting. Here's the memo sent to staff today https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Jpa / @josephpalbanese: we built the @presubscribe bc we saw this coming. i think we'll just see more of this as media orgs have to compete with independence. support your favorite creators before they go independent. (they keep the email list and they can't shut it down 😉) https://presubscribe.me/ https://twitter.com/...
Nathan Lawrence / @nathanblawrence: I honestly assumed this was already a rule. Interesting. I mean, probably not good, but interesting. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: “The Times has been expanding its business in a wide array of multimedia activities, raising the chances that outside projects may compete with The Times itself.” https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Ben DiFrancesco / @bendifrancesco: This reminds me of companies that don't let their developers have side projects or contribute to open source. Massive negative selection bias. Guaranteed to filter out all the best talent. https://twitter.com/...
Martijn de Kuijper / @mdekuijper: What's the next step? Twitter accounts? Surely your subscriber list is more portable, but the audience is still your audience on Twitter. Weird decision by NYT. https://twitter.com/...
Scott Belsky / @scottbelsky: content is king/queen. and the future of creative economy is owning relationship with your own audience. platforms in the middle are not going to make this too easy... https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: I think this is smart. Frankly if I were the NYT I'd be moving sooner rather than later to start clamping down on my journalists' Twitter feeds too. https://twitter.com/...
Ed Zitron / @edzitron: All this to stop @MikeIsaac from having more ways to post https://twitter.com/...
Jon Yongfook / @yongfook: I'm glad I left my job and now run my own small business, so I don't have to hear the words “approval” and “committee” ever again. https://twitter.com/...
Erica Palan / @errrica: Interesting thread. Not sure where my opinion is yet but can't stop thinking about early days of social media at publications. It was the Wild West of people starting accounts using brand names. Not a direct comparison but ultimately individuals over brands won the day there. https://twitter.com/...
Ranjan / @ranjanxroy: Does anyone recognize it's the NYT platform that plays a huge role in growing that personal brand? https://twitter.com/...
@jason: Clearly the @NYTimes management is feeling the sting of @a16z's relentless efforts to use Substack and Clubhouse to compete against them. writers need permission for newsletters now — which makes total sense for the NYT! https://twitter.com/...
Stefan Constantine / @whatthebit: imagine your employer controlling every facet of your creative output https://twitter.com/...
Adam Davidson / @adamdavidson: This is part of the existential fight between publishers and writers. My guess: both lose overall. But many individual writers thrive. https://twitter.com/...
Jacob Wolf / @jacobwolf: This is really unfortunate. Agreed on paid — very much disagree on free. If NYT isn't going to give them a first-party newsletter (which would require staff help) and I'd like to hear more than their 280 character thoughts, I'd subscribe. Also, some use it to promote books. https://twitter.com/...
Josh Sternberg / @joshsternberg: @CaseyNewton i love how moments after this tweet i got taylor's newsletter linking to her most recent nyt story lol
James Dennin / @jamesfdennin: pretty cool that david brooks was doing undisclosed pay for play with facebook and now every nyt staffer who makes 1/4 of what he makes has to get their newsletters approved by a committee https://twitter.com/...
James / @wetcasements: @CaseyNewton I mean, David Brooks was cynically double-dipping all while giving lectures on how to be a good, moral person...
Olivia Solon / @oliviasolon: This makes sense to me, TBH. It's not about paid v free but about potentially expressing opinions about companies that might leave the media org open to accusations of bias. There are such strict rules governing accuracy and fairness in what we publish at work. https://twitter.com/...
Simon Owens / @simonowens: What's the material difference between a writer having a free newsletter and, say, a Twitter account or a Facebook page? This is absurd. https://twitter.com/...
Adriana Lacy / @adriana_lacy: I get newsletters about something you cover(I guess), but if you are a politics editor and moonlight as a free weekend cooking newsletter writer, who cares? https://twitter.com/...
Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia: This will happen at other newsrooms and it sucks. I've had people find out about my Verge stories because of the newsletter. If you're a beat reporter, and you want to write more -often for free- it's good business for everyone. Also!! A key way of developing sources. https://twitter.com/...
Thomas Baekdal / @baekdal: I had a discussion about this very thing with @MarcelaKunova @iroughol @penelopejones @qinxiesays about independent publishers. The best thing to do would be to start building up your direct audience now, but actions such as these makes it nearly impossible. https://twitter.com/...
Mathew Ingram / @mathewi: What about blogs? Oh right, no one has those any more. Never mind. Instagram account? TikTok? https://twitter.com/...
Thomas Moore / The Hill: New York Times committee to review staff's outside work
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Sources: HuffPost has picked Danielle Belton as its new EIC; Belton is currently the EIC at G/O Media's Black-focused news and culture outlet The Root — The left-leaning digital media pioneer will be helmed by The Root's current top editor Danielle Belton, The Daily Beast has learned.
Discussion:
Katie Robertson / New York Times: HuffPost Names Danielle Belton as New Top Editor
Thomas Moore / The Hill: HuffPost picks Danielle Belton as new editor-in-chief
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Ahead of House hearing, Mark Zuckerberg calls for Section 230 reform that makes protections conditional on platforms' ability to identify and remove content — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will tell lawmakers his plan for “thoughtful reform” of a key tech liability shield rests …
Discussion:
NBC News, MediaPost, @dylanbyers, CNBC, @reckless, @reckless, The Week, AppleInsider, CNBC, @pkafka, @dylanbyers, @matthewstoller, @baekdal, @notjessewalker, @matthewstoller, @pkafka, @margarethmcgill, The Verge and @mathewi, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Dylan Byers / @dylanbyers: NEW @NBCNews: In House testimony tomorrow, Mark Zuckerberg will propose Section 230 revisions that would require platforms to have systems in place for identifying unlawful content and removing it. The changes could further shore up Facebook's power. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Lauren Feiner / CNBC: Facebook's suggestion to reform internet law is a ‘masterful distraction,’ says Silicon Valley congresswoman
Nilay Patel / @reckless: Also left very unclear in this proposal is where the Office of 230 Compliance is located, who staffs it, and how often it checks every website that gets sued. Does it issue certificates? What happens in an actual defamation lawsuit that 230 would otherwise prevent?
Nilay Patel / @reckless: “Take 230 away from most of the small sites on the internet” is quite an idea from Facebook. https://www.theverge.com/...
Mike Peterson / AppleInsider: Google, Facebook CEOs testifying before Congress on Section 230 on Thursday
Lauren Feiner / CNBC: Here's what the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter will tell Congress about fighting misinformation
Peter Kafka / @pkafka: These systems already exist for copyright claims. But copyright is (relatively) straightforward. Figuring out which content is “unlawful” is... not. https://twitter.com/...
Dylan Byers / @dylanbyers: Key line from Zuckerberg: “Platforms should not be held liable if a particular piece of content evades its detection... but they should be required to have adequate systems in place to address unlawful content.” https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Matt Stoller / @matthewstoller: Mark Zuckerberg: We are only a “small part of the electoral ecosystem.” Also Mark Zuckerberg: “We ran the largest voting information campaign in American history.” https://docs.house.gov/... https://twitter.com/...
Thomas Baekdal / @baekdal: Yep. Existing platforms will be the only companies who could even do this. If this became law, nobody would ever be able to start anything new that could compete with Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
Jesse Walker / @notjessewalker: Facebook to Congress: We've put a lot of money and effort into building a content moderation system. Could you please require social media companies to have content moderation systems? https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Matt Stoller / @matthewstoller: Zuckerberg proposes an absurd micro-management system for Section 230 that will confuse and annoy everyone. F'ing ridiculous. Just repeal the whole thing. It's a bad law, admit it and let's move on. https://www.axios.com/...
Peter Kafka / @pkafka: If you were... cynical, you might suggest that what Facebook is really doing here is asking the government to do the very difficult task of spelling out what kind of “unlawful” content should be removed from Facebook, knowing that it's very unlikely it will ever do so.
Margaret Harding McGill / @margarethmcgill: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will tell lawmakers his idea for “thoughtful reform” of a key liability shield at hearing, w/ @ashleyrgold https://www.axios.com/...
Russell Brandom / The Verge: Mark Zuckerberg proposes limited 230 reforms ahead of congressional hearing
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Sources: WaPo is looking for a “Journalistic Unicorn” to replace Marty Baron, someone with his stature but a stronger connection to “journalists of tomorrow” — The most buzzed-about candidate isn't on the short list, as a trio of Times editors' names make the rounds.
Discussion:
Hamza Shaban / @hshaban: Earlier this month, the Post's union sent a letter to Publisher Fred Ryan, signed by ~200 people, requesting a forum for staff to ask questions and offer guidance on the search for a new editor. “That request has so far not been granted” Via @joepompeo https://www.vanityfair.com/...
Hamza Shaban / @hshaban: Vanity Fair reports that these are some of the people that have had at least preliminary conversations with management about the executive editor job at the Washington Post: https://www.vanityfair.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Eric Hartley / @ethartley: OK, OK. Everyone can stop dropping hints. I'll take the job. https://twitter.com/...
Michael Calderone / @mlcalderone: Good @joepompeo dive into WaPo succession: Three NYT editors are said to be in the mix, while Kevin Merida apparently isn't https://www.vanityfair.com/...
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LA Times says it has received a $10M PPP loan, its first during the pandemic, to help cover payroll and other costs amid a plunge in advertising revenue — The Los Angeles Times has received a $10-million loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program — money that will help cover payroll …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Post, @chadterhune, @logan_ratick, @politicsreid, @adriana_lacy, @dicktofel, @jessicamartinez, @adater, @megjameslat, @dtohl and The Wrap
Discussion:
Chad Terhune / @chadterhune: LA Times, owned by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, receives $10-million federal #PPP loan. One of his hospitals was approved for similar #COVID aid last year #journalism https://www.latimes.com/...
Logan Ratick / @logan_ratick: “The Los Angeles Times revealed late Tuesday that it is receiving a $10 million loan from the Paycheck Protection Program — the maximum allowed under a series of federal bailouts.” https://nypost.com/... via @nypost
Reid Wilson / @politicsreid: LA Times has received a $10m PPP loan to cover payroll costs amid big drop in ad revenue (subscribe!) https://www.latimes.com/...
Adriana Lacy / @adriana_lacy: The Los Angeles Times has received a $10-million loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program — money that will help cover payroll and other employee-related costs amid a dramatic plunge in advertising revenue https://www.latimes.com/...
Richard Tofel / @dicktofel: The real news here is at the end: even with all the cutbacks last year and with a macroeconomic recovery possible, it's already clear the LA Times will lose more than $10 million this year https://www.latimes.com/...
Jessica Martinez / @jessicamartinez: Almost a year later, this still really sucks: “The Times sold three community newspapers that it had shut down in April, laying off staff.” https://www.latimes.com/...
Adrian Dater / @adater: LA Times is owned by a multi-billionaire, takes government money https://www.latimes.com/...
Meg James / @megjameslat: Los Angeles Times receives $10-million PPP loan, which will bolster the paper's finances amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has devastated local news organizations. https://www.latimes.com/...
Danielle Ohl / @dtohl: Wonder if any @tribpub papers applied https://twitter.com/...
Ross A. Lincoln / The Wrap: Los Angeles Times Discloses $10 Million PPP Loan
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Jay Leno apologizes for jokes told over his career targeting Asian communities, saying it is not “another example of cancel culture but a legitimate wrong” — Late night host and comedian Jay Leno has issued an apology for a series of jokes told over his career targeting Asian communities.
Discussion:
Andrew Shuster / Mediaite: Jay Leno Apologizes for Past Jokes About Asians: Not ‘Cancel Culture’ But a ‘Legitimate Wrong ... On My Part’
Benjamin Lee / The Guardian: Jay Leno apologises for history of anti-Asian jokes: ‘A legitimate wrong’
Zack Sharf / IndieWire: Jay Leno Apologizes for History of Racist Asian Jokes: ‘I Thought Them to Be Harmless’ at the Time
Eric Haywood / @erichaywood: “Decades of jokes.” DECADES. https://twitter.com/...
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A deep look at HGTV, a top-four cable network since 2018, and how it handled two crises: COVID-19, which shuttered TV production, and the slow demise of cable — In the streaming era, does the network need to be more than wallpaper? — One morning last June, a dozen executives at HGTV …
Discussion:
Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff: Fascinating story on HGTV: How it got here (with @MrDrewScott and @JonathanScott's help) and where it's going (maybe with @LilJon's) https://www.newyorker.com/...
@discoveryinctv: At the end of a long day, the self-care we need is not a blockbuster, but rather real people in beautiful homes. Read more about the behind-the-scenes discussions where @hgtv executives contemplated the network's next steps in this evolving, streaming era. https://www.newyorker.com/...
@newyorker: Inside HGTV's “Project Thunder”—an initiative to introduce edgier, big-budget content to a network known for its straightforwardly comforting shows. https://nyer.cm/uZdIRYY
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Politico Playbook criticized for an item that cast Trump's administration as having been more transparent than Biden's on migrant detention at the border — Journalists, progressives, and others hammered Politico for a Playbook item that cast the Trump administration as having been more transparent …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, New Republic, @cam_joseph, @lizcgoodwin, Media Matters for America, Discourse Blog, @jackmirkinson, @bjoewolf, @fritschner, @jdawsey1, @jbendery, @dlind, @froomkin, @thetoddschulte, @juliancastro, @cam_joseph, @beijingpalmer, Columbia Journalism Review, @fritschner, @eclecticbrotha, @dlind and @donmoyn
Discussion:
Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America: A new analysis shows no migrant “surge” or border “crisis.” Here's how often broadcast news has said there is one.
Alex Shephard / New Republic: Why the Media Wants a Crisis at the Border
Cameron Joseph / @cam_joseph: Do... do the Playbook authors remember Trump barring reporters (and, hell, lawmakers) from child detention centers two years ago? https://twitter.com/...
Liz Goodwin / @lizcgoodwin: Odd to hold up the Trump administration as a beacon of media transparency on immigration. If you covered child separation in '18 you likely have angry emails from Trump officials denying that policy existed. There's no video of separations for a reason. From playbook https://twitter.com/...
Eric Kleefeld / Media Matters for America: Politico quoted Stephen Miller on immigration issues without noting his white nationalist background
Jack Mirkinson / Discourse Blog: There Is No Reason to Hand Stephen Miller a Microphone
Jack Mirkinson / @jackmirkinson: Stephen Miller going from “leading government fascist” to “trusted Politico source” in the span of about 8 weeks is a pretty great lesson in how the American establishment works
Brandon Wolf / @bjoewolf: Stephen Miller is a xenophobic bigot and a key architect of the hell that immigrants are living right now. Giving him column space to gaslight America is inexcusable. Do way better @playbookdc . https://twitter.com/...
Aaron Fritschner / @fritschner: Trump's family separations exploded on the national scene in June of 2018, precipitating events included implementation of zero tolerance in April, the ORR “lost children” story in May, and a denied attempt by Senator Merkley to visit the Brownsville detention facility on June 3. https://twitter.com/...
Josh Dawsey / @jdawsey1: During one trip to the border in 2019, Trump administration officials screamed at me — and other outlets — for disseminating photos of migrants we saw cramped in one smelly, packed, outdoor center in McAllen, Tx. Remember that @PamelaBrownCNN? https://twitter.com/...
Jennifer Bendery / @jbendery: this is so bad https://twitter.com/...
Dara Lind / @dlind: There was also the time when @mollyhf got yelled at for, IIRC, writing things down during a tour of a kids' facility?? Biden admin is being opaque, sure, but “Stephen Miller always wanted the press to cover the border as a crisis” didn't translate into actual access
Dan Froomkin / @froomkin: This thread provides a powerful example of how our most influential political reporters are so easily manipulated into rewriting history and rehabilitating fascists if they think it makes them look like they're tough on both sides. https://twitter.com/...
Todd Schulte / @thetoddschulte: 2nd time in a week Playbook has pushed out paragraphs with huge, clear factual inaccuracies on which they hang there thesis. Here they quote the architect or zero tolerance family separation; it's 100% false. This isn't me saying I disagree with premise. Clear facts are wrong. https://twitter.com/...
@juliancastro: Transparency at the border is something every administration should achieve. So it's ridiculous to let Stephen Miller cast himself as a paragon of this. He helped create the conditions we see today, and his claims here are just false. Embarrassing, @playbookdc. https://twitter.com/...
Cameron Joseph / @cam_joseph: The story they're linking to shows the opposite of what they're saying. Trump said he'd start allowing press into detention centers after the CBP BARRED THEM for years. They'd allowed press into ONE facility, after immense pressure. https://www.cnn.com/...
James Palmer / @beijingpalmer: I'm sorry, is this self-parody or are Politico really boasting about how cool it was being besties with Miller to see border propaganda? https://twitter.com/...
Aaron Fritschner / @fritschner: Hi @RyanLizza @EugeneDaniels2 @tarapalmeri @rachaelmbade, this is unmitigated bullshit, it just isn't true and it's astounding to see in print. Talk to your colleagues who covered this story at the time — what you have written here is just wildly false. https://twitter.com/...
Ragnarok Lobster / @eclecticbrotha: I still remember the vicious mockery heaped on AOC when she was photographed outside a detention center she and her group were barred from entering. https://twitter.com/...
Dara Lind / @dlind: ::stares in @Haleaziz being barred from a DHS reporting trip by the White House:: https://twitter.com/...
Don Moynihan / @donmoyn: People are dunking on Playbook for running this easily debunkable quote by Stephen Miller about media access, but TBF Trump DHS officials were illegally disclosing immigration status of criminals to Fox/Breitbart to bolster their “immigrant crime” coverage https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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Filings: Stewart Bainum Jr. offered $650M to purchase all of Tribune Publishing even as its board endorsed a $630M offer from Alden Global Capital — A Maryland businessman has offered $650 million to purchase all of Tribune Publishing, the parent of The Baltimore Sun …
Discussion:
@mcallguild: Alden Global Capital wants to ram through its deal even though its short-changing shareholders. Stewart Bainum's deal would pay more to shareholders AND set up the company for long-term sustainability and a model we support, not-for-profit. #savelocalnews https://twitter.com/...
Ben Estes / @benestes: Seriously, doesn't the board have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of its stockholders? https://twitter.com/...
@lizbowie: There's likely to be a lot more to this story. Maryland businessman bids $650 million for all of Tribune, including The Baltimore Sun https://www.baltimoresun.com/ ...
Josh Hermsmeyer / @friscojosh: Tough to choose a side here...More $ per share -> nonprofit, or less $ and sell to hedge fund ghouls. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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Germany-based music company BMG and investment firm KKR say they will partner to pursue recorded music, music publishing, and other music-rights acquisitions — The already-crowded music-catalog-acquisition business just got a formidable new player: Germany-based music company BMG …
Discussion:
Douglas Busvine / Reuters: Bertelsmann's BMG, KKR team up to acquire music rights
Cathy Applefeld Olson / Forbes: BMG, KKR Join Forces To Accelerate Music Catalog Acquisitions
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter: BMG, KKR to Partner on Music Rights Acquisitions