Top News:
Mel / @wearemel:
[Thread] Mel, the men's magazine backed by Unilever's Dollar Shave Club, is stopping publishing, ending its ties with Dollar Shave Club, and seeking a new owner — Some news: After six years of successful partnership and transforming the men's health and media spaces for the better, MEL and Dollar Shave Club's financial relationship will come to an end in 60 days.
Discussion:
@perlberg, Insider, @danielleiat, @hshaban, @grimkim, @eileenguo, @milesklee, @chrislhayes, @bykellycohen, @lfitzmaurice, @raxkingisdead, @blakehounshell, @alanalevinson, @weischoice, @margarita, @annehelen, @walldo, @edzitron, @zaron3, @alanalevinson, @lindsaygoldwert, @pfpicardi, @kantrowitz, @manymanywords, @bradesposito, @pappademas, @oneunderscore__, @maxwelltani, @madeleinecholia, @alanalevinson, @mottel, @morgan_sung, @chrisvannini, @karengeier, @noelmu, @digitalshields, @amandafarough, @malonebarry, @parkermolloy, @thesamhita, @mattdpearce, @chick_in_kiev, @spencerdukoff, @chris_mandle, @delia_cai, @_cooper, @allisonpdavis, @benyt, @lolacoaster, @keithrhernandez, @tomvictor, @billcorbett, @jaredlholt, @amandakhurley, @alanalevinson, @taylorlorenz, @karaswisher, @robaeprice, @gabrus, @merrittk, @joshsternberg, @inthefade, Mediaite and The Wrap
Discussion:
Steven Perlberg / @perlberg: Staffers at MEL Magazine were all laid off today by owner Dollar Shave Club. MEL will stop publishing and is looking for a new owner https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Steven Perlberg / Insider: Dollar Shave Club has laid off all of its staff at men's lifestyle site MEL, source says, and is looking for a rescue buyer
Danielle Tcholakian / @danielleiat: honestly just look at this homepage. look at the breadth of stories! and how cool it looks! and easy to navigate and not cluttered with weird garbage! RIP MEL u were very clearly too good for this garbage industry https://melmagazine.com/
Hamza Shaban / @hshaban: MEL consistently publishes the most interesting stories and sharply observed, powerfully written essays. Awful news. Solidarity with the staff. https://twitter.com/...
Kim Kelly / @grimkim: Solidarity with all the brilliant media workers at MEL Magazine—one of the best and most delightfully weird digital publications going—who just had this bomb dropped on them. https://twitter.com/...
Eileen Guo / @eileenguo: Is it just me, or does there seem to be a contagion effect to buzzy companies dumping their publications and editorial staff? https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Chris Hayes / @chrislhayes: Honestly this has been an astoundingly good, smart, clever, entertaining publication. (cc @lukeburbank ) https://twitter.com/...
Kelly Cohen / @bykellycohen: wow this is a huge, huge bummer. MEL was so good! https://twitter.com/...
Larry Fitzmaurice / @lfitzmaurice: Great and always very readable publication against all the odds, lots of talented people involved. Working in media continues to suck but at least these guys did it right until the very end, shout out to @alanalevinson and her whole team https://twitter.com/...
@raxkingisdead: MEL enthusiastically gave me a column for the bizarre food writing i couldn't imagine finding any other home for, and i'll badly miss writing it. this is a true bummer 💔 https://twitter.com/...
@blakehounshell: MEL was a strange and often wonderful magazine and I'm sorry to see it go https://twitter.com/...
@alanalevinson: The look of Mel was the vision of @ErinTaj, with the execution of @dworkin_, and they don't get nearly enough credit https://twitter.com/...
Margarita-core Noriega-core / @margarita: This is rough news about a top-talent team. MEL is a trailblazer for the model that dozens of indie outlets use today. https://twitter.com/...
Anne Helen Petersen / @annehelen: One reason that the vast majority of journalists on Substack are there: there are so, so few viable staff jobs left & more are disappearing. Medium yesterday, MEL today. https://twitter.com/...
Brandon Wall / @walldo: I didn't realize when I sent my first tweet this meant layoffs at MEL. What a bunch of bullshit https://twitter.com/...
Ed Zitron / @edzitron: this is such a shame. some really wonderful, interesting writing came out of Mel - they published one of my favourite things i've ever written about the mental side of being overweight, and countless other wonderful pieces by better writers than me https://melmagazine.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Zaron Burnett III / @zaron3: best job I ever had. gonna miss the morning meetings, seeing what the art dept comes up with, how editorial polishes copy, and what these writers have to say on the daily hey, any rich ppl I know, let's talk! gotta great opportunity for you to be a hero to the ppl and culture https://twitter.com/...
@alanalevinson: Getting to make a magazine every day with some of the internet's most talented writers/editors was truly an honor, and the highlight of my career.
Lindsay Goldwert / @lindsaygoldwert: This is terrible. I remain a huge fan of @MilesKlee and @Zaron3 and they should be hired by others immediately https://twitter.com/...
@pfpicardi: I love @WeAreMel and I hope they have all the success in charting a path forward. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: One consequence of media's consolidation is the slow demise of weird publications online. https://twitter.com/...
Meredith Haggerty / @manymanywords: Mel has been a really, really, really, unusually good website. https://twitter.com/...
Brad / @bradesposito: Anyone writing about internet culture in the last 6 yrs will be familiar w/ @WeAreMel jealousy. It wasn't that you were getting scooped, it was the quality of writing and subject matter that was so perfectly constructed. Devastated. The world is better with MEL in it.
@pappademas: a great men's magazine created during a historically terrible moment for both magazines and men, RIP https://twitter.com/...
Max Tani / @maxwelltani: Mel felt like a throwback to an older blogging era when people still seemed to get enjoyment out of posting. Hoping they can figure out a way to keep it going. https://twitter.com/...
Madeleine Holden / @madeleinecholia: i just lost my job and this is so sad https://twitter.com/...
@alanalevinson: It's the end of an era. I'm really proud of what MEL accomplished; how it forever changed the men's media landscape — and hopefully some men, too — for the better. https://twitter.com/...
@mottel: Sorry to see this. Had some fun times with @alanalevinson and co at @WeAreMel. Wishing everyone success on your greta next things to come! https://twitter.com/...
Morgan Sung / @morgan_sung: this fucking sucks, mel reported on the most delightfully unhinged stories on the internet and was genuinely fun to read https://twitter.com/...
Chris Vannini / @chrisvannini: Man, this sucks. MEL had some of the most thought-provoking articles on men's health, memes, sexuality and just culture. They answered the questions you were afraid to ask. Really broadened my perspective on a lot of topics. Someone should buy this place. https://twitter.com/...
@karengeier: a reminder that Dollar Shave Club got bought by Unilever and because they don't understand what a gem they had with MEL, they killed it. This is the same company that runs the Ben and Jerrys racial justice blog! https://twitter.com/...
Noel Murray / @noelmu: For the past few years the smart, kindly editors at MEL have given me the space to write personal essays and fun lists. They've been open to some of my weirder ideas, and have called on me to write some pieces they knew I'd dig. I hope they get to carry on. I appreciate them. https://twitter.com/...
Mike Shields / @digitalshields: Mel is a really great product, but I could also see Dollar Shave Club's owners saying ‘how is this selling me any razors?’ Of course you could also question why anyone might have expected this to sell a lot of razors, if they ever did. https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Manda / @amandafarough: Friends: @WeAreMel has been consistently excellent for years — a true delight to engage with on a regular basis. I hope that someone will snap them up and give them a financially secure future so that these stories and these voices don't get lost in the shuffle. https://twitter.com/...
Barry Malone / @malonebarry: Oh maaan. MEL is awesome. https://twitter.com/...
Parker Molloy / @parkermolloy: This sucks. Mel was so good. https://twitter.com/...
Samhita / @thesamhita: You made MEL groundbreaking and it was so awesome to witness. This industry will keep breaking our hearts but congrats to your whole team on a great run ♥️ https://twitter.com/...
Matt Pearce / @mattdpearce: this sucks and is awful, MEL was really creative and fun https://twitter.com/...
Spencer Dukoff / @spencerdukoff: Everyone I know and respect in this industry placed MEL in the top tier of digital publications putting out consistently thoughtful, hilarious, important work, with a roster of talented writers unparalleled elsewhere. It's my favorite website and this news simply sucks ass. https://twitter.com/...
Chris Mandle / @chris_mandle: This is so shit. MEL is the home of “oh my god why didn't I think of that” articles https://twitter.com/...
Delia Cai / @delia_cai: MEL is one of the coolest outlets publishing right now, if not THE coolest full stop!!! someone needs to snatch it up and give them very resource. they are the outlet we need especially for the particularly horny times ahead https://twitter.com/...
Cooper Fleishman / @_cooper: Seeing all the love for our weird little site is making me too emotional to tweet through it. Just wanna say thank you, thank you, thank you — to the readers and to this outstanding team. Means the world. https://twitter.com/...
Allison P Davis / @allisonpdavis: truly a bummer. fun, thoughtful, freaky shit should be protected at all costs. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: It's always been true that some of the most wonderful things in media have weird backstories, and Mel is certainly one https://twitter.com/...
Kristin Chirico / @lolacoaster: Will someone please hire this man, he's like one of three straight cis dudes who have rights https://twitter.com/...
Keith Hernandez / @keithrhernandez: Wow, I hate it. Legit one of the most innovative and fun publications in years. https://twitter.com/...
Tom Victor / @tomvictor: Well this sucks, I had a lot of fun writing the occasional piece for MEL, and it's one of the places I went back all the time as a reader. Solidarity with all the writers there, who have covered stories no one else would think to, and better than anyone else would be able to https://twitter.com/...
Bill Corbett / @billcorbett: Aww that sucks. MEL was great. I'm glad this precarious model worked for a while, and I know there's no easy answers. But I'd subscribe if it or the writers and editors changed to a Defector / Discourse Blog model. https://twitter.com/...
Jared Holt / @jaredlholt: MEL did something really cool. Here's hoping they find a new owner who lets them keep doing them https://twitter.com/...
Amanda Kolson Hurley / @amandakhurley: On the back of the Medium news, I worry we're getting to the point where the freelance precariat created by layoffs and closures is now running out of places to pitch. But maybe that was already happening...
@alanalevinson: People always ask me why MEL is so good. My answer is simple: the people. If you're somehow in the position to hire, you'd be super lucky to have any of them. I am going to spend the next couple of days trying to make sure they are okay.
Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz: What a tremendous loss. Mel was literally one of the best in the business and I'm so sad for the state of media right now. https://twitter.com/...
Rob Price / @robaeprice: Awful news: The staff of @WeAreMel have been laid off and owner Dollar Shave Club is looking for a buyer for the publication. It had an incredible, unique voice with countless stories you couldn't read anywhere else. https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@gabrus: i only dream of being super rich when i see outdoor showers and shit like this https://twitter.com/...
Merritt K / @merrittk: I had my first column at MEL, working with the incredible @alanalevinson. Really upset to see it shuttered like this https://twitter.com/...
Josh Sternberg / @joshsternberg: Mel Magazine was doing the best reporting on the wide range of emotions and behaviors of society and the complexities (and messiness) of humans. Which is incredible since its billion dollar owner is not a media organization. https://twitter.com/...
@inthefade: i am so bummed about this news. mel is one of my favorite publications, with my favorite writers. if they go together and made a mel subscription, i would gladly pay https://twitter.com/...
Marisa Sarnoff / Mediaite: Dollar Shave Club Cuts Entire Staff of Men's Lifestyle Website MEL
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Interviews with 14 current and former Medium employees portray a dysfunctional company; Medium started 2021 with 700K paid subs, on track for $35M+ in revenue — I. — Last week, a partnerships manager at Medium working with the White House found that there was a strange problem with the platform …
Discussion:
Insider, @felixsalmon, @caseynewton, The Business of Business, @silvermanjacob, @mattyglesias, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, Columbia Journalism Review, @joshsternberg, @mat, @reckless, @noahshachtman, @clarajeffery, @felixsalmon, @craigmod, @kimzetter, @ryanlawler, @teddyschleifer, @backlon, @jayrosen_nyu, @katzish, @teddyschleifer, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @nberlat, @jamesrbuk, @hshaban, @annehelen, @karaswisher, @sarahw, @gadyepstein, @hunterw, @mattyglesias, @choire, @caseynewton, @anthony, @moorehn, @aaronhuertas, @caseynewton, @bluechoochoo, @aliciakennedy, @emilybell, @katiedrumm, @chaykak, @gamoid, @caseyjohnston, @alexeheath and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Sinéad Baker / Insider: Medium had an internal panic after its algorithm kept recommending erotic stories to the official POTUS account used by Biden, report says
Felix Salmon / @felixsalmon: @CaseyNewton Casey, are you saying here that Medium has at this point burned through all of the $132m and then some? https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: Ultimately, staffers I spoke with wished Williams would take responsibility for his stop-start flirtations with journalism, and acknowledge where he himself had fallen short. https://twitter.com/...
Paul Smalera / The Business of Business: Unionization won't save the media business, nor its workers
Jacob Silverman / @silvermanjacob: imagine punting on 700k subscribers because it doesn't represent google-worthy scale https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: There's a strong norm against journalists caring about journalism business models, but in this day and age you owe it to yourself to understand how your employer makes money (or hopes to) and how your work figures into that.
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: The thing is, Medium isn't a bad business. It has more than 700,000 paid subscriptions, I'm told, putting it on track for more than $35 million in revenue. That's pretty healthy for a media company. It's just not a great tech business. Especially if you co-founded Twitter. https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: And here it is: my best effort to understand what happened after Medium invested millions in its latest embrace of original journalism, only to begin pulling back when Ev Williams didn't like what he saw. https://www.theverge.com/...
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review: Medium has pivoted so many times it has now come full circle
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.
Mat Honan / @mat: Great look into the (most-recent) Medium fiasco from Casey: https://twitter.com/...
Nilay Patel / @reckless: Big @CaseyNewton on what happened at Medium - copublished with @platformer because the future of the media is always just finding new and better ways to collaborate and reach audiences! https://www.theverge.com/...
Noah Shachtman / @noahshachtman: the juiciest thing you'll read all night: @CaseyNewton on the (latest) clusterfuck at medium https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Clara Jeffery / @clarajeffery: “Like Blogger and Twitter before it, Medium will bet on unpaid labor and algorithms.” https://www.theverge.com/...
Felix Salmon / @felixsalmon: @CaseyNewton I mean, that's a shit ton of losses! Revenues alone don't make you “pretty healthy” unless you have some kind of path to profitability
Craig Mod / @craigmod: Am I being nuts or is 700k paying subscribers pretty impressive for a publisher with no singular prestige publication? (for comparison — nytimes has about 7.5M subs ... but also price paid per sub much higher than medium — ~$17/mo vs $5/mo for medium) https://www.theverge.com/...
Kim Zetter / @kimzetter: This is really sad. Medium amassed a collection of top-notch editors and writers, only to have the rug pulled out from under them. Here's a great piece from @CaseyNewton giving the backstory on the demise of Medium's editorial experiment https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Ryan Lawler / @ryanlawler: @CaseyNewton Is the implication that the new owner of the POTUS account was being served recommendations meant for the previous tenant?
Teddy Schleifer / @teddyschleifer: If Ev Williams was going to fund Medium himself, might as well have incorporated Medium as a nonprofit. He could've secured himself a nice tax deduction!
Dieter Bohn / @backlon: Here's @CaseyNewton on the mess at Medium. It starts with a story about how “'President Joe Biden is Being Served Erotica on https://medium.com/,' the staffer complained in an internal post” and only gets more eye-popping from there. https://www.theverge.com/...
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: A tech company is not like an editorial company. They are different creatures. The way they create value will not align. Doesn't matter how many editorial people a tech company hires. Eventually it will get down to the business of paying for fewer of them. https://www.theverge.com/...
Amanda Katz / @katzish: Also this reporting by @CaseyNewton is excellent and I have no idea how he did it so fast, do read https://www.google.com/...
Teddy Schleifer / @teddyschleifer: This situation is a bit different from the other cut-backs we've seen recently, but it's another example of billionaire funders showing that they are not the saviors for media companies that are losing money. https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: @ryanlawler this is .......... an excellent question lol
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: It's notoriously difficult to earn a profit from journalism. But the billionaire Williams started to give up barely a year in. Random user-generated posts turned into hits by Google were a more reliable source of revenue. And so it was time to downsize. Again. https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: The story starts in a strange place: with President Joe Biden's official Medium account being served porn recommendations. Highbrow mixed with lowbrow; unpredictable algorithms at work. Medium in a nutshell. https://twitter.com/...
Noah Berlatsky / @nberlat: this is all depressing. https://www.theverge.com/...
James Ball / @jamesrbuk: Venture capitalism and journalism are fundamentally incompatible. It will be better for both when we accept that. https://twitter.com/...
Hamza Shaban / @hshaban: It's as if business people fixated on gargantuan scale and Facebook-like profits should not be in charge of journalism outlets: https://twitter.com/...
Anne Helen Petersen / @annehelen: Just bleak, bleak shit from @CaseyNewton on the End of Medium: III https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Kara Swisher / @karaswisher: This is just superb by @CaseyNewton on the sitch at this tiresome platform pretending to be a real media company for far too long. Just call it Demand Media 2 and be done with it: The mess at Medium - Platformer https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Sarah Weinman / @sarahw: “At a certain point you're not nimble and iterating. You're just floundering and failing to follow through and execute.” https://www.theverge.com/...
Gady Epstein / @gadyepstein: So Ev's brilliant plan in 2020 was to copy the Forbes of 2010 https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: To wit, so much about this Medium news sucks. https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@choire: It's easy to think of Medium as a failed series of journalism companies, and that's true, but it's also a failed series of technology companies. https://www.theverge.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: @felixsalmon I believe so yes
Anthony DeRosa / @anthony: “Hits would be made either because we managed to get a prime spot on Google or because something made it big on Facebook,” https://www.theverge.com/...
Heidi N. Moore / @moorehn: Good reporting and context on the Medium voluntary buyouts by @CaseyNewton https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Aaron Huertas / @aaronhuertas: good lord, just make it a unionized non-profit and go start a new business https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: @felixsalmon I guess I meant, you could theoretically build a healthy business from a base of $35M in recurring revenue
Andréa López / @bluechoochoo: Anyway @CaseyNewton did an awesome job on that Medium article. A lot of people transitioned from journalist to pundit when they went the indie newsletter route. But he keeps getting us new interesting info.
Alicia Kennedy / @aliciakennedy: ...this is why a bunch of editors and writers now have to find something else to do https://twitter.com/...
Emily Bell / @emilybell: Feel enormously sorry for the people losing jobs at Medium, and particularly sorry that @ozm is effected - some of the best independent technology coverage out there. @WillOremus and team really deserve better https://www.theverge.com/...
Katie Drummond / @katiedrumm: Ev Williams should be so ashamed of himself. https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Kyle Chayka / @chaykak: “what once had been publications are now likely better thought of as topic pages.” @CaseyNewton on Medium https://www.theverge.com/...
Matt Weinberger / @gamoid: It's cool that the only two outcomes are “one billion daily active users” or “it's garbage, trash it” https://twitter.com/...
Casey Johnston / @caseyjohnston: What a lede by all time goat @CaseyNewton https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
Substack is only a “scam” in the same way that modern media is, where star pundits profit and talented reporters go underemployed — If you aren't sufficiently broken inside to be an extremely-online journalist — or, worse, a non-journalist who diligently monitors the beefs within …
Discussion:
@sacca, @amywestervelt, @ericlevitz, @milehighrobert, @claireefallon, @caseyjohnston, @annacod, @hannahrkeyser, @danismcnally, @ninabernstein1, @zachwritesstuff, @kantrowitz, @lizzieohreally, @amywestervelt, @lizzieohreally, @thrasherxy, @delia_cai, @annaleen, @frankicookney, @annehelen, @augustjpollak, @ginamizell, @mollywood, @lizzieohreally, @amywestervelt, @patrick_hruby, @stevemullis, @mcmansionhell, @jowrotethis, @jilliancyork, @sethwemerson, @karaswisher, @karaswisher, @davidubben, @amywestervelt, @thrasherxy, @pbump, @mollywood, @amywestervelt, @sacca, @annanowo, @benpopper, @edroso, @rachelmetz, @bdhowald, @mollywood, @amywestervelt, @ntavakolifar, @goldietaylor, @lindseyadler, @kyleaglaser, @cameronwilson, @tnwhiskeywoman, @davegershgorn, @espiers, @adavidhalejoint, @jilliancyork, @alexmcdaniel, @sacca, @alec_lewis, @sacca, @thelincoln, @marisa_ingemi, @mollywood, @hkesvani, @anne_elizabeth, @howelloneill, @davidfolkenflik, @jason, Memex 1.1, @caseyjohnston, @emilybell, @michellemanafy, @rachelconnoll14, @sadydoyle, @wudanyan, @hkesvani, @rklein90, @alex, @tomnamako and @amywestervelt, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
@sacca: Even if the Substack/newsletter economics are a wash, a lot of reporters will make the jump just so they don't have to deal with their shitty editors. (Employed journalists: Be sure to switch to your burner account before hearting this.)
Amy Westervelt / @amywestervelt: The individual superstar brand thing is the measure of success. So if you don't want to do that, if you stick to the work, it's possible, but you'll never make as much money. And you'll routinely have your work cribbed by the people who focus on brand-building.
Eric Levitz / @ericlevitz: Between 2008 and 2019, the number of newsroom jobs in the United States fell by 26,000, according to the Pew Research Center. Over that same period, roughly 50,000 journalism majors were graduating into the U.S. labor market every year. https://nymag.com/...
Robert Sanchez / @milehighrobert: The journalists I've known who think their copy doesn't need to be touched (or thought through better) are usually the worst journalists, BTW. https://twitter.com/...
Claire Fallon / @claireefallon: yes, it's true, i started a substack because i hated* my shitty editors** *got laid off from **increasingly rare media job https://twitter.com/...
Casey Johnston / @caseyjohnston: @mollywood @sacca the way media companies are run as businesses and the fact that they've been cannibalized and undermined by tech companies are the problems, not editors
Anna Codrea-Rado / @annacod: @amywestervelt This is so key! Freelance doesn't fix work-based problems. This is true everywhere but especially in the media. Also, hi 👋 from an editor who used to commission you and has since gone freelance because they got laid off 🥲
Hannah Keyser / @hannahrkeyser: that's what they always say about working in journalism: that full-time employment is burden people are eagerly opting out of to go it alone. https://twitter.com/...
Danielle McNally / @danismcnally: This is very upsetting to me: “There are apparently a great many journalism consumers who aren't willing to pay $5 a month to support the work of dozens of journalists at a single publication but are eager to pay $8 a month to patronize a single blogger.” https://nymag.com/...
Nina Bernstein / @ninabernstein1: “America does not have more competent journalists than it needs. But it does have far more of them than media firms are capable of profitably employing.” @EricLevitz https://nymag.com/...
Zachary Siegel / @zachwritesstuff: My editors are mostly very thoughtful and work hard to make my work better. This notion that we loathe our editors is weird. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: We're still talking about this? https://twitter.com/...
Lizzie O'Leary / @lizzieohreally: @sacca I would be absolutely nowhere without an editor. Well, I would be on twitter, sounding like a lunatic. So, editors. A good thing.
Amy Westervelt / @amywestervelt: and honestly? i would rather work for someone else! i would be thrilled to sit in a corner reading documents with a highlighter all day. I currently have a fucking STACK of reporting waiting to be turned into stories while I manage a company I never intended to start
Lizzie O'Leary / @lizzieohreally: @sacca No. That's really not how it works. Also not sure what you mean about “results.” Dumb stories? Not really, no. This is a very good overview of the economics here. https://www.brookings.edu/...
Dr. Steven W. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: This is a major goal of Substack: “disrupt” the concept of a journalist as a “job” with “colleagues” and a “union” and a “pension” and “healthcare,” and to be replaced by the Avon/Uber/Cutco model of everyone going it alone, w/o the burden of “editors” or “health insurance” https://twitter.com/...
@annaleen: So these muscular “independent writers” at Medium will be supported by non-union editorial staff. I see. So if you make your labor invisible, everything magically becomes rugged individualism. https://twitter.com/...
Franki Cookney / @frankicookney: This is a good analysis imo. My newsletter is on Substack (although I don't charge for subscriptions yet) and I have been thinking a LOT about what it is vs what it could be vs what I actually WANT to produce and how tf to make any money from that. 😬 https://nymag.com/...
Anne Helen Petersen / @annehelen: For every Greenwald or Taibbi there are ten freelancers who couldn't pay bills on $400 (high end!) for a reported piece, whose beats are considered too niche, etc etc
August J. Pollak / @augustjpollak: The collapse of every publication in this country over the last 30 years can be directly traced to the vain, impatient gluttony of venture capitalists, so naturally venture capitalists have concluded the problem with journalism isn't about money, there's just too many editors https://twitter.com/...
Gina Mizell / @ginamizell: Actually, the WORST thing about writing my Substack newsletter was NOT having an editor. They make a writer's work better. Period. https://twitter.com/...
Molly Wood / @mollywood: @sacca @caseyjohnston That doesn't always lead to the best decisions. We didn't start “engagement” as a metric, but here we are competing on that metric, and trying to figure out a better one. But “journalists who left for substack to have more opinions” isn't a reliable marker for overall health.
Lizzie O'Leary / @lizzieohreally: @sacca One of the biggest issues is honestly that two thirds of the ad dollars go to FB and Google. This is not about small ball quibbles over headlines. It's a much more existential question. The industry, save a few standouts, is in crisis.
Amy Westervelt / @amywestervelt: And again that's hard to do and wildly disincentivized. So once again we are relying on the sacrifices and/or superstar talents of a few individuals to solve a systemic problem. Notice a fucking pattern here? Gahhhhh
@patrick_hruby: Putting aside this foolishness about editors, almost no *reporters* are going to voluntarily leave the relative handful of remaining reporting jobs for newsletters. The economics don't work! https://twitter.com/...
Steve Mullis / @stevemullis: @sacca @caseyjohnston @mollywood Who are you talking about? I feel your narrative is built off of some very specific examples but I don't know what those examples are. And if the examples are the high-profile folks who left for substack b/c of “shitty editors,” they aren't really emblematic of the industry.
Kate Wagner / @mcmansionhell: uh I started a substack bc what I wanted to write wasn't profitable from a conventional sports journalism perspective. I wish to Christ that that publication had an editor too. https://twitter.com/...
@jowrotethis: I love my editors. I know that's not the case everywhere but I just want to shout out the hardworking, wise, great editors out there. They exist! And are very necessary! https://twitter.com/...
Jillian C. York / @jilliancyork: Can we stop being precious about what Substack, etc are going to create? They're going to create BLOGGERS, remember those? We were annoying. Some of us went mainstream, some of us went full circle to Substack, some of us still blog. Everything old is new again.
Seth Emerson / @sethwemerson: I know very few if any writers who don't want an editor. We need the editing. We need the feedback. We need smart people to bounce story ideas off, to prevent us from pursuing and posting bad stories, and to make our good stories even better. https://twitter.com/...
Kara Swisher / @karaswisher: @om @sacca Gotta go with Om here, Chris. More shitty writers than editors by FAR.
Kara Swisher / @karaswisher: @sacca @om Yes but the first libel case will ruin someone's day. It's just a mixed bag as is all journalism, except the latest gang thinks they hung the moon. They didn't and as someone who did this long before most of them did, I don't recall needing to abandon the good parts like editing.
David Ubben / @davidubben: I'm sure some writers feel this way. Show me a writer who thinks they would be better off without editors and I'll show you a writer who's deeply immature and overconfident. https://twitter.com/...
Amy Westervelt / @amywestervelt: There's this weird idea in a lot of media writing that if you are independent, you are an opinion writer. Henh? I mean, yes, that describes a lot of people with newsletters, but I had to create my own small multimedia outlet to be able to do accountability journalism on climate
Dr. Steven W. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: “Be your own boss!” they said about every industry, as they controlled all the means of production and asked you now to also forfeit the legal protections and social safety net of being an actual employee
Philip Bump / @pbump: Say you don't know anything about journalism without saying you don't know anything about journalism. https://twitter.com/...
Molly Wood / @mollywood: @sacca @caseyjohnston Still maybe an oversimplification. If you mean “executive editor” and you mean a specific paper, then maybe. But even so you're still going to find that we'll defend editors to the death. It's a deeply thankless job. And this business is tough and trying to survive.
Amy Westervelt / @amywestervelt: The point is that a lot of people leave staff jobs to go it alone thinking they're gonna escape the system that way but it's not so easy. You have to actually intentionally behave and work differently, knowing there's no reward. That's how we build different (imho better) systems
@sacca: @caseyjohnston @mollywood I don't disagree except that the editor's job is more a part of, or maybe consequence of, the business/company than ever.
Anna Nowogrodzki / @annanowo: @amywestervelt A-fucking-men to this whole thread. The most important things in journalism are WILDLY disincentivized. And that interacts with class/family money/race to keep journalism wildly unrepresentative of the country, which means as an industry we're really biased
Ben Popper / @benpopper: I miss having an editor TBH. Not a shitty one, but the good ones push you to pursue better pieces, abandon stale ones, and craft something great. Plus, they make you seem like a great writer and rarely get a byline! https://twitter.com/...
Roy Edroso / @edroso: @thrasherxy Me, I'm Substacking because The Man can't deal with my realness. https://twitter.com/...
Rachel Metz / @rachelmetz: wow, no. nope nope. i have worked with some bad editors, but i have mostly worked with great editors (and occasionally amazing editors) who make my reporting sharper, my storytelling smoother, and my mistakes fewer(er). it's a difficult job and i detest this type of criticism. https://twitter.com/...
Brian Howald / @bdhowald: “The implication is that contrarians feign unorthodox belief to gain a following. In other words, they're hoodwinking their followers for money.” The biggest grift is pretending to be a contrarian: “My idea is (something my followers agree with, but presented as controversial).” https://twitter.com/...
Molly Wood / @mollywood: @sacca Burner-approaching comment but erm I did leave a “best” paper for public media ... for ... reasons ...
Amy Westervelt / @amywestervelt: I keep noticing this in a lot of the recent media scandals — caliphate, reply all, now substack — there's a lack of awareness around how much all the options suck. You either go along with shitty media systems or you go it alone and grind it out, and in either scenario...
Nastaran Tavakoli-Far / @ntavakolifar: Strong piece by @EricLevitz on Substack which mirrors podcasts: a few already established stars rake in big money for opinions whilst everyone else barely makes anything but is told they can make it big. Proper reporting and society ultimately lose. https://nymag.com/...
Lindsey Adler / @lindseyadler: Editors are the line of defense between raw work and readers. They see a story forensically after you've completely lost track of what it says. My editor basically serves as the bumpers that keep me on track. Writers who hate editors are self-important buffoons. https://twitter.com/...
Kyle Glaser / @kyleaglaser: Like any profession, there are good editors and bad editors. That said, their importance cannot be understated. They improve your work, inspire story ideas, help you when you're stuck and make the final product shine. If anything, our industry needs more editors, not fewer. https://twitter.com/...
@cameronwilson: my favourite thing is venture capitalists pontificating about how journalism should work, fundamentally misunderstanding the industry, but also knowing that they're just going to keep spending millions of dollars to shape it that way regardless :)
Dave Gershgorn / @davegershgorn: agree, all my editor ever wants is pictures of spiderman and its absolutely unacceptable https://twitter.com/...
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: If anything, I'd say Substack exposes the people whose editors have been doing a lot of heavy lifting this whole time. https://twitter.com/...
@adavidhalejoint: My words are perfect and beautiful the instant they are formed. But I work with editors to protect readers who simply aren't ready for so many mind blowing truth bombs. https://twitter.com/...
Jillian C. York / @jilliancyork: As a pretty in-demand (these days) writer, I couldn't possibly disagree more—I love my editors. If anything, it'd be to escape the drudgery of invoicing, but my writing would be the worse for it. https://twitter.com/...
Alex McDaniel / @alexmcdaniel: editors aren't the problem. their bosses are. https://twitter.com/...
@sacca: @karaswisher @om No argument. It's the shape of the pyramid and always has been. But now they have options and the market will be more efficient. It'll also tell us how much/if copyediting matters to readers at scale. Fascinating times, but too many replies read like relics.
Alec Lewis / @alec_lewis: Oh, heck no, Chris. A writer is nothing without their editor. They're the confidant. The mentor. The friend. The motivator. The true wordsmith. The support. The inspiration. https://twitter.com/...
@sacca: @mollywood I hear you. What's changed is how those jobs have merged. Even (especially?) at the “best” papers. Sure there are editors who counsel/nurture. But when the piece gets run through the grinder? Both sides-ism isn't a reporter's instinct. Bleeds/leads isn't how writers write.
Lincoln Michel / @thelincoln: This is complete nonsense. Almost every writer I know would die for their editors. Editors protect and help writers in countless ways. The problem with journalism isn't too many editors it's... no jobs! https://twitter.com/...
Marisa Ingemi / @marisa_ingemi: as a freelancer my favorite part is working with so many great editors and learning from them. as journalists we would not grow or improve without the tireless work of editors. https://twitter.com/...
Molly Wood / @mollywood: @sacca Respectfully, I'm gonna heart all the journalists in the comments defending our editors. We all know who made us better at our jobs. The executives? Burner time.
@hkesvani: I think ‘scam’ isn't the correct word. Rather, it's the inevitable outcome of a 2010s media boom that paid in exposure, demanded new entrants to build personalised, identity heavy but corporate friendly personal brands, and shell out trauma stories for £120 if they were lucky
Anne Lowrey / @anne_elizabeth: This is a brilliant read about how Substack is/is not great for writers, and a sharp look at journalism as a whole. https://nymag.com/...
Patrick Howell O'Neill / @howelloneill: journalism without strong editors is so, so much worse https://twitter.com/...
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: We all need editors. Also, don't believe the economics would be even a wash for vast majority of journalists. That said - anyone wants to make the jump, should! https://twitter.com/...
@jason: This is an incorrect take Substack allows you to own the emails & the Stripe relationship with your readers so u can leave the platform ANY TIME & take your entire business with you! Substack has ZERO recourse to keep you on the platform if you want to pay 99% less on @Ghost! https://twitter.com/...
John Naughton / Memex 1.1: Wednesday 24 March, 2021 — How do you do? — Quote of the Day … - Frank Lloyd Wright
Casey Johnston / @caseyjohnston: @sacca @mollywood i mean if you are saying editors are one step closer to being on the hook for executing the publication's aims then i guess we agree!! but they sure don't set the agenda, and as a writer i would agree with others replying that “editor” isn't one to one with “shitty person”
Emily Bell / @emilybell: In my limited experience reporters who think their editors are shitty are those most in need of editing. Even shitty editing tends to improve their copy https://twitter.com/...
Michelle Manafy / @michellemanafy: “The resurgence of labor organizing in media has mitigated the industry's exploitative treatment of entry-level workers and the class bias inherent to it. And this is one of the many reasons why unionizing newsrooms is a vital project.” @EricLevitz https://nymag.com/... @NYMag
Rachel Connolly / @rachelconnoll14: I really liked this piece and I'm glad someone wrote it, but I do also sort of find it alarming that someone needed to write it bcos that scam piece was not at all convincing and people shouldn't have been taken in by it ! https://nymag.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jude Ellison S. Doyle / @sadydoyle: It's disappointing, but not unsurprising, that “media news” coverage of the Substack issue specifically bypasses the fact that (1) the writers protesting Substack are mostly trans and queer and (2) their critiques center on structural transphobia. https://nymag.com/...
Wudan Yan / @wudanyan: This thread makes an excellent point AND people turn up their noses at “journo-preneurs” - a term that I guess describes me and one that I hate, but guess what, that's because we're all swimming in the same stuff, trying to make our own way https://twitter.com/...
@hkesvani: Has some similar points to the zerohedge blog and ultimately, the question is, what's the point of going to journalism school when the news business is heading to the patronage economy? https://nymag.com/...
Rebecca Klein / @rklein90: “It's easier for social-media-addicted daily commentators to cultivate loyal fandoms than it is for investigative journalists or state-level political reporters. And yet the latter's work is generally more indispensable to journalism's civic function.” https://nymag.com/...
Tom Namako / @tomnamako: “There are apparently a great many journalism consumers who aren't willing to pay $5 a month to support the work of dozens of journalists at a single publication but are eager to pay $8 a month to patronize a single blogger.” https://nymag.com/...
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox partners with Comcast's Freewheel, which specializes in digital ads, to offer addressable ads on Fox content viewed on Comcast properties like Xfinity — Fox Corporation is moving to offer the advertising of the future. — The company said it struck a partnership with FreeWheel …
Discussion:
Wayne Friedman / MediaPost: Fox TV, FreeWheel Strike Major Programmatic, Addressable Set-Top-Box Deal With Auto Marketer
Robert Andrews / Beet.TV: Comcast Lets Fox Sell VOD Addressable Ads on Set-top Boxes
Alex Shephard / New Republic:
This week's coverage of the border lacks proper context, ignores the humans at the heart of it, and injects conflict into a relatively drama-free administration — On Sunday, ABC's This Week sent its weekly roundtable—excuse me, its Powerhouse Roundtable—on a field trip to the U.S.-Mexico border.
RELATED:
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
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
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
Discussion:
@cam_joseph, @lizcgoodwin, @vwpickard, @fritschner, @jbendery, @dlind, @dw_gibson, @ggreeneva, @tanvim, @newrepublic, @josephoneillx, @taniel, @kendrawrites, @franksharry, @jackmirkinson, @thetoddschulte, @vgescobar, @bjoewolf, @froomkin, @juliancastro, Politico, @jdawsey1, @beijingpalmer, @eclecticbrotha, @donmoyn, @fritschner, @dlind and @cam_joseph
Discussion:
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/...
Victor Pickard / @vwpickard: Great media analysis by @alex_shephard that draws attention to why a ratings-driven press system is bad for democracy. https://newrepublic.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/...
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
DW Gibson / @dw_gibson: This is so good from @alex_shephard. The MSM's appetite for conflict/ratings is so destructive. This dynamic is permanent. Dems need to recognize it for what it is & drive the “crisis” toward voter suppression, insurrection, gun violence—take your pick https://newrepublic.com/...
Greg Greene / @ggreeneva: I mean ... did the Playbook team somehow sleep through all this? https://twitter.com/...
@newrepublic: There's little media focus on the human side of the surge at the border. Instead, it's being presented as a showdown between Republicans (tough on immigration) and Democrats (big softies). https://newrepublic.com/...
Joseph O'Neill / @josephoneillx: As this excellent piece shows, MSM will concoct crisis to promote partisan conflict. The question for Biden is: If partisan conflict is inevitable, why fight it on GOP turf? Why not go on the offensive, fight it on the question of GOP's insurrection and unfitness for power? https://twitter.com/...
@kendrawrites: They don't mind rewriting history in support of the power and privilege. They keep doing it with people who have done harmful things. https://twitter.com/...
Frank Sharry / @franksharry: Must read: “Cynically using a humanitarian crisis you have no intention of fixing to win elections is an interesting political story, and it's one that captures what the Republican Party is at the moment. But many in the mainstream press have no interest in covering that story.” https://twitter.com/...
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
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/...
Veronica Escobar / @vgescobar: Playbook quotes a white nationalist, director of chaos & cruelty for 4 yrs. The Washington Post quotes the illegitimately appointed Chad Wolf. The media's irresponsible lack of context on immigration & the border is bad enough. Now those who broke the system get legitimacy? https://twitter.com/...
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/...
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/...
@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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
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:
Mariam Ahmed / Talking Biz News: HuffPost appoints Belton as editor-in-chief
Sara Fischer / Axios: BuzzFeed names Danielle Belton editor-in-chief of HuffPost
Danielle C. Belton / @blacksnob: When life comes at you fast ... but it's the best news ever!!! It's true, I'm leaving my wonderful friends and team @TheRoot next month to join another news site as its EIC! So honored and excited to be part the award-winning @HuffPost team! https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Hillary Frey / @hilella: Congratulations, @blacksnob! @Huffpost has the best editorial leaders, editors, reporters, producers and business-side partners I've ever known. So excited to see what's next for all of you! https://twitter.com/...
Stephen Totilo / @stephentotilo: Danielle is incredible and, given her penchant for being disturbingly productive, will probably write three novels on the side, between now and when she starts the new job https://twitter.com/...
J. Escobedo Shepherd / @jawnita: EXCLUSIVE: @blacksnob fuckin rules https://twitter.com/...
Ryan J. Reilly / @ryanjreilly: And now, some good news. https://www.buzzfeed.com/...
Lydia Polgreen / @lpolgreen: Huge congratulations to @blacksnob!! https://twitter.com/...
Katie Robertson / @katie_robertson: “I'm really excited about this healthy competition that's going to exist between HuffPost and BuzzFeed,” @blacksnob, HuffPost's new editor in chief, says in an interview https://www.nytimes.com/...
@nytimes: Danielle Belton, the editor in chief of The Root, will be the new top editor of HuffPost. She was the first editor in chief of The Root and has written and edited for publications including theGrio, Essence, The Washington Post and The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@pressgazette: Buzzfeed names Danielle Belton (@blacksnob) as HuffPost editor-in-chief. She is currently editor-in-chief of The Root https://www.buzzfeed.com/...
Raju Narisetti / @raju: Congratulations to @TheRoot EIC Danielle Belton @blacksnob, named new Editor-in-Chief of @HuffPost. She has had a remarkable run in revitalizing The Root and making it a must-read in the last five years. Onward and upward, Danielle. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...? via @thedailybeast
Samuel F. Reynolds / @sfreynolds: Go, cuz, go! Congratulations! @blacksnob https://twitter.com/...
Alexander Kaufman / @alexckaufman: Big welcome to @blacksnob! Looking forward to working together and having you at the helm. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Jeremy Barr / @jeremymbarr: “We were going to announce this tomorrow, but are accelerating plans because we have a leak.” Come on, Jonah... https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Max Tani / @maxwelltani: New: Danielle Belton will be HuffPost's new EIC https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Geoff Weiss / Tubefilter: The Root's Danielle Belton Named Editor-In-Chief Of BuzzFeed-Owned ‘HuffPost’
Lauren Johnson / Insider: MEL Magazine lays off editorial staff
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
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, @mims, @karenattiah, @jjmccluskey, @ziyajonesa, @stevestuwill, @amandamarcotte, @soljourno, Digiday, @cgasparino, @ameshaa, @halsparks, @mpolikoff, @ericboehlert, @bmorrissey, @jayrosen_nyu, @asymco, @sapinker, @dleonhardt, @kushal_mehra, @alisciaandrews, @mallarytenore, @jayrosen_nyu, @neilcybart, @mulvihill79, @elaberwarren, @jonfavs, @natesilver538, @chrisvanderveen, @picardonhealth, Kevin Drum, @rogerpielkejr, @jeromeadamsmd and @raju
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/...
Christopher Mims / @mims: “Sometimes, [journalists'] healthy skepticism can turn into reflexive cynicism, and we end up telling something less than the complete story.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Karen Attiah / @karenattiah: Thought-provoking piece about US media coverage of covid being more negative than science journals or int't media- “Sometimes, though, our healthy skepticism can turn into reflexive cynicism, and we end up telling something less than the complete story.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jill McCluskey / @jjmccluskey: .@Jo_Swinnen & I have published on the bad news bias in media. The bias is demand driven because people want to avoid negative events more than they want to experience positive events. The economic explanation is diminishing marginal utility. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Ziya Jones / @ziyajonesa: I definitely opened the NYT newsletter and yelled SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM in my head at like 7:30 this morning. https://twitter.com/...
Steve Stewart-Williams / @stevestuwill: “When Covid cases were rising, the news coverage emphasized the increase. When cases were falling, the coverage instead focused on those places where cases were rising. And when vaccine research began showing positive results, the coverage downplayed it.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Amanda Marcotte / @amandamarcotte: My theory: Consumers of the news tend to be more liberal, since conservatives prefer fake news. And because of Trump, liberals tend to reflexively assume any good information about COVID-19 is a right wing lie. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@soljourno: We would like to thank everyone on Earth for telling us about this. Read. Every. Word. https://twitter.com/...
Tim Peterson / Digiday: Media Briefing: Publishers are switching up their paywalls
Charles Gasparino / @cgasparino: A very important story via @DLeonhardt. My brother is on the front lines of the pandemic as a ICU doc. Covid is certainly NOT over — a friend and colleague of mine just died from it — but things are getting much better. Bad News Bias https://www.nytimes.com/...
Amesh Adalja / @ameshaa: “The U.S. media is offering a different picture of Covid-19 from science journals or the international media”— excellent piece by @DLeonhardt https://www.nytimes.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/...
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/...
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: “I have worked in media for nearly three decades, and I think you might be surprised by how little time journalists spend talking about audience size. We care about it, obviously, but most journalists I know care much more about other factors.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Horace Dediu / @asymco: Betting against media coverage on COVID sounds super lucrative. 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/...
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/...
Aliscia Andrews / @alisciaandrews: Color me shocked... the media and the science aren't aligned... 🧐 https://www.nytimes.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/ ...
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/...
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/...
Michael Mulvihill / @mulvihill79: Viewership growth during the pandemic year vs. prior 52 weeks: CNN +96% MSNBC +36% Fox News +18% 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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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
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/...
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/...
Axios:
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:
@dylanbyers, NBC News, @andyguess, @noahcrothman, @zaidjilani, @prestonjbyrne, @justinamash, @reppaulmitchell, @reckless, @reckless, @mathewi, @matthewstoller, @dylanbyers, @notjessewalker, @baekdal, @matthewstoller, @margarethmcgill, @pkafka, @pkafka, Wall Street Journal and Techdirt, 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/...
Andy Guess / @andyguess: If a student said this in class I'd ask: Under what conditions? How did government make FB as powerful as it already is? (Does Section 230, championed by free-speech advocates, count as a “government regulation”?) These are complex issues and this formulation is SO simplistic. https://twitter.com/...
Noah Rothman / @noahcrothman: You're telling me giant firms welcome regulatory oversight because it reduces their competitors' ability to compete in the marketplace? https://twitter.com/...
Zaid Jilani / @zaidjilani: You could argue that the government writing Section 230 created the basis for the viability of Facebooks business model and thus its monopoly. But then repealing it *also* creates monopoly? https://twitter.com/...
Preston Byrne / @prestonjbyrne: Section 230 protects your speech from online platforms which otherwise would nuke your speech because they're afraid of getting sued for it. Pulling Section 230 immunity won't make platforms more responsible. It will simply force them to silence you. Zuckerberg knows this. https://twitter.com/...
Justin Amash / @justinamash: Government creates monopolies. https://twitter.com/...
Paul Mitchell / @reppaulmitchell: Ahh yes. Zuckerberg seeking a government sanctioned monopoly with high barriers to entry. Let the good times roll at FB! https://twitter.com/...
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/...
Mathew Ingram / @mathewi: Zuckerberg's proposed changes to Section 230 protection would make it easy for Facebook, Google, etc. and hard for everyone else. In other words, it would deepen the moat IMO https://www.axios.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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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.
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/...
Mike Masnick / Techdirt: Beware Of Facebook CEOs Bearing Section 230 Reform Proposals
Bloomberg Media:
Bloomberg Quicktake says it had an average of 7.4M monthly viewers for its livestream channel and 56M for on-demand videos in its first three full months — New over-the-top streaming services include The Roku Channel, … The network also had 56 million average monthly viewers …
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
NYT turns one of its articles about NFTs into a NFT and puts it up for auction, with proceeds going to NYT's Neediest Cases Fund — Why can't a journalist join the NFT party, too? — Normally, I'm not allowed to make sales pitches in my columns. — But this time is an exception, because what's for sale is the column itself.
Discussion:
Joshua Benton / @jbenton: The problem with all these stunt NFTs is that they lead readers to think the value is in the NFTs when it's really in the stunt. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch: As more artists and musicians turn their attention to NFTs, so, likely, do money launderers
Howard Sherman / @hesherman: I'm not sure about cryptocurrency, blockchain and the like, but perhaps I could sell my tweets as NFTs and make some pandemic cash. I've been tweeting for 10 years, so can I monetize it for people with too much disposable income? Kidding/not kidding. https://www.nytimes.com/...
DeFi Pulse / @defipulse: I'll trade you my recently rediscovered lunar feline for your newspaper column. Welcome to the future 🛸 https://www.nytimes.com/...
Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz: .@kevinroose column about NFTs is an NFT and is up for auction on @withFND with proceeds going to charity. You could own the first NFT in the paper's 170-year history https://www.nytimes.com/...
Taylor Lyles / The Verge:
Disney+ will cost $1 more per month from March 26, increasing to $7.99/month or $80/year, the first price hike by Disney for the service — The price is going up to $7.99 a month for subscribers in the US starting on March 26th — You have just two days left to lock in Disney Plus at its current price.
Discussion:
MediaPost, @lanceulanoff, io9, Heroic Hollywood, TVLine and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Karlene Lukovitz / MediaPost: First U.S. Disney+ Price Hike Kicks In March 26
Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff: Someone's got to pay for all that new MCU content https://www.theverge.com/...
Catie Keck / io9: Disney+ Subscriptions Are About to Get More Expensive
Ryden Scarnato / Heroic Hollywood: Disney+ To Raise Its Subscription Price Starting This Friday
Todd Spangler / Variety: Disney Plus Is Hiking Prices for First Time in the U.S. This Week
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
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:
@nichcarlson, @jayrosen_nyu, @hshaban, @hshaban, @ethartley, @mlcalderone, @joepompeo and @joepompeo
Discussion:
Nicholas Carlson / @nichcarlson: I'm surprised Fred Ryan isn't talking to @benyt. “The Post Is Looking for a Journalistic Unicorn”: Inside the Confounding Search for Marty Baron's Successor https://www.vanityfair.com/... via @VanityFair
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: The search for the next editor of the Washington Post is a story I am following closely. https://www.vanityfair.com/... No clue who will be selected, beyond what I read in the papers. But I do have a sense that this search could get combustible between the staff and Post executives.
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/...